Dec. 9, 2005

INTERSTATE EIGHT

Seneca      80 , Sandwich   46
Reed-Custer 46 , Wilmington 33
Plano       64 , Dwight     52

Lisle       56 , Coal City  54
Lisle (6-2, 3-0): Shamon Cherry 18 pts

Plano Finally Breaks Through
Reapers End Four Game Skid At Dwight

By Bill Lidinsky Plano Record

It’s tough to imagine that after last season’s 20-9 record and an IHSA Regional Championship, that the Plano High School varsity basketball team would start off with so much difficulty.
But with the football season going very long into the post season playoffs, the Reapers have struggled to find basketball consistency in light of their football success and lack of players.
After losing their fourth game in a row 71-29 last Tuesday Dec. 6 at home against IHSA Class A power Seneca, Plano finally struck back with the confidence that served them well in 2004-05 in capturing a 64-52 victory at Dwight last Friday Dec. 9.
On Tuesday in the loss to Seneca, Plano seemed lackluster and in awe of the power the Fighting Irish possess as the state’s second ranked team in the Class A division. But on Friday the Reapers were in command from the get go in beating the Trojans to break a four game slide.
“We really wanted to get back on the winning track and gain some consistency with our football players coming back and rounding into shape as a basketball team,” said Plano head basketball coach Nate Spriggs. “The guys were very disappointed with the slow start, especially in Interstate Eight Conference play this year so when we got going early against Dwight it was a welcome relief.”
Despite trailing 14-13 after one quarter, Plano outscored the Trojans 15-9 in the second period to take a 28-23 lead into the locker room at the half. The momentum continued into the third quarter as the Reapers outscored Dwight 12-7 in the period to take a 40-30 lead into the final stanza. From there Plano maintained their scoring consistency on the way to the 12 point victory.
“Our seniors now that they’re not playing football are really getting into the swing of things. We showed that versus Dwight and we now are beginning to realize our potential again as a basketball team,” Spriggs said.
Senior’s Matt Priesman and Alex Jensen led the way scoring with 22 and 15 points respectively versus Dwight, while senior Will Brown also added 13 tallies as the only other Reaper player in double figures.
“I finally got my shot to start falling and I was able to create and drive to the basket while getting some points,” Priesman said. “It was good to see that Al, Will, and myself were able to take control of this game and show what we’re capable of a performance game especially after the great year we had last season.”
With the win Plano officially captured their first win of the season and moved to 1-8 overall and 1-2 in the I-8. Despite having two wins earlier in the year the Reapers have had to contend with eligibility issues surrounding junior Obina Agomo which forced them to forfeit two earlier wins. The school and the team have now moved on in search of the glory they found last year as Regional champions.
“The guys have really been looking forward to a conference win and it was a good road victory against Dwight. We believe now we’re really going to start turning things around and get on a roll before Christmas comes,” Spriggs said.
Next up for the Reapers is Saturday night’s road game against rival Somonauk and then next Tuesday night’s game at home against Hinckley-Big Rock. Both games are critical for Plano as they head into the annual Reaper Christmas Basketball Classic scheduled for Dec. 27-30 at Plano. The 16 team field will be seeded this week and Plano hopes for a favorable ranking despite the slow start.
“We’re not concerned about our placement in the Classic. We now have the opportunity to show what we’ve built this season after getting our football players back into basketball,” Spriggs said. “We’d love to stay in the winners bracket and play the top teams like we did last year. We’re 1-8 but actually we’re 3-6 and we’ve played four Class two A schools and Seneca. So our early road hasn’t been easy. I know we’ll be ready to compete in the next two games as well as being able to defend out strong position we attained in the Classic in 2004.”

Aurora Central overcomes slow start

FROM STAFF REPORTS-Beacon News

Aurora Central shook off a slow first half and finally came around for a 67-51 win over St. Edward in Suburban Catholic conference play.

St. Edward, winless on the season and dealing with plenty of internal team strife, opened up the first half for new coach Frank Hood with a 26-23 lead.

"We came out and were really bad in the first half, about as bad as we can play," said ACC coach Nathan Drye. "At halftime we (coaches) really got into them and really chewed them out and they responded."

The Chargers shot 60 percent in the second half and held the Green Wave to just 36 percent shooting on the game while forcing 20 turnovers. Justin Patterson led the way for Central with 12 points, while Mike Benjamin tossed in 10.

After going 8-21 last season, the Chargers are nearing that win total quickly. ACC is now 6-1 overall and 2-0 in league play.

Yorkville 61, Oswego East 41 — Hoyt Rees scored 18 points and grabbed 11 rebounds as Yorkville used a huge third quarter to put away Oswego East. The Foxes held a four-point lead (32-28) at the break, but used an 18-2 advantage to open the second half.

"The third quarter was the big quarter," said Yorkville coach Jerry Farber, whose team improves to 3-4. "We got quite a few transition points."

Ryan Negre scored nine points in the quarter for Yorkville, and finished with 17 points on the night. Avrey Smith had nine points to lead Oswego East.

Plainfield Central 73, Kaneland 62 — Brad Harner and Jake Jorgensen had 15 points each for Kaneland (3-3), while Will Pattermann added 13 points and Lucas Bradbury tossed in 11.

Illiana Christian 62, Aurora Christian 42 — The Eagles fell behind 25-4 after one quarter and never recovered in the Private School League game. Marcus Barnes led ACHS (2-4, 1-1) with 10 points.

Hinckley-Big Rock 59, Newark 56 — The Royals used balanced scoring to improve to 2-0 in the Little 10 (4-2 overall). Eric Oros led the way with 15 points for H-BR, while Joe Jenness added 12, and Tyler Nauman, Jake Austin, and Matt Koehling added 10 apiece. Ivo Gentchev scored a game-high 19 for Newark, while Ron Paplowski tossed in 12 points, and Kyle Janssen 11.

Indian Creek 63, Paw Paw 54 — Chris Tidwell scored 20 points and Jake Swanson added 14 and the Timberwolves improved to 5-3 overall and 1-1 in the Little Ten Conferencce.

Plano 64, Dwight 52 — Matt Priesman scored a game-high 22 points to lead the Reapers. Alex Jensen added 15 points for Plano, while Will Brown chipped in with 13.

Seneca 80, Sandwich 46 — Alan Ritchie scored 13 points for the Indians, while Mike Meyer added 10