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Get Seneca Next After Big Win In Round One vs. ACC
By Bill Lidinsky
It’s not at all a stretch to believe that the Serena High School varsity basketball team would be very confident entering the 44 th annual Plano Christmas Classic on Wednesday.
Despite being seeded only eighth with a 6-3 record going into the tournament, the Huskers have a comfort level at Plano dating back to last year’s second place finish behind eventual 2005 champion Seneca.
That confidence shined bright on the court Wednesday morning as Serena opened up the 06 Classic with an impressive 74-58 win over Aurora Central Catholic.
“The experience of Cooper (Westvig), Zach (Terry), and James (DeBolt) playing in such big games here last year really seemed to be evident on this floor, especially this morning. We were really focused and ready to play,” said Serena head basketball coach Randy Goodbread.
It was Westvig’s 11 first quarter points that really got the Huskers rolling. After an initial tie at six, Serena went on a 17-6 run to close the opening period leading 23-12. Westvig would account for the last five with a three ball and a deuce.
“I thought we played very confident today and we felt very comfortable on this court,” Westvig said. “We came out strong early and as we have of late, played very consistent basketball.”
Terry proved to be the Serena spark plug in the second quarter scoring 10 points as the Huskers maintained a steady 37-25 advantage at the half, as the senior also did a nice job defensively on ACC junior star Mark Adams.
“We’re starting to play very good team defense right now. We work on it all the time trying to get good ball pressure to create easy steals and easy buckets,” Terry said. “We were able to do that today and it felt great being back here at Plano again.”
Serena stretched the lead to 58-43 after three quarters of play as DeBolt took control with some strong inside play and rebounding after sitting out the majority of the first half with foul trouble.
From there it was lead maintenance for the Huskers in the final period. Westvig tallied eight of his game high 25 points during the last eight minutes, while Terry tallied six of his 21 points in the final stanza as Serena went on to win by 16.
Serena senior Josh Kueteman also placed himself in double digit scoring with 13 points, 11 of which came during the first half of play. Adams led ACC with 21.
“I thought Josh really got us going today along with Coop in that first quarter,” Goodbread said. “I thought he went to the bucket well and outran his man down the floor most of the time and provided us with a lot of confidence early on.”
With the victory Serena (7-3) moves on to the Classic semifinals to face their nemesis from last year Seneca, who also advanced to round two with a victory over Mendota. The Irish are riding a 54 game winning streak dating back to 2005 which includes last years championship win over the Huskers at Plano and a 20 point victory against Serena this season on Dec. 19.
But with the confidence the Huskers are showing early on the Plano hardcourt, Serena fans believe their guys may be capable of putting an end to the run of the Irish Thursday night at 7 p.m..
“We know what we have to do on Thursday and obviously Seneca will have a lot to say about that,” Goodbread said. “We’re going to have to hit some shots unlike our first game against them a few days ago. But we’ll be ready. We know what it’s like to play against them and we know what they’ve accomplished. Now it’s time to execute what we need to do to be successful. It should be a great ballgame tomorrow night at Plano.”
Sandwich Sends A Statement At The Classic
By Bill Lidinsky
The number two seeded Sandwich Indians put the whole 16 team field at the Plano Christmas Classic on notice that they will be a force to be reckoned with over the next few days of play.
Behind balanced scoring and stifling defense, Sandwich (9-4) blitzed first round opponent Indian Creek (3-8) 86-43.
The game was never in doubt, as the Indians led 36-17 at the half and tallied 34 points in the third quarter to take a 70-35 lead while forcing a running clock for the full duration of the final eight minutes.
Lance Futrell led Sandwich with 19 points, while Travis Van Pelt netted 16. Gil Buttels and Alan Ritchie notched 14 and 11 points respectively as the Indians looked like a well oiled machine during their first round win at Plano.
Sandwich has a recent history of early defeats at the Classic. But this year, fans are starting to take notice especially after their 43 point opening game win.
“We don’t get a lot of respect or notoriety because of our performances in the past. We’ve been flying under the radar so far this season,” said Sandwich head basketball coach Chris Johnson. “We don’t want to beat teams this year, we want to bury them. Not necessarily to embarrass anyone, but to say we’re here and we are very good. We want people to give us respect and we feel dominating play is the way to earn that respect.”
