This weekend a focal point on the basketball calendar
As usual this time of year, Wheaton Warrenville South is the place to be this weekend.
When it comes to Martin Luther King Jr. holiday boys basketball events in DuPage County, nothing tops the 16-team tournament the Tigers will be hosting again on Saturday and Monday. The bracket guarantees four games for every team, a grind that can be a handful.
"It's going to be competitive again," said WW South coach and athletic director Mike Healy. "I think it was good that we waited until New Year's Eve to do our seeding. We were able to take into account the holiday tournaments and adjust for teams that already played each other."
It's a loaded group headed by top-seeded York (14-2). The top four seeds - rounded out by Benet, Morton and Huntley - boast a combined record of 45-13. That doesn't include defending champion Rockford East, the ninth seed that last season finished 34-2 and placed fourth in Class 4A.
Other DuPage County returners include St. Francis and Downers Grove North. Glenbard North and Wheaton Academy are the two newcomers in the field.
Each team will play two games Saturday and two games Monday.
"Teams like it because it breaks up the season a little bit," said Healy, whose team plays just one nonconference game the rest of the season. "We're looking forward to it."
Not again:
How much heartbreak can one team take?
Willowbrook is putting it to the test.
Tuesday's 51-50 loss to Hinsdale South - capped by a buzzer-beating putback by the Hornets' Aaron Tims - marked the fifth time this season a Willowbrook game has been decided on the final possession.
Unfortunately for coach Chris Perkins and the Warriors, four of those games ended in losses.
"I'm losing count now," Perkins said. "For it to happen all in one season, it's a lot. But it is what it is."
The most surprising part about the heartbreak is it's all occurred since Dec. 23. It started with a 61-59 loss to St. Rita at the Hinsdale Central Holiday Tournament and continued three days later in a 55-54 loss to TF South.
The next day Everett Stubblefield III hit a stunning half-court shot to win a 49-47 game in overtime, but the heartbreak soon returned.
On Jan. 7 missed free throws with 0.7 seconds on the clock turned into a 51-50 loss to Sandburg. And then came Tuesday.
At some point Willowbrook (6-12, 1-3) needs a break to go its way.
"No one's going to give it to us," Perkins said. "We've got to go out and take it."
A mainstay:
Neuqua Valley (12-4, 1-3 DuPage Valley Conference) makes its annual trip to the Rockton Hononegah Martin Luther King Basketball Tournament. The Wildcats' first year there was 2007.
Where did Neuqua go for MLK games before that?
"There weren't any before that," said coach Todd Sutton, who has known Hononegah coach Mike Miller since Sutton coached at Pecatonica.
"Back then it was the best of the best teams that would play," Sutton said. "Most of us were usually state-ranked when we played there back then. And most everyone had a Division I player."
In all likelihood Neuqua will field one of those against Hononegah and Normal on Saturday, and Normal West and Boylan on Monday.
Junior guard John Poulakidas has 14 scholarship offers, according to 247sports.com. On Thursday the Wildcats host Oswego, two games removed from Poulakidas' program-record 49 points against Bolingbrook.
"We've never seen anything like it at Neuqua Valley, I'll tell you that," Sutton said of Poulakidas' big game. "It was just showtime, just sit back and watch the show. He was feeling it."
Playoff preview?
There's a chance Timothy Christian (12-3, 5-0 Metro Suburban Red) could face Northridge Prep in the Class 2A playoffs. It's certain the teams will square off for the first time at 6 p.m. Monday in Timothy Christian's second Trojan MLK Classic. The game is the third of three on Monday in Elmhurst.
Also on the slate at 3 p.m. is Chicago Christian against Yorkville's Parkview Christian, coached by the legendary Don Davidson. At 4:30 p.m. Westinghouse plays Blackhawk Christian, a defending Indiana state champion coached by Marc Davidson. In other words, Timothy Christian superintendent Matt Davidson hosts his father, Don, and brother.
Timothy Christian and Northridge Prep (13-3) - coached by Will Rey, who led Loyola for five seasons - will vie for the top seed in their subsectional of the Class 2A Genoa-Kingston sectional. IC Catholic (13-6, 3-2 Metro Blue) is in the running, too, and this Saturday's game with the Knights at Timothy will help decide that.
The Trojans have received consistent production from Matt Owens, Josh Harris, A.J. Vos and, off the bench, Ben VanderWal.
"It's kind of been a collective group and every night seems to be someone else's night," coach Scott Plaisier said.