McDonald`s Owners of Chicagoland and Northwest Indiana will play host to the McDonald`s/baiduhai all-star basketball game April 23 in the new 8,000-seat gym at East Chicago (Ind.) Central High School. Chicago-area and Northwest Indiana coaches will nominate players for the game. Proceeds will go to baiduhai Charities and the Ronald McDonald Children`s Charities.
– Nike is trying to arrange a slam-dunk competition among Chicago high school players and has received an okay from the Illinois High School Association.
– It`s still early in the game, but De Paul is one of 10 teams in the running for Jimmy Jackson, the 6-6, 225-pound guard from Macomber-Whitney High School in Toledo. Jackson and 6-1 guard Kenny Anderson of Queens (N.Y.)
Archbishop Molloy are generally regarded as the top two juniors in the country. Jackson is averaging 28 points, 9 rebounds, 6.5 assists and 3 steals. He has narrowed his list of college possibilities to Iowa, Purdue, Ohio State, Michigan, UNLV, Notre Dame, De Paul, Syracuse, Georgetown and North Carolina and is expected to decide this summer which five he will visit. Jackson is playing both guard positions and forward this season, but Macomber-Whitney coach Bart Schroeder believes that he will play the point in college. ”He`s a total player and has superb peripheral vision,” Schroeder said. ”He sees the floor as though he was born on it. For a big man, his ballhandling is superb.”
– ”If they watched me, they saw nothing,” said 6-5 Jacksonville senior Andy Kaufmann, who scored 30 points in an 83-79 loss Saturday at Thornton. Kaufmann was off all night, missing 17 of 26 shots from the field, including his last five of the game. ”They saw some poor outside shooting from me,”
said Kaufmann, who led the state in scoring the last two years but trails David Olson of Newark 35.7 points a game to 33 this season. ”I kept changing the arc on my shots, but I never really needed to do that. I don`t know what it was, but I was out of synch all night.” Not only did Kaufmann`s team lose for only the second time this season, but he was also outscored by unheralded Thornton sophomore Maurice Stovall, who had a career-high 35 points. Stovall made 13 of 17 from the field, including four of seven three-pointers.
– Thornton`s victory took some of the sting out of Friday`s 66-61 SICA East loss to Thornridge, a game in which Thornridge`s off-again, on-again sophomore guard Townsend Orr scored 31 points.
– Junior forward Juvon McGarry has received most of the praise in Evanston`s season so far, but the rest of the team has done its job, too.
”Everyone`s finding roles,” Wildkit coach Mike Hart said. ”Tyrone Bell has become our assist leader, and our other guards, Kyle Benoit and Pat Farragher, realize that they`re going to be the guys that have to do the dirty work for us. The other starter, Brian Robinson, has become our zonebreaker, and Derek Murray has given us a spark off the bench.” Evanston (19-3) won its 11th straight game Saturday, beating St. Rita 46-43 at the Horizon. It clinched the Central Suburban League South title Friday with a 61-56 victory over Glenbrook South.
– Proviso East coach Bill Hitt, whose team lost to Argo 64-62 in the second game of the Horizon double-header, believes the Pirates are starting to live up to their lofty preseason billing. Proviso (12-8) got off to a slow start but has lost only three games since Christmas. ”I`d rather be good all year,” Hitt said. ”But if you`re going to be good only at the beginning or at the end, I`d rather be good at the end. I think we`re ready (for the state tournament). I think we`ve realized that we have to work as a group and that we have to believe that we`re capable of beating the good teams. I think whoever beats us will have to play pretty well.”
– Top games on this week`s schedule include Thornton at Homewood-Flossmoor Tuesday, Argo at St. Rita Tuesday, South Shore at Simeon
Thursday, Naperville Central at Naperville North Friday, Zion-Benton at Warren Friday, Round Lake at Grant Friday, St. Charles at East Aurora Friday, Lake Forest at Warren Saturday and Evanston at East Aurora Saturday.
More Top Picks Best Ear Thermometers For Adults
– Teams that have clinched league championships: Huntley (Big Eight), Evanston (Central Suburban South), St. Benedict (Chicago Prep), Crystal Lake South (Fox Valley), Sandwich (Interstate Eight), Fremd (Mid-Suburban North), Hoffman Estates (Mid-Suburban South), Lisle (Northeast), Walther Lutheran
(Private School League), Argo (SICA North) and Proviso West (West Suburban Silver). . . . Teams that have gained at least a tie for a league title are:
St. Joseph (East Suburban Catholic), University High (Independent School League), Herscher (Kankakee Valley), Thornton Fractional North (SICA Central) and St. Edward (West Suburban Catholic).