Sandwich moves on to the Classic quarterfinals Thursday afternoon at 3:30 p.m. versus Ottawa-Marquette who upset number eight seed Newark on Wednesday
Marquette ‘Unbelievably Bland’ At Plano Classic
Cru Junior Stuns Newark with Monster 3 rd Quarter
By Bill Lidinsky
It was a five minute stretch of hot basketball that most high school varsity hoop players can only dream about. For Ottawa-Marquette junior guard Tanner Bland, it came on the biggest of stages in round one Wednesday afternoon at the 44 th annual Plano Christmas Classic with an electrifying third quarter shooting exhibition against Newark.
With the Crusaders leading the Norsemen 34-30 at the 6:35 mark of the period, Bland ripped off 22 points during the next five minutes of play including five straight three-point bombs to give Marquette a double digit lead and ultimately a 73-61 victory over Newark.
No records have ever been kept at the Classic as far as total number of points in a quarter by one player. But what is known is the record for most points in a game which is 40. So Bland’s monumental five minutes spurt in the third has to be up there in terms of scoring prowess in the 44 year history of the tournament.
“I really had no idea until after I was given the scorebook that he had 22 points in the quarter,” said Marquette head basketball coach Kevin Schultz. “Tanner is by far one of the purest shooters around and he showed it for sure today. But as impressive as his shooting was, I thought he played very, very good defense as well.”
“I was feeling it and my teammates got me the ball and I made the shots,” Bland said. “Coach told us to pick up our intensity in the locker room at the half only up two, and we did that in the third quarter. Everything seemed to be falling.”
Marquette outscored Newark 29-15 in the third stanza to break open a 29-27 halftime advantage by the Cru.
Up until that point it had been the Mitch Dunlap offensive show of the Norsemen on the court. The 6’5” senior poured in 19 first half points, but his teammates were cold from the field and could only muster a total of eight tallies to support his efforts during the first 16 minutes of play.
“I don’t mind putting the team on my shoulders and seeing how far we can go. But it’s tough when it seems like everyone else’s shots aren’t falling,” Dunlap said. “We didn’t play as a team and our intensity level dropped in the third quarter when they went on that big run. It’s very disappointing.”
Dunlap ended up with a game high 29 points, 13 rebounds, while junior Ivo Gentchev also chipped in with 11 points.
Bland paced the Crusaders with 27, while Blake Cottingham added 17 and Drew Worsley had 12. Jordan McDonald netted 11 all in the fourth quarter as Marquette was able to stave off several Newark runs. But the Norsemen could get no closer than 11 in the final eight minutes after Bland’s explosion in the third.
“You’ve got to give Marquette credit. We didn’t play good team basketball and we paid the price,” said Newark head basketball coach Rick Tollefson. “I don’t know if Bland always shoots like that. He certainly didn’t when we beat them two weeks ago. My goodness, what a performance in that quarter.”
The win for Marquette (3-7) avenges their 56-54 Dec. 2 loss at Newark (8-3) and moves them on to the tournament quarterfinals on Thursday at 3:30 p.m. versus No. 2 seed Sandwich. The Indians were a 86-43 winner over Indian Creek also on Thursday.
Newark therefore, will battle the Timberwolves on the consolation side of the bracket with a 9 a.m. tip-off Thursday morning.
“We’ve got a very tough game coming up against Sandwich and I’m not sure where this big win will lead us,” said Schultz. “But I’ve felt in my heart that we were a pretty good 2-7 basketball team coming into the Classic. I think before all is said and done we’ll be a pretty good basketball team. I told the kids why not us? Why can’t we be playing for something on Saturday?
Plano Readies For Hoop Invasion
Annual Basketball Christmas Classic Pairings Announced
By Bill Lidinsky
For the 44 th straight year Plano High School will play host to one of the biggest Class A high school basketball Christmas tournaments in the state of Illinois.
The annual 16-team Plano Christmas Classic will take place this season as usual at the Reaper gymnasium and will run from Dec. 27 through Dec. 30.
On Wednesday evening the field seeding and the first round matchups were announced at a dinner hosted by Hayden’s Athletic Specialists of Montgomery, IL. for all 16 of the participating team head coaches.
Each coach was given the opportunity to speak on his team’s progress so far this year and then rank the whole field one through 16.
The rankings were then tabulated by Plano Athletic Director Jim Schmidt and Reaper Classic head statistician Greg Gould to determine an order and opening game matchups.
In his fifth year as director of the tournament, Schmidt couldn’t have been more pleased at how the teams were placed this season.
