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Barrington, Hoffman Estates enjoy perfect Thanksgiving tournaments

Here is some leftover stuffing and gravy from the Thanksgiving tournaments.

Barrington was third in the state in Class 4A and the Broncos graduated the bulk of that team. So that means it is a rebuilding year?

It doesn't appear that way.

Barrington went 4-0 at Crystal Lake Central. The Broncos, who were led by Dillon Schmidt, Donovan Nichols, Ryan Shomaker and Alec Schmidts, won all four games by double-digit margins with victories over Belvidere North, Hampshire, Hononegah and Crystal Lake Central.

Hoffman Estates also was unbeaten at Thanksgiving. The Hawks won their second consecutive Thanksgiving tournament, winning at Maine West.

Hoffman was led by DJ Wallace averaging 18 points and five rebounds. Sophomore Nate Cleveland was also impressive with his 16 points per game while Jacob Atkins-Mirich averaged eight points and six assists.

There were a few teams that emerged from the holiday weekend on a roll.

Conant was 3-1 at the St. Pats/Glenbrook North tournament. The Cougars had wins over Wheaton North, Prosser and Niles West. Conant's only loss was to eventual tournament champion Glenbrook North, 55-39.

Yusuf Cisse, Camden Lathos and Austin Potocnic were each named to the all-tournament team.

Wheeling also went 3-1 at the "Battle of the Ridge" held at Northridge Prep. Wheeling posted victories over Bowen, Vernon Hills and Northridge Prep. Wheeling's only loss came to Amundsen.

Wheeling, Vernon Hills and Amundsen all tied for the team title with 3-1 records. Vernon Hills was declared the winner based upon having the best free throw percentage in the tournament.

RJ Gamble was named to the all-tournament team for Wheeling. Gamble averaged 14 points, two rebounds and three assists.

Josh Hutchinson also had a solid tourney for the Wildcats. Hutchinson averaged 12 points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals.

"I am proud of the way our team responded after our loss to Amundsen," Wheeling coach Tom Antosz said. "We had great team efforts against Vernon Hills and Northridge Prep. We are improving game to game and practice to practice. Our goal is to continue to stack days in order for us to be playing our best basketball at the end of the season."

Another team that is looking to change its fortunes this season is Maine East. The Demons, who were 8-24 a year ago, got a huge start on that reversal when they went 3-1 at the Ridgewood tournament.

Maine East had wins over Naperville Central, Leyden and Schaumburg. Their only loss was to Northside Prep 41-33.

Tristan Walton led the Demons in scoring in every game and averaged over 17 points per game. Derryl Gaddis averaged nearly 16 points per game but did not play against Northside Prep due to an injury. Jaylen Taylor, Neel Patel, Samy Salem and JJ Alposhone each scored in double figures at least once during the tournament.

"The team looks competitive, but we have so much more work ahead of us," said Maine East coach Sergio Muro, who picked up his first career head coaching win with the victory over Naperville Central.

"It's still early and in order to keep playing at a high level we need to improve our defensive rebounding and improve our half-court defense. I still think we can get more connected defensively and offensively. "

Also picking up his first head coaching victory was Maine South coach Colin Wehman. Maine South beat Fenger 63-25 last Wednesday at the Lyons Tournament.

Schaumburg went 2-2 at the Ridgewood tournament. Jason Tucker, who is in his first year as head coach, picked up his first win at the helm when his team beat Mather 65-41.

Prospect went 1-3 at the tough St. Viator tournament. The Knights lost to Libertyville in the opener. They then beat Antioch by 28 before losing to Viator and tournament champion Evanston.

Jake Parisi, Alex Georgakas and Ben Schneider were huge contributors for Prospect.

"We have played very hard thus far," Prospect coach Brad Rathe said. "Sloppy at times, but hard. We still have to clean a few things up offensively, but we have a lot of potential there. Plus, the Viator tournament has some legitimate competition. There were no easy games."

Elk Grove won their first game at the Maine West tournament before dropping their final two. The Grenadiers beat Maine West before losing to Hoffman Estates and Lake Zurich.

Bronson Bartuch had a terrific tourney. The senior averaged 23 points while hitting 45 percent of his shots from outside the arc. He also had 3.7 rebounds, two steals and two assists.

Lucas Rogers and Amir Hussein each came off the bench to average 6.7 points.

"We need to be more disciplined defensively," Elk Grove coach Nick Oraham said. "We also need to rebound the ball better as well, giving up too many second chance points early on."

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