Emptying the Postseason Notebook
Hoop Notes on Conant, Fremd, Palatine, Lake Zurich Boys; St. Viator, Grayslake Central, Cary-Grove Girls; Wild Regional Title for Barrington Grad McAllister at Boylan; Big Finish for MSL Wrestling
We’re finally in March and there’s never any shortage of madness once the state basketball tournaments begin. And there’s no shortage of stories, either.
Relentless Conant, Biedke Nearly Stun No. 1
Greg Grana said the “Fremd series was a great encapsulation” of the progress his 15-15 team made in his first season as Conant’s head coach.
Fremd won the first meeting 70-47 when it crushed the Cougars on the boards 36-12. The gap closed to 54-46 in the second one with the Mid-Suburban West champions.
No. 3 saw the Cougars, seeded eighth in the Schaumburg Class 4A sectional, nearly pull off a shocker for the regional championship at Larkin. They had a 1-point lead going into the final 20 seconds and then the ball with a chance to win before falling 47-44 to the top-seeded Vikings.
“We talked about it all year,” Grana said. ‘Our togetherness and how when we have relentless effort and a relentless sense of unity is when we’re at our best and we gave our absolute best tonight. I’m so proud of our seniors, the other players on our team and the coaching staff.”
No one exemplified that better in the final matchup with Fremd than 6-foot-7 Bradley Biedke. The all-MSL pick, who is headed to CCIW champion Illinois Wesleyan, had 23 points and 13 rebounds with two 3-pointers and an emphatic two-hand dunk.
“All the seniors wanted this since last year’s game,” Biedke said of an upset loss to Hersey in the regional opener. “We really wanted this as a team and to have a good memory to finish off our senior year. They kind of got us at the end and it’s a heartbreaker to all of us.”
Biedke’s final high school game mirrored the Fremd series in a sense as he missed his first 5 shots. He came out midway through the first period and was calmed by Grana for a brief stretch before returning and doing all his scoring in the final 25:17.
“That’s a credit to him,” Grana said. “We had a little bit of a reset. He composed himself beautifully like a leader does and performed so well.”
And Grana likes what his senior class has done, along with his staff led by varsity assistant Jimmy Lundquist and sophomore coach Mick Trimarco, to build the foundation for the future. Grana assisted Matt Walsh for three years and Derek Fivelson for last year’s state baseball runner-up at Conant and he played baseball for Paul Belo and basketball for Eric Millstone at Palatine.
“The seniors set such a high standard and let us continue to try to raise that bar,” Grana said. “The coaching staff, I’m fortunate to have them and the trust that gets built in our program as we build.”
Trust Matters to Fremd Juniors
Juniors Jordan Williams and Tommy Moffett saw the belief of others lead to their crucial plays in the final 27 seconds of Fremd’s 47-44 regional final win over Conant.
The Vikings gave the 6-6 Williams the ball immediately out of a timeout that he said was “was designed for me to go left and get to the hoop.” He did and put them ahead to stay with 18 seconds to play.
“I thank my teammates and coaches for that play call,” Williams said.
Moffett made a midcourt interception of Conant’s inbound pass from under its own basket with 6.4 seconds left. Moffett said it was a play Fremd works on defending in practice.
Moffett then hit 2 free throws to cap a strong finish after he was 0-for-4 with 1 point and 3 rebounds in the first three quarters. He also hit a big 3 and finished with 8 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists.
“It was very tough but we stayed together,” Moffett said. “My teammates really picked me up after the first 3 quarters and that’s what helped get me going. That togetherness.”
Williams and Fremd coach Mike Brown were also impressed by what they had to overcome to beat Conant and Bradley Biedke a third time this season.
“He was very aggressive and props to him because he gave a lot of effort,” Williams said. “He gave me a hard time but we pulled through. The last shot he made - the and-1 - was nice.”
That one put Conant up 44-43 with 30 seconds to play.
“Conant is such a tough team and Biedke just dominated the game,” Brown said. “Williams is a really good player and he found a way to pick up a bucket at the end when we really needed it, and then we buckled down on that last stand.”
And now Fremd takes a 26-3 record into Tuesday’s 4A sectional semifinal at Schaumburg for an intriguing matchup with No. 4 Hersey and first-year coach Bob Widlowski. Widlowski spent the last 22 years in charge of the Fremd program and retired from teaching after the 2023-24 school year.
Braheny, St. Viator Girls Make Big Jump
Kyle Braheny laughed at how unsurprisingly defensive he was in discussing his second season as St. Viator’s head coach after a 52-43 sectional semifinal loss Tuesday to top-seed Grayslake Central in North Chicago.
