Patience a virtue for Mundelein's Eddy, Gonzalez

The wait was worth it.

Sam Eddy has waited and waited to get significant minutes with the Mundelein boys basketball team.

The 5-foot-8 guard didn't get many opportunities last year as a junior.

"Sam was a great practice player and enjoyed being on the team," Mundelein coach Matt Badgley said. "But he sat down the bench (for games) and really didn't play much."

Eddy's bench time has been greatly reduced now that he's a senior. And a starter.

The 4-2 Mustangs, who often start three sophomores, have come to really value Eddy and his mature demeanor.

"Sam is our most consistent player," Badgley said. "He is the calm in the storm for our young kids. He's also a great example."

Badgley points to Eddy's perseverance and how he is somewhat unique in today's instantaneous world.

"Sometimes that (patience) kind of disappears a little bit these days," Badgley said. "Kids expect instant gratification. And when they don't get it, a lot of them give up before they actually get their opportunity to really do something. For a kid to have a little perseverance is really good to see."

Fellow senior Andrew Gonzalez is in the same boat as Eddy.

Gonzalez was a B player as a freshman. Now he's a starter.

"Now, he's a top three or four player," Badgley said of Gonzalez. "We like the leadership that our seniors (Eddy and Gonzalez) give us. We knew going in to the season that we would lack experience and that there would be a lot of teaching and patience involved with the sophomores. Those two have helped a lot with that. As good as our sophomores are, they are still only 15 years old. To have a couple of 17-year-olds out there like Sam and Andrew is an important intangible that we can't overlook."

Sophomore standouts: It's a youth movement at Mundelein this season.

Three sophomores have made their way into the starting lineup and the newsflash is, the Mustangs are hanging tough.

Young guards Conor Enright and Jack Bikus and center Scottie Ebube have led Mundelein to a 4-2 record.

"So far we've been able to manage it," Mundelein coach Matt Badgley said of the youth. "Over the next couple weeks, we're going to find out a lot more about our kids in terms of how good we can be and where we could go from here."

Enright leads the Mustangs with 16 points per game and Ebube is at 14 points per game. Both made great strides during the offseason in the weight room.

Badgley preached to his young players that the best way for them to be able to level the playing field with older opponents was to make major gains in the weight room over the summer.

"Our big focus over the summer was strength," Badgley said. "To close the gap between our 15-year olds and some of the 17-year olds they'd be facing, we knew we would have to get them stronger. I think Scottie and Conor put on at least 8 to 10 pounds of muscle apiece.

"When we played Fremd over Thanksgiving, that was one of the strongest teams we'll probably play all year. But we didn't back off them and I think that's because we got a lot stronger."

Fun ahead: There are couple of neat events for the Mundelein boys basketball team to look forward to this season.

Over the Christmas holiday, the Mustangs are going to play in the Carbondale Holiday Tournament in southern Illinois. And they are going to take a train to get there.

"We're going to make a little trip of it," Mundelein coach Matt Badgley said. "It will be fun to take the train down. And about half of the games will be at Southern Illinois University on the court on campus there."

The Mustangs will play three to four games in Carbondale. The other games will be at Carbondale High School. Teams from Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee and Missouri will be in the tournament.

From a college court in December (SIU), Mundelein will then get a shot at playing on a professional court in February.

The Mustangs are scheduled to play a game before a Chicago Bulls game at the United Center.

"We are trying to do some fun things with the kids this year," Badgley said. "Last year, we spent a lot of time trying to build a foundation, this year, we're trying to take that next step forward."

Scoring machine: The points were flowing for Wauconda guard Donovan Carter over Thanksgiving.

Carter opened up the new season with a career-high 36 points against Johnsburg in a 90-83 win.

And Carter was efficient, too, connecting on 10-of-12 2-point field goals and 4-of-5 3-pointers.

"He's really hitting his shots this season," Wauconda coach Scott Luetschwager said of Carter. "We're trying to get him open as often as possible. We want him to get good looks. When Donovan shoots in rhythm, we all sit there and think his shot is going in."

Carter, who is averaging a team-best 18 points per game, followed his 36-point game with 22 points against Richmond-Burton.

Wauconda is now 3-3 on the season, thanks to Carter's scoring prowess and balanced scoring among the other starters.

Three other starters, Connor Brannick, Nick Bulgarelli and Nick Rinchiuso, all average 9-plus points per game.

Sharing the rock: Wauconda is averaging about 17 assists per game as a team and sophomore Benji Chung is a big reason why.

The first-year point guard is averaging 3.5 assists per game and is setting a great tone for the rest of his teammates.

"We are sharing the ball well. Our assists are up and a lot of that is from Benji and the way he plays," Wauconda coach Scott Luetschwager said. "He is a really good facilitator. And Benji does things you would never expect a sophomore to do at point guard. He just picks up on things quickly and he takes care of the ball. He's a really smart kid and we knew pretty early on that he would be our point guard."