Cleaning Out Post-Holiday Hoops Notebook
Bits on Barrington, Rolling Meadows, Conant, Lake Zurich, Metamora, Grant; Bob Williams' 500th Win Among Coaching Milestones
Emptying out the notebooks with some post-Christmas basketball gifts:
Tacher Gives Barrington a Boost
Barrington ended up giving repeat Hinkle Holiday Classic champion Waubonsie Valley its toughest test in the last two seasons.
The Broncos got within 4 points late before falling 66-59 in the semifinals. The Warriors other seven victories at Jacobs were by double digits.
“Looking at this loss, I think a lot of good will come out of it,” said Barrington senior Chris Tacher. “Waubonsie Valley is a very talented team and we saw how we handled it. It gives us a very positive outlook for our future games.”
Tacher, who transferred in for his final year of high school with 6-7 Danny Shackleton after Elgin Academy closed, had 20 points as Barrington rallied from deficits of 9-0, 18-5 and 22-7. Junior Oliver Gray got rolling in the fourth quarter with five 3-pointers to finish with 21 points.
Tacher also provided a big boost since Barrington lost Nick Peipert, one of its top offensive threats, to a season-ending shoulder injury in the first game of the year. Senior forward Ian Tepas also missed the tournament with an injured ankle.
“With the injuries other kids have to expand their roles and you’re seeing kids getting more comfortable in expanded roles,” said Barrington coach Bryan Tucker.
“I’ve been waiting for one of these games,” Tacher said. “Before the season, after I met Oliver, we’ve been together in the gym every single day. You can see it coming together and there’s a lot of hope for the future.”
And a threat like Gray always gives the Broncos hope as he averaged nearly 26 points in a 5-game stretch that included the Hinkle Holiday Classic.
“Oliver Gray is an incredible basketball player,” said Conant coach Greg Grana.
“They’re a very good team with tough, tough kids who are physical,” said Waubonsie coach Andrew Schweitzer. “(Gray) was the main thing on our scouting report. We did a good job in the first half but he’s going to get his. He’s tough.
“As soon as he sees one go through it’s going again. He’s a special shot maker.”
Barrington hosts MSL West leader Fremd at 6 p.m. Friday.
Miletic Gets Used to Getting Physical
Rolling Meadows senior Ian Miletic probably feels at times like he is playing in the rough-and-tumble old Big East Conference of the 1980s.
But the 6-7 Miletic, who was accidentally kicked in the head in the final seconds of Saturday’s 39-37 win over Downers Grove North in the WSC/MSL Challenge, is getting a good primer for the current Big East when he heads to Marquette.
“That’s where his growth is,” said Meadows coach Kevin Katovich. “Last year teams would get super-physical with him and he’d get really frustrated. This year he sticks with it.”
It showed with plays such as a spinning, driving 3-point play down the lane, rebound basket and tough 14-foot turnaround as he was bumped to the floor in the final nine minutes of a comeback from a 30-21 deficit.
“We knew they would play us physically when we were preparing for them,” MIletic said after scoring a game-high 14 points. “It’s a good challenge to see how we would respond as a team and stay in there mentally and focus on us.”
And the play of senior Lazar Lazarevic at both ends was crucial for the Mustangs. He scored 8 points on Saturday after a pair of 17-point performances in their final two games at York’s Jack Tosh Holiday Classic.
“He’s always been a guy to step up in key facets of the game,” Miletic said. “Lazar has gotten a lot better on ‘D.” He’s always been a great piece for us and it’s great to see his growth.”
Lazarevic said he likes coming in and providing a boost off the bench with teammates Ryan Meyer and Kenan Pekovic.
“Especially seeing what’s going on out there,” Lazarevic said. “I can make adjustments out there and make an impact on the court.”
Meadows, which has won the last four Mid-Suburban East titles, has another big test Friday when it hosts Hersey for first place in the division at 6 p.m. Friday.
Conant Continues Early Morning Tradition
Playing the 9 a.m. game the day after Christmas would be a major concern for a lot of basketball coaches.
For Conant’s boys team it definitely couldn’t be used as a crutch or excuse for its trip to Elmhurst and a tough 33-30 opening win over Highland Park in York’s 50th annual Jack Tosh Holiday Classic against Highland Park. First-year head coach Greg Grana is continuing the tradition of early-morning practices started in the 1980s by Tom McCormack.
“There’s something about the Conant basketball story,” Grana said after Friday’s 62-58 Mid-Suburban West win over Barrington on Dec. 20. “Playing defense, being together and morning practices. We use it as a tool in our toolbelt.”
The Cougars put on their proverbial hard hats in an effort against Barrington that was a complete 180 from a 70-47 loss a week earlier at Fremd. They went 2-2 at York before losing in the WSC/MSL Challenge to Addison Trail despite 30 points from 6-7 senior Bradley Biedke and in a nonconference game Monday night to Geneva.
