Kankakee coach Alex Renchen has set strict guidelines for his players to follow throughout his six-year coaching tenure. How strict? Headbands and wristbands aren’t even allowed.
A few weeks ago, a few of his players tried to test Renchen’s rigid ways by requesting to wear headbands. Renchen shrugged off the request and replied, “If all the players do it, you guys could.”
Much to Renchen’s surprise, last week all 15 players showed up wearing headbands. Friday night the Kays had to band together again, this time in a thrilling come-from-behind 66-64 win over SICA South rival Rich Central.
“We try to do things as a team,” Kays guard Marcello Robinson said afterward. “Tonight we won as a team.”
Robinson finished with 19 points while teammate Ron Jones had 22. But it was Maurice Terrell who sparked a second-half comeback in which the Kays had to battle back from a 10-point third-quarter deficit.
Terrell scored all 11 of his points in two separate runs by the Kays. The first was a 13-2 run in the third quarter that wiped out a 41-31 Rich Central lead. The other was a 10-2 run at the start of the fourth quarter that erased a three-point Olympians’ lead and put the Kays up 56-51.
The Olympians (12-9, 5-2), who trailed the Kays by a game in the conference standings entering the contest, pulled within 64-62 with 48 seconds left on a pair of free throws by Raymond Boyd (17 points). The Kays’ Demetrius Love followed that with a layup off an assist from Robinson with 25 seconds left.
Derrick Murphy, who finished with 28 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks, connected on a layup with 3 seconds left for the final score. The Kays (14-4, 8-0) held the ball out of bounds to secure the win and likely the conference title.
“I was mostly pleased with our mental toughness tonight,” Renchen said. “Either team could have won, but, again, I thought we were mentally tougher.”
What about those headbands?
“Guys that played for me four or five years ago couldn’t believe I let them wear headbands,” he said. “That’s what we try to do, though, everything as a team.”
Bill Harrison.
Proviso East 57, Glenbard West 37: Daniel Brown scored 21 points and Demond Thornton added 12 to lead Proviso East (15-4). Proviso led throughout, but Glenbard closed to within 44-35 in the final four minutes before Proviso closed the game with a 13-2 run.
“We’ve a tough game Saturday night against Addison Trail, so I tried to play a lot of different guys,” Proviso East coach Andrew Johnson said. “We played really good defense in the first half, and that’s the way we’re going to have to play to be successful and win the conference.”
Argo 72, Romeoville 63: The Argonauts (13-8, 5-3) pulled away in the fourth quarter behind Al Sewasciuk’s 29. J.R. Lodan led Romeoville (7-12, 2-5) with 22 in the SICA North battle.
Aurora Central Catholic 73, Marian Central Catholic 55: A.J. Paredones scored 29 points, including five three-pointers, as Aurora Central (12-10, 7-5) rolled in the Suburban Catholic.
Bradley 60, Rich East 49: In the SICA South, Kyle Horner scored 18 points for Bradley (6-13, 3-5).
Dunbar 52, Robeson 48: Marcus Lesure scored 13 points and Jason Straight added 12 for Dunbar (16-5, 8-0) in the Red Central.
DuSable 69, Kenwood 59: Rashawn Hardy scored 18 points and Lenny Duncan added 15 points and 10 rebounds to lead DuSable (12-10, 5-4) in the Red Central.
Englewood 77, Lindblom 75: Gary Patterson, who tallied 22 points and had 12 rebounds, hit two free throws with five seconds remaining in OT to give Englewood (9-3, 7-1) a Blue Central win. Lucas Currie added 21 points.
Geneva 80, Plainfield 65: Andy Browning scored 20 points and Scott Lindenmuth chipped in 18 for Geneva (14-6, 8-2). Luke Sillar led all scorers with 31 points as Plainfield dropped to 7-10 and 8-2 in the Suburban Prairie Red.
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Glenbrook South 59, Niles West 58: Dave Gershonson scored 19 points, including the game-winner with 30 seconds left, for Glenbrook South (8-14, 2-5) in the Central Suburban South.
Gordon Tech 61, Mt. Carmel 60: Jitim Young scored 21 of his 24 points in the second half as Gordon Tech (16-4, 8-2) edged Mt. Carmel in the Catholic League.
Grant 62, Round Lake 45: Wayne Bosworth scored 23 points to go with Aaron Behm’s 17 for Grant (11-7).
