November 2009 Archives

Even Tom Dineen gets nervous.
The former Buffalo Grove coach with over 650 wins couldn't sleep the night before his first practice with Stevenson this fall. But he's probably sleeping a lot better now. The Patriots are 2-1 after beating No. 18 Marian Catholic 60-46 Friday afternoon at the Maine West Tip-Off Tournament.
"We're a little more up-tempo and we like to run the floor and press," Dineen said. "I'm happy with our bench and I've gone seven or eight [players deep] early, but our competition has been pretty good."
Dineen took last season off while he decided what to do about coaching again. He led the Bison to a third place finish in the Class 4A state tournament in 2008 and won a state title with Buffalo Grove in 2000. He had announced before the 2007-08 season that it would be his last at Buffalo Grove. Having last year off was nice, but this year is a lot better.
"I'm having a blast," Dineen said. "I got to know them over the summer, and I have this dry, sarcastic sense of humor so they're starting to figure me out and they are responding to me very well."

Bolingbrook sophomore forward Morgan Tuck returned from an ACL tear Friday night in the top-ranked Raiders' season opener against No. 2 Marian Catholic at home, a 61-42 victory for the defending Class 4A state champions.
Tuck scored 11 points. She said she felt fine and wasn't thinking about reinjuring the knee. Tuck said she wasn't really surprised, either, that she came back in about six months after tearing it over the summer.
And junior guard Ariel Massengale was very impressive, as always. She had 10 steals and scored 12 points. Her defense probably contributed to Marian's 29 turnovers.
But the season is early and coach Tony Smith didn't like all he saw.
"The first game, that is to be expected and we have to work on some things," Smith said. "We didn't do the job. We didn't get into it quick enough and [Marian] got a lot of open looks. We won the game and we'll take it, but there's not going to be any more of 'Yeah, I know, I got it.' "
Smith was also displeased at the number of points the Raiders gave up.
"I don't take anything away from Marian Catholic, but we're at a different level than that," Smith said.
* * * *
And who would have thought that Marian Catholic, the No. 2 ranked team, would start the season 0-2? I guess the No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup was a bit lopsided, but it is still too early to judge the Spartans.
Coach Annie Basic wants another shot at Bolingbrook -- like, maybe, next week.
But seriously, Marian Catholic could face Bolingbrook again in the Class 4A playoffs and that's what Basic is hoping will happen.
"I've been so fortunate to have the type of talent I have had at Marian," Basic said. "You have to help these kids to get where they can be. Next Saturday hopefully we can be 3-2.
"Our goal is to play Bolingbrook again at the end of the year," Basic said. "Marian does not give up."

Morgan Park beat Trinity Tuesday night in River Forest 49-36. I guess you could say it was a surprising victory for the Mustangs since they were ranked No. 24 and Trinity was No. 7.
Morgan Park was impressive. The Mustangs play that fast-break, up-tempo kind of basketball that the Public League is known for, and it was great to see another Public League team aside from the Usual Suspects (Whitney Young, Marshall, Bogan and Von Steuben) not only have a place in the Top 25 but also be a part in an upset.
Trinity, by contrast, is a very young team. The Blazers start two freshmen in Mikayla Leyden and Taylor Nazon, two sophomores in Gracie Sanchez and Megan Podkowa and a junior in Divinity Brown.
Coach Eddie Stritzel notes that of the youngsters, Sanchez is going to be the glue that holds the Blazers' offense together and she isn't half bad on defense, either. She scored 12 points, had 11 rebounds and three blocks.
After the game, Morgan Park sophomore guard Kendyl Nunn -- who scored 11 points, six of them in the third quarter to put the Mustangs ahead for good -- said she wants Morgan Park to get more respect than a No. 24 ranking.
Kendyl, Morgan Park will be ranked No. 24 no more. You'll have to look a lot higher in the Super 25 on Monday to find your Mustangs.
* * * * * * * * * *
It's off to Bolingbrook Friday night for No. 1 vs. No. 2, the host Raiders (the defending Class 4A state champions) and Marian Catholic. Can Marian pull off the third upset of the week, after the Spartans themselves were upset against Lincoln-Way East on Tuesday, 48-41? No. 18 Hillcrest was also upset on Thursday night at unranked Homewood-Flossmoor.

The Sun-Times girls basketball preview came out today. And as always it generated a lot of feedback.
The most talked about portion of the preview is always the top 50 list. There were several e-mails asking why certain players were not included. If those particular players were included we would be over 50. So who do you take out? It's always a difficult decision and one that I dread every year, hating to offend those not chosen. Believe me, it isn't personal.
The other hot topic of e-mails is the 20 questions, more specifically, the best seniors, juniors and sophomores. The question reads: "Who are the five best . . . " I only list five players in each because I feel that if you list more on one class and less in another class, that really isn't fair. Those five best in each class were taken off the top 50 list. However, among freshmen -- Who are some freshmen to watch? -- I break that rule and try to list as many as I can, since freshmen aren't on the top 50 list anyway.
A few players in question were Marian Catholic's Jasmine Matthews, who has five Division I offers; T.F. North's Centrese McGee (an Illinois recruit); South Elgin sophomore Becca Smith; Bogan junior Ariel Haynes; freshman Kari Moffat from Stevenson and the sophomores from Trinity Megan Podkowa and Gracie Sanchez.
These players are all strong in their own right. Just because they were omitted from a list should not take away from their worth to the game.

St. Joseph senior Shannika Bryant will make some history at the Westchester school this week when she signs a Division I letter of intent to play at Wichita State University. Bryant is the first female basketball player from St. Joseph to earn a D-I scholarship.