“We have talent everywhere and we’re the most unselfish team,” Biedke said after the Barrington win. “No one cares who gets the most shots or the most points. Everyone wants to share the ball. (Fremd) was a stab in the heart for us. That’s not who we are and we took it as motivation - everyone in practice to grab every rebound and every loose ball.”
Lake Zurich Makes Strong Impression at York
Losing its last two games couldn’t detract from what Lake Zurich found during a fourth-place finish in its first trip to York’s Jack Tosh Holiday Classic.
The Bears came out of the tournament with a 6-8 record but also with a lot of confidence and two all-tourney picks in junior Kain Kretschmar and senior Connor Strauss. They faced high-level athletes throughout in wins over Lemont and junior Gabe Sularski, Lyons and 6-7 Ian Polonowski and St. Ignatius and Northwestern-bound Phoenix Gill, the son of Illinois’ 1989 “Flyin’ Illini” star and NBA standout Kendall Gill.
In the semifinals they hung tough with Fenwick and Michigan-bound football standout Nate Marshall before falling 50-37. And then in the third-place game, with all-tourney pick Connor Strauss out, they lost 70-67 to central Illinois power Metamora with Matthew Zobrist (Bradley) and 6-10 Jonah Funk (North Dakota).
“It’s huge for us,” all-tourney junior Kain Kretschmar said after the Fenwick loss. “We proved we belonged in this tournament. We came out slow (2-6 start) but we proved we’re able to play with the big leagues.
“We won against tough teams and proved we can play with good teams.”
Kretschmar averaged 14.2 points and 4.8 rebounds with 11 3s in 5 games at York and Strauss averaged 10.2 points and 7.5 rebounds. Evan Peterson, the 5-9 junior point guard who hit the tough layup to beat St. Ignatius 38-36, averaged 7 points and 4.8 assists and 6-4 junior Adrian Riep averaged 11.2 points.
One of the big challenges the Bears faced early was the transfer of 6-8 Dartmouth recruit Anton Strelnikov to La Lumiere prep school in Indiana after the summer.
“We keep getting better and better and losing Anton, we had to re-shape our identity a little bit,” said LZ coach Terry Coughlin. “Part of our struggles were figuring it out and we’re figuring it out now.”
The games at York were also part of a rugged early-season schedule that included New Trier, Waukegan, Libertyville and Stevenson. Coughlin said after the Fenwick loss that 6 of the 13 teams the Bears had played were in the Sun-Times Top 25 at some point - and that doesn’t include Metamora.
“Our goal is to try to see as many different styles and different types of teams so we’re ready when it comes regional time,” Coughlin said after playing before a big semifinal crowd at York. “This was a sectional-type atmosphere out there. This will help prepare us for that.”
More Metamora at the Tosh
Metamora has made a strong impression in its two years at York’s Jack Tosh Holiday Classic with a championship in 2023 and a third-place finish in 2024. And the Redbirds plan to continue making the trek from outside of Peoria to Elmhurst, per Joe Henricksen of the City-Suburban Hoops Report and Chicago Sun-Times.
“This is awesome for us,” first-year Metamora coach Justin Dehm said after Saturday’s quarterfinal win over Rolling Meadows. “We’re not going anywhere else as long as they’ll have us.”
Dehm, who was a Metamora assistant before Danny Grieves retired after last season, elaborated on the benefits of a school with 923 students that won the 3A state title in 2023 coming north for the prestigious 32-team event.
“We love playing some of the big suburban schools that are 2 to 3 times bigger than us,” Dehm said. “It brings the best out of our guys.
“They had a kid off the bench score 17 (Meadows’ senior Lazar Lazarevic) and you never see that in Central Illinois. You have a ton of really good coaches who run good stuff and the atmosphere is like a postseason event.”
It also brought out the best in 6-5 Bradley-bound senior guard Matthew Zobrist as he wowed the crowds en route to averaging 23.2 points and 5.6 assists in Metamora’s 5 games. He shot 54 percent from the field (41-for-76) and 43.6 percent from 3-point range (19-for-44) and the only player who kept him from tournament MVP honors was sophomore sensation Davion Thompson of champion Bolingbrook.
“He’s a stud,” said Meadows coach Kevin Katovich after watching Zobrist’s 29-point, 7-assist performance. “He keeps his composure and he’s a really nice player. There’s no shame in losing to that team.”
Jonah Funk, a 6-10 South Dakota recruit who transferred from El Paso-Gridley, is another big challenge for opponents after averaging 15.6 points and 6.8 rebounds and shooting 66.7 percent (32-for-48) at York. Zobrist having Funk makes Metamora a legit 3A threat in Champaign if it can get past sectional threats such as Peoria High and Morton.