Grayslake 62, Crystal Lake South 60: Grayslake won in the Fox Valley with Liam McCluskey’s 23 points.
Hinsdale Central 59, Oak Park 48: Stephen Callahan scored 18 points and Steve Portschy added 15 for Hinsdale (16-4, 7-1) in the West Suburban Silver.
Lane 57, Von Steuben 44: Curtis Collins scored 24 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for Lane (8-13, 3-6) in the Red North.
Lemont 67, IMSA 28: Dan Inendino paced Lemont (6-13) with 18 points.
Maine West 62, Deerfield 54: Ryan Hargesheimer scored 17 points and Kevin Vail added 13 for Maine West (7-14, 3-4) in the Central Suburban League North.
Marmion 41, St. Francis 39: Chad Rehberg hit a 6-foot jumper with two seconds left to lift Marmion (10-10, 7-5) in the Suburban Catholic.
Naperville Central 63, Wheaton North 58 (OT): Mike Wilson had 18 points and Brazley Barnes added 15 points to lift Naperville Central (17-5, 8-2) in the DuPage Valley. The Redhawks hit nine of 10 free throws in the extra period. Jim Thomas led Wheaton North (12-7, 7-3) with 22 points.
Nazareth 50, Luther North 40: Preston Purchase’s 14 points led the way for Nazareth (12-8, 9-3) in the Private School League.
North Shore 69, Lake Forest Academy 45: Brian Jessen scored 19 points as North Shore prevailed in the Independent School League.
Northridge 90, Tabernacle Christian 62: Ben Ruf led the Knights (16-5, 6-0) with 26 points in the Metro Prep.
Oak Forest 70, Tinley Park 46: Todd Whittmayer had 24 points, 18 of them on three-pointers, to pace Oak Forest in the SICA West.
Prospect 58, Rolling Meadows 35: Brittani Cottrell’s 13 points led the Knights (18-6, 6-4) in the Mid-Suburban.
Riverside-Brookfield 44, Ridgewood 43: In the Suburban Prairie White, Steve Kielp, who had eight points, hit the game-winning layup for Riverside-Brookfield with 13 seconds left (8-12, 7-4).
Rich South 70, Crete-Monee 51: Giani Bearden scored 24 points and Chris Collins added 15 for Rich South (9-11, 3-4) in the SICA South.
St. Gregory 57, St. Benedict 53: Clarence Askew scored 15 points and grabbed nine rebounds to lift St. Gregory (8-13, 2-5) in the Chicagoland Prep.
St. Joseph 56, Carmel 50: Mike Thomas had 13 points, including 11 in the fourth quarter, to lead St. Joseph (16-6, 9-1) in the East Suburban Catholic.
St. Patrick 35, Holy Cross 32: The Shamrocks (16-4, 8-2) escaped in the East Suburban Catholic behind Anthony Scala’s 16 points and five rebounds.
St. Viator 66, Marian Catholic 58: Tony Papanicholas scored 16 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter as St. Viator rallied for the East Suburban Catholic victory.
Schaumburg 59, Conant 52: After scoring only two points in the first quarter, Schaumburg (15-5, 6-1) came back to win the Mid-Suburban West game behind Larry English’s 20 points.
Senn 44, Lake View 38: Lawrence Gills scored 17 points to lift Senn (10-10, 6-3) in the Blue North
Stagg 43, Lockport 38: John Womack scored 17 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to lead Stagg (9-13, 3-4) in the SICA West.
Streamwood 66, Neuqua Valley 54: Theo Powell led all scorers with 18 points and Aaron Doss chipped in 15 points to lead the Sabres (16-4, 7-3) in the Upstate Eight. Nick Bruett led Neuqua Valley (8-12, 1-8) with 15 points.
Sullivan 78, Clemente 61: Willie Rhodes scored 16 points for Sullivan (9-8, 7-1) in the Blue North.
Walther Lutheran 95, Luther South 58: Bo Flowers scored 16 points and Cornell Hemphill added 15 for Walther Lutheran (13-7, 6-4) in the Private School League.
Westmont 68, Evergreen Park 52: Pierre Pierce scored 36 points to lift his career total past 1,500 as Westmont (20-1, 12-0) prevailed in the Suburban Prairie White. Mike Foster led Evergreen Park (12-10, 8-5) with 22 points.