How fast time flies. While it may still be too early to be predicting the Elite Eight field, the start of Class AA regional action is less than one month off. Feb. 27 and 28 mark the opening round of play, and here`s a list of where The Tribune`s current Top 20 teams will be competing. Simeon, King, Dunbar, Marshall and South Shore, of course, will vie in the Public League playoffs for one Elite Eight spot in Champaign. Otherwise, it`s De La Salle at Argo, East Aurora and West Aurora at West Aurora, Evanston at Niles West, Thornridge at home, St. Joseph and Proviso West at Willowbrook, Gordon Tech at Leyden, Bolingbrook at home, Eisenhower and Thornton at Thornton, Rich Central at Rich South, Rolling Meadows at Elk Grove, Fenwick at Morton and Fremd at Conant.
– Can high school basketball outdraw the big boys from De Paul? While that may seem unlikely, next Saturday night`s top-notch high school double-header at the Horizon (which follows by about two hours the De Paul-North Carolina State contest) features four Top 10 teams with some of the more rabid followings in the Chicago area. First on tap at 7 o`clock will be south suburban archrivals Thornton and Thornridge in a battle for first in the SICA East, followed by East Aurora-Evanston. Matchups to keep an eye on include Thornton guard Tracy Webster vs. Thornridge nemesis Townsend Orr and East Aurora center Thomas Wyatt vs. Evanston`s Juvon McGarry. Tickets are $3 and $4 and may be bought through Ticketron or at the door.
– After his team`s trouncing by West Suburban Silver rival Proviso West Saturday, Oak Park coach Al Allen said the Huskies will have to do some serious soul-searching if they expect to have a shot at the conference crown. What bothered Allen most about the loss was what he called ”a fairy-tale image” that his squad has of the play of 6-foot-5-inch senior forward Steve Fitch. Allen dropped Fitch from the team last year for disciplinary reasons, and sat him out of Friday`s Lyons Township game for ”breaking a team rule.” Fitch also was on the bench for the first two minutes of the Proviso West game. He came in and wound up with 20 points but couldn`t stop the Proviso West tidal wave. ”They think that Steve can just come in and turn things around,” said Allen. ”That`s crazy.” And while Fitch`s contributions to the Huskies` success this year are undeniable, the youngster will have to understand that you either play Allen`s way at Oak Park or you don`t play at all.
– Gordon Tech`s Tom Kleinschmidt certainly has earned the reputation as the area`s most promising sophomore, but not far behind him is Chicago Vocational soph Jawaan Howard. Before fouling out late in the fourth quarter of the Cavaliers` overtime loss to Simeon, the 6-9 center played well against the highly respected Deon Thomas. Howard wound up with 12 points, 9 rebounds and 7 assists. ”He plays hard and wears his emotions on his sleeve,” said CVS coach Richard Cook. If not for 5 of 13 free-throw shooting by the Cavs, they would have pulled off the season`s biggest upset. ”That`s the story of our whole season,” said Cook, whose team is a paltry 56 percent from the line.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Whenever Immaculate Heart of Mary coach Dave Power scouted Whitney Young this season, he never got a clear picture of how good the Dolphins could be. Once, the person driving Cindy Conner and E.C. Hill to the game got lost and the two standouts missed the first half, and another time, Young coach Arthur Penny benched Conner for a half because she wasn`t hustling. But Friday night, Power saw how awesome Young can be, as IHM was hammered 91-74 in Westchester. ”I don`t consider myself a great defensive coach, but no team has ever scored more than 90 points against me, and I`ve been around 12 years,” said Power. ”The way (Young) played, they could have beaten anybody. A lot of Division I colleges couldn`t have beaten them.”
Hill, a junior guard, led the way with 26 points. Conner added 24 points and 20 rebounds, LaTara Jones had 14 points and Sherria Alexander 11. Kris Maskala led IHM with 26 points.
”Little things hurt us,” said Power. ”A missed free throw or not boxing out on the boards. And whenever we made a mistake, they capitalized. If Conner and Hill stay on the floor a full 32 minutes, they`re hard to beat.
”The kids took the loss hard, but I think we can come up a level. When you get beat, you get beat. Maybe we`ll get to meet them one more time.”
IHM bounced back Saturday, defeating Class A power St. Edward 86-59 as Maskala scored 47 points.
– Everyone knows Marshall`s top guns are LaTonia Foster and Rita Hale, but if the Commandos make a 12th straight trip Downstate next month, it might be because of guard Kenya Pittman. The junior scored 17 points in Marshall`s easy 68-41 victory Friday over East St. Louis Lincoln, many of them coming on shots from the outside. ”We`re trying to get her to look for good scoring opportunities to balance her game out,” said coach Dorothy Gaters. ”Most teams sag in on us, but if we can get some consistency outside, we`ll be all right.”
– Andrea Shish is a perfect example of the hard-nosed kids Don Hudgens has at York. Friday night in a West Suburban Conference Silver Division battle with Proviso West, Shish dove for a loose ball and collided with another player. Shish suffered a broken nose, but that didn`t keep her out of the starting lineup Saturday night against Peoria Manual. Wearing a protective mask, she finished with six points in the 68-48 victory, including four big ones at the end of the half that put the Dukes ahead 30-23. ”It takes a pretty gutty kid to come back and play as well as she did tonight,” said Hudgens.
– Hudgens on Dukes four-year starting guard Amy Stock: ”She`s got a lot of wisdom for a girl her age. She`s a complete basketball player. She`s as good as any point guard in the state of Illinois.”