– It has been 13 years since any team but Benet Academy has won the West Suburban Catholic Conference championship, but St. Edward needs only a victory over Wheaton St. Francis on Tuesday to annex the title. The Green Wave is 9-4 in conference competition, one game in front of Benet, Driscoll and Providence. It won`t be easy, however. In its first meeting with St. Francis, St. Edward won 64-63. ”I`ve had better teams in past years,” says St. Edward coach Joe Tullo, but Benet was always there in front of us.”
– The Little Seven Conference has decided to table a plan which would increase its membership from 8 to 12 schools and divide it into two divisions, based on enrollment. Not enough big schools wanted to join, and there wasn`t enough time.
– Quigley North beat Ridgewood 56-53, which beat Taft 51-49, which beat Fenwick 48-47, which beat De La Salle 61-55, which beat St. Joseph 60-56. That makes Quigley North (4-18) at least 16 points ”better” than St. Joseph
(20-2).
GIRLS` BASKETBALL
No major upsets took place last week in the Class A and AA regionals. Perhaps the only real surprise was Evanston`s 61-32 rout of host Regina Dominican, a highly ranked team for much of the season, in Friday`s title game. The Wildkits (19-7) now have the advantage of hosting their own sectional, although the winner of the New Trier-Niles West semifinal matchup will still be the favorite. Evanston faces Madonna Tuesday in its semifinal game.
– As expected, Girls Catholic Athletic Conference foes Mother McAuley and Maria meet Monday night in the first round of the Shepard Class AA sectional. The teams split in conference play. In perhaps the toughest sectional in the state, featuring four of The Tribune`s top 15 teams, Lourdes and once-beaten Sandburg will meet in the other semifinal.
– Thursday`s round of the Public League playoffs proved there is still a large gap between the few top teams and the rest of the playoff qualifiers. The average winning margin in the eight games was 47 points. Young`s 120-20 victory over Roosevelt was the biggest rout. Senn`s 60-39 win over Crane was the closest encounter. Top-ranked Marshall coasted to an 80-point victory over Orr.
WRESTLING
The state dual-meet tournament this week could be the most balanced since the format began in 1984. Each first-round match should be close, with defending champion Marist meeting unbeaten Providence, De Kalb facing Cahokia, Lane Tech meeting Glenbard North and Oak Park going against Palatine. The upper bracket, with Marist and Providence, looks to be the stronger of the two. The final could be the easiest match of the tournament for the survivor of the upper bracket. In the lower bracket, no team stands out above the rest. Providence has a good shot at giving coach Tim Ruettiger a Class AA title to go with the Class A crown his Celtics won in 1979. What could hurt Providence is that eight of its wrestlers will also be competing in the state individual competition. The Celtics will be doing a lot of wrestling in three days, as will Marist, which has six individual qualifiers. Glenbard North should be fresh with only three individual qualifiers.
– The 185-pound class at the Sandburg sectional was the toughest class in memory. The top six wrestlers combined for a 181-10 record going into Friday`s first round. It reminded some observers of the sectional a few years ago that produced NCAA champion Kirk Trost, then of Lincoln-Way, and national Greco-Roman champion Derrick Waldroup, then of Bremen. Some very good wrestlers were going to stay home, and Stagg`s Steve Hughes, second last year in the state meet, was the first victim. He lost 6-3 to Mt. Carmel`s Mike Manganiello on Friday. Manganiello lost to Marist`s Tom Salvino in the semifinals, eliminating Hughes, who finished the season with a 32-1 record. ”It made it all that much tougher,” said Salvino, who suffered his first loss of the season 3-0 to Oak Lawn`s Sherif Zegar in the finals. ”It was more than a challenge. I thought `85 would be the best weight. It just shows you that you can`t let down for one match.” Zegar is 27-1, his only loss coming to Naperville North heavyweight Jim Hannon in the finals of the Hinsdale Central tournament. Salvino is 33-1.