“Hard-nosed defense goes a long way,” Braheny said.
The 2005 Schaumburg graduate was an all-MSL player as a senior in a program where tough man-to-man defense was coach Bob Williams’ staple for success. And in an all-area football senior season, he was the only player to start on both sides of the field as a wide receiver and free safety with 4 interceptions for Tom Cerasani, who said “no one was going to get behind him.”
“Their three guards are physical players but our toughness matched theirs pretty well,” Braheny said. “It was a great defensive effort on our part to hold them to 32 after three. Our guards were very physical with their guards.”
Grayslake Central used 6-1 Madison Hoffman, who is going to play at D-I Green Bay, to contain 5-7 standout Ava Garcia. The only freshman on the 15-player all-East Suburban Catholic Conference team had 9 points and got just 10 shots but contributed 12 rebounds and 4 assists.
“They had a good game plan for Ava,” Braheny said. “She’s such a smart basketball player and analyzes the game so well and creates opportunities for us to score.”
Viator repeated as a regional champion under Braheny but its win total doubled from 10 to 20 as its points allowed per game dropped from 51 to 41. He returns his three leading scorers from the sectional semifinal in Garcia and sophomores Bella Gounaris and Kalin McCrea, who had 11 points apiece, and likes the culture that’s developing since he arrived after six seasons as head coach at Niles West.
“We showed they can compete with them and can compete with anyone,” Braheny said. “I feel very good about where the program is at right now. The way they’ve bought into the program goes a long way.
“Our kids are great kids and want to be here and they’re a pleasure to coach. Our players were upset after the game because they care and they want to win. That’s a sign they want to improve and grow.”
Another Super Season for Grayslake Central Girls
Grayslake Central girls basketball coach Steve Ikenn is a lifelong White Sox fan who has had weekend season tickets since the 1980s and has Sox license plate on his car. Ikenn fondly recalled meeting Carlos May in the 1970s and talked about how he and his wife are looking forward to going to Cooperstown for the posthumous Hall of Fame induction of Dick Allen this summer.
So Ikenn could appreciate the reference to the moniker of the 1983 American League West champions after the Rams edged Cary-Grove 33-31 in overtime for the North Chicago Class 3A sectional title.
“Winning ugly,” Ikenn said with a smile.
This time of year it’s all about points on the scoreboard and not those of style. Now Ikenn and the 28-5 Rams get a fourth supersectional shot at Montini when they meet at 5:30 Monday at Forest View in Arlington Heights.
Montini (24-10), led by Missouri signee Nikki Kerstein, won 44-25 last year, 55-33 in 2020 and 64-41 in 2011. Grayslake also went to the 2004 supersectional when it had just one high school and lost 74-67 to Marian Catholic under Mike Hirsch.
The Rams are more experienced this time around with seniors Madison Hoffmann, 1,000-point scorer Annie Wolff and post defender Katelyn Marcelain, junior Mosey Drevline and sophomore Peyton Hoffmann all back from last year.
“We have the same roster and everyone here today has been in this game before,” said Madison Hoffmann, the D-I Green Bay recruit. “I’m super confident we’re going to bring it Monday. I’m really excited.”
Central has also been tested as its five losses were to 4A schools in Libertyville, Maine South, Hersey, Homewood-Flossmoor and Mundelein.
“They’ve been through it before and they’re resilient,” Ikenn said. “Mentally they’re in a better place than they were last year. It’s not going to be easy but nothing is easy this time of year.”
The Rams experienced it in the sectional as they trailed St. Viator going into the fourth quarter of the semifinal and were down 6 points in the fourth quarter against Cary-Grove. Madison Hoffmann scored 14 of her 15 after halftime against Cary-Grove.
“Coming out in the first half my shots weren’t really falling for me and I wasn’t doing what I know I can do,” Hoffmann said after the Cary win. “After halftime I started taking it more inside and the 3-point play (to start the third quarter) gave me confidence.
“We talk as a team no matter what the score is, we have to keep the same energy. Our girls looked the same as when we were up in the beginning of the game and we stayed together.”
Hoffmann, who is Central’s career assist leader and one of its top career scorers, also showcased her defensive versatility last week. She guarded Viator standout freshman guard Ava Garcia and spent some time against Cary’s 6-2 Lehigh recruit Ellie Mjaanes.
“Everybody looks at Madison because of her scoring and assists but she’s a good defensive player, too,” Ikenn said. “She’s a complete player. Wisconsin-Green Bay is getting a heck of a player next year.