WRESTLING
More Top Picks Litter Robot 3 Vs 4
With the new rules changes for the state dual-meet championships it is not win or else for teams in the regional. Under the new rules, the top four finishers in the regional will advance to a regional dual-meet tournament the Tuesday after the individual regionals. The new format will give teams in a strong regional a chance to advance in a dual-meet format even if they lose in the individual tournament. Tournament strength does not always translate into dual meet strength. Last year, Oak Park edged Leyden by 1 1/2 points, eliminating the unbeaten Eagles. Many are calling it the ”Farina Rule” in honor of Leyden coach Chuck Farina. Farina, who has now won 572 duals in his 35-year career, likes the new rule, but didn`t ask for it. ”We never complained,” said Farina, whose team finished 24-1. ”I don`t know how that got started. It`s good because if you lose like we did last year, by a point and a half to a good team, you still have a chance.” The Oak Park regional with Leyden and Oak Park, the Joliet Central regional with Joliet West, Bolingbrook and defending Class AA champion Providence, the St. Laurence regional with Mt. Carmel and St. Laurence and the Marist regional with Thornton, Thornwood and Marist look to be beneficiaries of the new rule.
– Farina will have to take his team to Oak Park for the regional. The Eagles beat the Huskies earlier this month, but Farina is wary of the Huskies. ”They always peak at the end,” he said. ”The last couple of years they have taken the regional away from us. We`re having it at their place this year, too. We`ll just have to do our best. We`re not supertalented, but we work well together. That`s what it takes to win dual meets.”
– The Mt. Carmel-St. Laurence rematch should be interesting. Mt. Carmel, which won the Catholic League title, should be at close to full strength. Ed Minet, who has been nursing a back injury, should return to the lineup. Both team had six champions in the Catholic League meet. ”It just depends on what the other schools do,” said St. Laurence coach Bob Trombetta, who had only three seniors in his lineup. ”I don`t know if we can even compete with them. They will be a lot stronger. We were competitive with them. We needed a break here of there. We got one (Viking 152-pounder Steve Lazzara upsetting undefeated Jim Regan of Mt. Carmel in the semifinals), but we needed another one.”
– Mt. Carmel coach Bill Weick is a master of motivating his wrestlers, even though some of his methods are unorthodox. He got the attention of Carvan 171 pounder Sean Kavanaugh before the Catholic League finals. Kavanaugh was listening to Weick`s pitch when the coach grabbed a couple of the senior`s chest hairs and yanked. It must have worked. Kavanaugh won by a fall.
– Caravan senior Peter Ruiz was voted the Catholic League`s Tony Lawless Award for wrestling. The award takes wrestling, leadership and scholarship into consideration. ”He`s a great kid and has had some rough times this year,” said Weick of Ruiz, whose mother was a policewoman killed in the line of duty this winter.
– The list of unbeaten wrestlers going into next weekend`s regionals includes: 135 pounds, Joe Gilbert, Andrew (34-0); 189-heavyweight, Mike Manganiello, Mt. Carmel (25-0); 171, Sean Kavanaugh, Mt. Carmel (22-0-2); 152, Paul Andreotti, Marist (34-0); 112, Anton Mallory, Bolingbrook (15-0); 145, Sean Bormet, Providence (37-0); 112, Mike Lewis, Johnsburg (32-0); 119, Sean Kegel, Johnsburg (28-0); 112, Steve Williams, Thornton (27-0); 140, Robert Young, Thornwood (26-0-1); 130, Steve Smerz, Leyden (34-0-1); 189, Sherif Zegar, Oak Lawn (32-0); 130, Chris Hruska, Conant (34-0); 112, Jeff Mirabella, Elgin (28-0); 119, Darrin Thompson, East Aurora (16-0); 160, Cory Anderson, West Aurora (28-0); 152, Mike Frecking, Warren (26-0); 112, Rich Weeden, Wheaton North (23-0); 171, Lance Pelton, Minooka (33-0); 160, Todd Schmittel, Thornton Fractional South (33-0); heavyweight, Steve Weekly, Sandwich (31-0-1) GYMNASTICS
Not only is Addison Trail sophomore Leticia Dennis an accomplished gymnast, but she`s a highly visible model as well. Dennis, whose father, Fred, coaches the Blazers, competed in Saturday`s West Suburban Conference Gold Division meet despite still being bothered by the effects of pneumonia, which she contracted in October. The Blazers edged Downers Grove South for the title 141.6-140.9 behind Dennis, sophomore Michelle Novello and freshman Penny Kunsman.
Because of her ailment, Dennis has missed some practices, but no meets.
”I`m just glad I`m here and competing,” she said after finishing fourth in the all-around competition. ”It`s just a little hard to breathe whenever I go upside down and fluids drain. But I love competing, and I don`t want to let go. Our team`s really on the edge, and I think we`re in a good position for the state series.”
Dennis, who began her modeling career at age 11 by posing for Sears catalog ads, has since done television commercial work for various products. Recently, she was featured on an AT&T billboard.
”Modeling`s more fun fun,” she said. ”This (gymnastics) is fun you remember for the rest of your life. This is teamwork, not just for yourself, but for everyone else who you compete on a team with.”
Everyone else on the Blazers did well Saturday, with Kunsman winning the floor exercise title (9.3) and Novello tying Downers Grove South freshman Stephanie Grygiel for first on balance beam (9.3).
FOOTBALL
Mike Sieja is replacing Gary Stearns as Elmwood Park`s head football coach. Sieja, a Gordon Tech graduate, has been a varsity assistant at Elmwood Park for the last two seasons.