Grant Rebounds for Hinkle Consolation Title
Grant has displayed an excellent ability to rebound from adversity.
The Bulldogs’ 1-4 start included losses to Warren, Deerfield, Cary-Grove and Mundelein. They also lost standout senior Landon Enters to a torn ACL.
And after their 5-point loss to Naperville North in the opener of Jacobs’ Hinkle Holiday Classic, they responded again to win the consolation championship and improve to 8-6.
“We put ourselves in a good position to have a shot there,” Grant coach Wayne Bosworth said after the Naperville North loss. “We had a couple of shots we didn’t make, missed a boxout, missed a free throw here and there, those little things. Once we do that we’ll win big games.
“(Naperville North) is a good ballclub and they gave themselves a good chance. We have a good group of guys who are willing to work.”
Senior Demarrion Smith averaged 18 points a game to earn all-tournament honors. Sophomore Charles Schlicht averaged 16.3 and senior Braylon Gray 12.5.
“Demarrion has really stepped up into a bigger role since we lost Landon,” said Bosworth, who won his 200th career game earlier this season. “He’s really stepped into the leadership and scoring roles. We have guys who are stepping up and starting to get a feel for their new roles.”
Fitting Opponent for Bob Williams’ 500th Victory
Bob Williams mentioned it would be fitting if his 500th career victory as a high school head coach came against a Peoria team. Especially since the biggest win of his career and in MSL boys basketball history was Schaumburg beating Thornwood in the 2001 Class AA state championship game at the Peoria Civic Center.
Williams, who coached Schaumburg from 1991-2009, is now in his second year at Horizon High School in Scottsdale, Arizona. And career win No. 500 came against Peoria of Arizona 79-47 in the Saguaro Holiday Classic in Scottsdale.
Four of Williams’ 347 wins at Schaumburg came in central Illinois’ Peoria - the 1999 quarterfinal en route to fourth place in the AA tourney and the three on the way to the title in 2001. From Schaumburg he went to Niles West and then Benedictine Military School in Savannah, Georgia.
Former MSL West Foes Bring Teams to Jacobs
Scott Hennig (Hoffman Estates) and Brett McAllister (Barrington) were seniors when their teams met three times in the 2002-03 season. Now they are head coaches and Hennig (Geneva) and McAllister (Rockford Boylan) have their teams at the Hinkle Holiday Classic at Jacobs. Geneva is making its first appearance and Boylan won the 2015 title in the first of a two-year stint at the Hinkle.
Hennig started for Bill Wandro on the 2003 team that lost in the Class AA sectional final to Glenbrook North and freshman Jon Scheyer. He entered his eighth season as head coach at Geneva with a 134-76 record but his second-seeded unbeaten team was upset in the quarterfinals by seventh-seed Grayslake Central and finished 2-2. His eight years as an assistant at Geneva to Phil Ralston included the program’s fourth-place state finish in 2015.
McAllister was part of the rotation for Mike Obsuszt as a junior in 2002 when Barrington lost a 41-38 heartbreaker to Highland Park in the Class AA supersectional at Loyola. He entered his ninth season as head coach at the storied Boylan program with a 161-81 record but his team went 0-4 at the Hinkle Holiday Classic. He was an assistant for seven years for Mike Winters and Steve Goers and also had a stint as an assistant at Barrington.
Ashlaw Sets Waukegan Wins Record
Ron Ashlaw, who is in his second stint as Waukegan’s head coach, passed Jack Miller as the school’s winningest boys basketball coach with a second-round victory over Shepard en route to a repeat Elgin Holiday Tournament title. Miller was 223-69 from 1959-71 with 3 sectional titles and his 1969 Elite Eight team featured future Hoffman Estates football coach Jim Rucks.
Ashlaw’s first stint from 2007-13 included teams that finished second in 4A in 2009 and third in 2010 with Jereme Richmond. He returned as head coach after a two-year hiatus in 2015 and this year’s team is one of the best in the Chicago area with an 11-3 record that includes a win over Warren.
Princeville’s Gross Achieves Girls Milestone
John Gross, a fixture in girls basketball coaching in central Illinois, became the fourth coach to reach 900 victories for a career in the state at Princeville, a Class 1A school about 25 miles northwest of Peoria. He joined Marshall’s Dorothy Gaters (1,133), Fenwick’s Dave Power (1,022) and Galesburg’s Evan Massey (1,018) in the exclusive club, according to the Peoria Journal Star’s Adam Duvall.
Gross is in his 10th season at Princeville after coaching 26 years at Bartonville Limestone, just south of Peoria, and five years at Peoria Richwoods. He won state titles in Class AA in 2005 and 3A in 2008 at Richwoods. Gross has been coaching girls basketball for 49 years.