“Great players rise to the occasion and the same was true for Mjaanes for Cary. She was great, too. You had two great D-I players making plays for their teams all night. Madison stepped up and did what she’s done for four years.”
Cary’s Moretti Gets Support from Mentor Travers
Cary-Grove girls basketball coach Tony Moretti was greeted by an old friend at North Chicago before Thursday’s 3A sectional championship game against Grayslake Central.
Longtime Conant boys and girls coach Dan Travers, who is retired, came out to see Moretti’s team try to win Cary’s first sectional title since 1989. Moretti was a sophomore assistant for Travers in boys coach Tom McCormack’s program in the late 1990s.
“It was good to see him out here,” Moretti said of his mentor after the 33-31 overtime loss. “He’s always got my back.”
Moretti also assisted legendary Dundee-Crown girls coach Joe Komaromy and was a girls assistant at Crystal Lake South and boys assistant at Cary. Moretti took over the girls program at Cary in 2019 and he’s had back-to-back 20-win seasons with regional titles.
This year’s team went 25-8 against a brutal schedule that included Huntley, Fremd, Lake Zurich and Libertyville and Moretti’s top player, 6-2 senior Ellie Mjaanes, is going to play at Lehigh. One of Moretti’s assistants is former Conant and Lake Zurich head football coach and current Barrington assistant Bryan Stortz, whose senior daughter Avery had a layup for a 27-21 lead with 6:50 left in regulation.
“I couldn’t be more proud of these girls,” Moretti said. “I didn’t think it was possible to have a group of kids come together the way this group did. Their effort tonight was exactly what you would expect.”
No Class Division for Pekovic, Meadows
Junior Kenan Pekovic may be the outlier but he’s hardly an outsider as the rest of Rolling Meadows’ top eight players in its rotation are seniors.
Pekovic was on the varsity last year and is part of the “R-K-L” group off the bench with seniors Ryan Meyer and Lazar Lazarevic. They have helped the Mustangs head into the Schaumburg sectional semifinal by tying the school record for wins at 28 and winning regional, MSL and MSL East titles.
“We played well, we played hard and we played together,” Pekovic said after he scored 10 points in the Mustangs 60-23 regional opener win over South Elgin. “You’re playing for your teammates and basketball is a team sport where we all have to play together. We think we have a shot to get downstate and that’s our goal.”
Meadows’ only trip to state was in 1990 when it also won 28 games and lost in the Class AA quarterfinals in Champaign in a memorable duel between Mike Lipnisky and Gordon Tech’s Tom Kleinschmidt, now the head coach at two-time defending 3A champ DePaul Prep.
The Mustangs also won 28 and reached the sectional semifinals in 2022. The 2001 team won only half as many games but got hot late in the season and lost to eventual state champion Schaumburg in the sectional final. The 1998 team also reached a sectional final and lost to Elgin.
“This group is really close between the juniors and seniors,” Meadows coach Kevin Katovich said. “It might be the tightest I’ve ever seen two groups together. They all get along and root for each other.”
Meadows will face North Suburban Conference co-champion Stevenson in the second semifinal on Wednesday.
“We can’t let down is the biggest thing,” Pekovic said. “We have to keep our foot on the gas and keep going.”
Wild Ride for Palatine, Lake Zurich
Palatine coach Eric Millstone was curious how many ties and lead changes there were in his team’s 48-42 4A regional semifinal win over Lake Zurich at Rolling Meadows.
The last of six ties was 37-37 with 6:49 left on Palatine sophomore Brady May’s 3. The final two of 12 lead changes were Lake Zurich going up 39-38 at 4:50 on a long jumper by junior Kain Kretschmar and the Pirates countering 12 seconds later with 2 free throws by junior big man Tony Balanganayi.
The biggest leads of 6 points were by Palatine in a 9-3 start and at the finish.
“That’s a credit to Lake Zurich because they make things difficult,” Millstone said of its tough man-to-man defense. “When you beat a team like that you feel like you’ve earned it. They’re athletic but physical, too.”
Avenging an earlier 54-40 loss was part of a nice close to a 19-14 season where the Pirates won 6 of their last 8 games. Their six consecutive winning seasons is the program’s longest run of sustained success since they had eight in a row from 1936-37 to 1943-44 under renowned coach, educator and local sports columnist G.A. McElroy.
“It’s a good exhausted right now,” Palatine senior guard Carter Monroe said after the LZ win. “They’re so physical out there and we’re physical too. You have to match it and last time we didn’t.”
Lake Zurich coach Terry Coughlin said a deficit that looks small seems bigger against Palatine and its 1-2-2 zone.
