Maine East boys basketball aiming for first winning season in 14 years

Maine East is turning the corner.

Long a struggling basketball program, the Blue Demons are on their way up.

Maine East has not had a winning basketball season since 2009. They also have won just 16 games combined through the last three seasons.

This year's squad has nearly matched that total with two regular season games remaining on their schedule, plus the state playoffs. And with their 15 wins thus far, they need one more win to guarantee themselves their first winning season in 14 years.

First-year head coach Sergio Muro credits all the hard work and dedication his players have put into turning things around.

"I am an alum of Maine East," Muro said. It means a lot to me to come back and do the best job I can. The players have to be number one and they have to be buying in. Buying into each other.

Muro said that his team has been able to do that this season.

"This is a group that gets it," Muro said. They are sacrificing for each other, and they really care about each other. They are passionate about Maine East basketball.

Derryl Gaddi, who is a 5-foot-9 point guard, leads the Demons with 13.7 points per game.

"He is dynamic," Muro said. "He can shoot the ball and facilitate."

Neel Patel, who is a senior shooting guard is averaging 12.6 points while junior forward Tristan Walton is averaging 12.4 points. Jaylen Taylor, JJ Alphonse and Samy Salem round out the top six.

None of them are taller than 6-1. But according to Muro, they are all playing big.

"They are a bunch of scrappy players," Muro said. "They can score on one end and guard on the other."

Muro said that his team is still learning to win as he is changing the culture at Maine East.

"We let a few games slip away on us," Muro said. "But we are playing good basketball Playing the best basketball we can be. I think we have enough to knock out a team during the playoffs."

MSL title game:

Palatine will be making its first appearance in the MSL title game in 27 years when the Pirates head over to Rolling Meadows at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 15.

"That's a long number between MSL championships," said Palatine coach Eric Milltone, whose teams twice tied for the MSL West title, but failed to make it to the conference championship game because of tiebreakers.

The last time Palatine was in the title game, Millstone was a first-year coach, heading up the freshman "B" team. Now in his 15th season as head varsity coach, Millstone is taking his Pirates to the biggest show in the MSL.

"We have hit a nice stretch here," Millstone said. "We have strung some games together and we are playing with confidence. And when you are playing with confidence, guys just feed off each other."

Connor May, who has been playing exceptionally well the last half of the season, leads Palatine (20-6). The Pirates also look to Tyler Swierczek, Sam Millstone, Tommy Elter, Quinn Golletz and JD Wardle.

While Palatine has not been to the MSL title game in a long time, Rolling Meadows has made the game its home.

The Mustangs will be making their third consecutive appearance in the title game. They lost last season to Barrington on the road. They also beat the Broncos in 2021 at Meadows in the COVID-shortened season before a limited home crowd.

Rolling Meadows coach Kevin Katovich is looking forward to seeing his team having the opportunity to play before a packed house.

"We look forward to playing before our home fans," Katovich said. "We have played well all season, especially at home."

Meadows (24-5) was unbeaten for the third consecutive year in the MSL East. The Mustangs are led by Minnesota-commit Cameron Christie. Mark Nikolich-Wilson, Tsvet Sotirov, Foster Ogbonna, Ian Miletic and Jack Duffer are also key ingredients.

State seeds released:

The seeds for the 2023 IHSA boys state playoffs were released Thursday afternoon. Here is what they look like in 4A:

Barrington Sectional

1. Libertyville

2. Stevenson

3. Palatine

4. Fremd

5. Barrington

6. Prospect

7. Hersey

8. Warren

9. Lake Zurich

10. Mundelein

11. Waukegan

12. Buffalo Grove

13. Wheeling

14. Grant

15. Highland Park

16. Zion-Benton

17. Round Lake

New Trier Sectional

1. New Trier

2. Glenbrook North

3. Rolling Meadows

4. Glenbrook South

5. Evanston

6. Loyola

7. Niles North

8. Taft

9. Conant

10. Niles West

11. Maine East

12. Maine South

13. Schaumburg

14. Hoffman Estates

15. Von Steuben

16. Maine West

17. Elk Grove

Also at the 3A sectional at Grayslake Central:

1. Lake Forest

2. Grayslake Central

3. Deerfield

4. Patrick

5. Fenton

6. Lakes

7. Viator

8. Notre Dame

9. Antioch

10. Ridgewood

11. Vernon Hills

12. Carmel

13. Grayslake North

14. North Side

15. Amundsen

16. North Chicago

17. Senn

18. Mather

19. Northtown