– Andrew`s Joe Gilbert will be shooting for a third straight Class AA championship this weekend. Gilbert (35-0) refuses to let the pressure get to him. ”Everyone is trying to build up a match between me and Sean Bourmet (of Providence),” he said. ”I`m just trying to worry about my next match. I don`t pay any attention to what is going on but my next match. I want a third title real bad; I`ve wanted it all year. I`ve got something to prove. You`ve got to keep proving yourself to everybody when you`re a state champion. When I was a freshman, I had to prove myself, and I had to do it again when I was a sophomore. I`ve got to prove myself again.” Gilbert and Bormet (37-0) could meet in the 132-pound finals.
– Johnsburg`s Mike Lewis ended the season with an undefeated record but no state title because of a wrist injury. Lewis, 31-0 at 105, was unable to compete at the Barrington sectional.
– Thornton heavyweight Larry Love isn`t very heavy. Love, sixth in the state meet last season, is a 206-pounder. Most of the top heavyweights are in the 250-pound range. ”I`m used to wrestling big guys,” he said. ”Now I use my quickness instead of strength. If I use strength, it`s in the last period when I have worn him down.” Love has considerable strength, having a bench press of 400 pounds. He signed a football letter of intent to Montana State as a linebacker. ”Football was my main thing, and that`s how I got to wrestling,” he said. ”I didn`t think I`d be this good. Football is No. 1, but if I would have gotten a wrestling scholarship instead, I would have taken it.”
– Reavis` Robert Lockner qualified for the state meet as something of an unknown. Lockner, 11-1 at 132, moved with his father into the Reavis district from Shawnee, Okla. Lockner was a state qualifier in Oklahoma but was ineligible during the first semester because of a transcript problem. ”We`re very fortunate to have him,” said Reavis coach Don Schultz. ”He`s an excellent wrestler.”
– Maine East`s unbeaten Matt Bernstein, who won the 167 title at the Fenton sectional, is a takedown artist, and it`s no surprise that former Demon state champion Emiliano Hernandez is one of his workout partners. Bernstein has more than 130 takedowns this season and is 33-0. ”We work on takedowns all day long,” said Bernstein, an A student in the classroom and the wrestling room. ”Coach Hernandez works with me and is a great guy. He tells me what I`m doing wrong. I`m not just all takedowns. I wrestle different people different ways.”
– Hoffman Estates 185-pound Bob Gwiasda was thrilled just to be in the Fenton finals after what happened last year. He came into the sectional then as a junior with a 33-0 record and ended his season with two straight losses. This year, he was 29-0 coming in and 32-0 going out. ”There was even more pressure on me after last year,” he said after a 9-3 victory over Fenton`s Chris Ziegler. ”I just wanted to get out (qualify for state) this year.”
– Elgin`s Jeff Mirabella has a list, although not a very long one, of opponents he needs to pay back. ”I keep a list of people who have beaten me, and I have to pay them back,” he said after winning the Fenton sectional. ”I wrestled one guy at the Northern Illinois freestyle tournament and I was so psyched. I wanted to totally punish him so he would never want to wrestle me again. Yeah, I hold a grudge.” Mirabella is 33-1 at 98 and his only loss was to East Aurora`s Darrin Thompson at 112.
– Unbeaten and untied wrestlers: Brad Stockstill, Mt. Olive (38-0 at 155); Don McCollon, Mt. Olive (35-0 at 167); Pat O`Neal, Mt. Olive (33-0 at 185); Herb Porter, Argenta Oreana (38-0 at 275); Mike Sheehy, St. Edward,
(35-0 at 119); Marcus Lewis, Carbondale (29-0 at 119); Matt Braun, Mt. Vernon (31-0 at 185); Joe Gilbert, Andrew, (35-0 at 132); T.C. Dantzler, Thornwood, (34-0 at 138); Sean Bormet, Providence, (37-0 at 132); Dan Ritchie, Pekin, (38-0 at 167); Scott Venter, Geneseo, (31-0 at 275); William Gay, Rock Island, (30-0 at 132); Ryan Hager, Sterling, (37-0 at 119); Sean Kegel, Johnsburg (37-0 at 98); Dave Blanke, Barrington (25-0 at 155); Tony Jacob, De La Salle (36-0 at 138); Edwin Ramos, Kelvyn Park (24-0 at 105); Toby Willis, Morgan Park (31-0 at 155); Edward Evans, Orr (28-0 at 275); Ricky Alboyd, Austin (22-0 at 167); Maurey Garrett, Fenger (35-0 at 112); Matt Bernstein, Maine East (33-0 at 167); Bob Gwiasda, Hoffman Estates (32-0 at 185).