“When you’re chasing two possessions against them that’s hard,” Coughlin said. “They put a lot of pressure on us to have to make shots and kind of squeezed us a bit. I thought we did a good job on (Balanganayi) but they execute really well.”
The Bears started three juniors in Kretschmar, Evan Peterson and Adrian Riep and its top two reserves against Palatine were juniors Tyler Reed and Zach Bonelli-Schultz. Their 13-18 finish included a dramatic 1-point win at state-ranked Warren and a run to finish fourth at York’s prestigious and powerful Jack Tosh Holiday Classic.
But Coughlin was also appreciative of his five seniors in starters Connor Strauss and Tyler Olson and Cash Kaczmarek, Dominik Herdus and Sam Elias. Coughlin took out Strauss and Olson in the final seconds so they could receive some applause for their efforts.
“It’s one of the best senior classes I’ve ever had. All five were about the team and would do anything we asked,” Coughlin said. “They’re one of the most selfless groups we’ve had and it’s tough to lose those guys.
“The challenge to the guys coming up is to honor those guys. They’re what it’s like to be a Lake Zurich Bear and embody what our program is about.”
Rough Season Now One to Remember for McAllister, Boylan
Brett McAllister has had a lot of success in his nine-year tenure as head coach at perennial power Rockford Boylan. But the sixth regional title in eight tries (not counting the shortened COVID 2021 season) for the 2003 Barrington grad and 36th in school history has to be one of the most unlikely in state history.
Boylan, the seventh seed in a nine-team 3A subsectional, entered the postseason at 4-26 with 21 losses in its last 22 games. The only win in that stretch was against a second-seeded Freeport team the Titans beat again 68-63 in the regional semifinal.
Fifth-seed Rochelle beat No. 2 Woodstock, the only team in the Freeport regional with a winning record, to reach the regional championship. Boylan’s young team rallied from a 5-point deficit in the final 26 seconds and held on 64-63 as a game-winning drive rolled off the rim at the buzzer.
Threes by sophomore Jayven Golden and junior Christian Kennedy put the Titans ahead with 6.4 seconds left, according to veteran Rockford Register Star preps writer Matt Trowbridge. Sophomore Madden Fuehrer had a team-high 23 points before fouling out and sophomore Alex Ambrose had 6 points.
“I’m really proud of our kids,” McAllister told Rockford TV station WTVO after the game. “They’ve had a tough season. A lot of adversity. A lot of people saying stuff about them and their record and who they are. I think this week has been a testament to who they really are.”
Boylan started the season 2-1 was 3-5 before going on an 18-game losing streak that included an 0-4 finish at Jacobs’ Hinkle Holiday Classic and matchups with St. Viator and Antioch. Now the Titans take on the ultimate underdog role against a 30-1 Kaneland team on a 29-game winning streak in Wednesday’s 7 p.m. sectional semifinal at Rochelle.
The underdog role is atypical for Boylan and McAllister, who played for Mike Obsuszt on Barrington’s 2002 AA supersectional team.
McAllister started as an assistant for Steve Goers, one of the winningest coaches in state history who won three fourth-place trophies and took seven teams to the AA Elite Eight. Mike Winters followed with two sectional titles in five seasons. A 12-19 finish last year was Boylan’s first losing season since 1981 but McAllister was 149-62 in his first seven seasons with a sectional title in 2018.
Elite Weekend on Mats for Hersey, Schaumburg
The big turnaround for Hersey wrestling under coach Joe Rupslauk culminated in a fourth-place finish in the Class 3A dual team state meet Saturday in Bloomington. It was the first state trophy for the Huskies since they won the MSL’s only two team titles under Tom Porter in 1971-72. Back then the team results were decided from the performances of individual meet qualifiers.
The Huskies also had two individual medalists this year in Elijah Garza (4th, 132 pounds) and Max Mukhamedaliyev (5th, 144). Mukhamedaliyev also joined Dave Stoltz (1995-97) as the program’s only three-time state medalists.
Schaumburg reached the Elite Eight for the first time under 14th-year head coach Mike LeVanti. Brady Phelps finished second at 120 and joined Fremd’s Evan Gosz as the first four-time individual state medalists from the MSL. Callen Kirchner also took sixth at 150 for the Saxons.
LeVanti was the 1998 Daily Herald’s Cook County Athlete of the Year as a three-sport standout at Hersey. LeVanti was a two-time state wrestling qualifier, an undersized All-Area lineman and he finished his prep career by taking third in the discus at the Class AA state track meet. At the time it was the school’s highest individual state track finish.