“I looked at some of the early matchups and was very intrigued at some of the games,” Schmidt said. “There are some very good opening round contests. Seneca is at the head of the class again, but two through ten you can flip a coin. And I wouldn’t be at all surprised if the 11 through 16 seeds couldn’t pull off an upset or two.”
The Seneca Fighting Irish (7-0, 2-0) were awarded the No. 1 seed once again at Plano in 2006 and will play Mendota in round one. The two time defending champions will try to make it three straight Christmas Classic Championships after knocking off Bureau Valley in 2004 and Serena in 2005. Last year’s win over the Huskers came before a packed house at Plano and propelled Seneca toward a perfect 35-0 season and a Class A state championship.
“If you go through Plano’s Christmas tournament and win it, you can feel pretty confident that you can go anywhere in Class A basketball and be competitive,” said Seneca head basketball coach Doug Evans. “You know your going to play in front of great crowds, in a great arena, and win or lose, you always gain a wealth of experience at Plano. Maybe we can grab our third straight this year, but we’ll have to be ready because there are a lot of good teams here.”
Another area team grabbed the No. 2 seed behind the Irish. Sandwich (6-3, 2-0) hasn’t won the Classic since 1987, but garnered the two spot and will play Indian Creek in their tourney opener.
The Indians have consistently been ranked in the bottom of the 16-team field over the past few years, but 2006 finds them shining a whole different light.
“We’ve been in the bottom for the last three years and we’ve always played one of the top four seeds,” said head basketball coach Chris Johnson. “Now the tables have been reversed and we’re No. 2. Hopefully our guys will be confident, but not too overconfident. We’re the white collar guy now. Let’s hope we can back it up and attain our ultimate goal of making it to the championship.”
Newark (5-2, 0-1) came through as the No. 7 seed and will once again battle 11 seeded Ottawa Marquette (2-6) for round one in the rematch of Tuesday’s 56-54 thriller where the Norsemen were victorious.
“It’s hard to beat a team twice, but we’ll have to do it again against Marquette in order to advance,” said Newark head basketball coach Rick Tollefson. “We haven’t won the first two games at Plano for the past seven straight years. We want to come out and do well in this tournament. It would be great to beat Ottawa again and move on. That’s the challenge we’ll put before the kids and see what happens.”
Marquette finished fourth last year at Plano losing to Genoa Kingston 63-54 in the third place game. But despite their lower ranking this season, the Crusaders will be ready to go in round one once again versus Newark.
“If the rematch at Plano is any indication of what happened Tuesday night at Newark, it should be a heck of a first round game for us,” said Ottawa Marquette head basketball coach Kevin Schultz. “We’re looking forward to the challenge and playing in such a tremendous, first class event.”
Last year’s runner up, Serena (4-2, 1-0) clocked in at the No. 8 spot in 06 and will due battle with Aurora Central Catholic (3-5) in the tournaments first game on Dec. 27. The Huskers appreciate only too well what the Plano championship spotlight can bring at Christmas time.
“Last year at Plano was something very special for us playing in the title game. The moment for me as a coach and for all our players was pretty neat,” said Serena head basketball coach Randy Goodbread. “We’ll try it again this year and see what we can do. It’s a much tougher road for us this year in a tournament packed with great teams.”
Somonauk (2-4, 0-1) slid in as the No. 14 seed and will go against No. 3 seeded Aurora Christian in their opener. The Bobcats are very young but are coming along.
“We’re starting to figure out we need to bring it every day in practice. We’re 2-4 right now, but I think we’ll get better as the year moves on,” said Somonauk head basketball coach Ron Hunt. “The Christmas Classic always is a challenge and hopefully we can surprise some people in the end.”
As far as the hosts, Plano (0-8, 0-2) has struggled early on with the absence of eight of their 3A State Championship football players. The No. 15 seeded Reapers will battle the No. 4 seed Hinckley-Big Rock (5-3, 1-0) in their first round matchup. And with each and every day Plano catches up with the curve and the more they seem to improve.
“It’s no surprise where we’re at right now with the football players just getting back two weeks ago,” said Plano first year head basketball coach Eric Bryant. “We’re going to be a different team from today to the first game of the tournament. We’re getting better every contest we move along as the kids get more comfortable with one another. I think we could be playing quite well for our first round matchup with Hinckley.”
And the No. 4 seed won’t be overlooking the Reapers despite their slow start.
“It’s a pretty balanced tournament. We can’t overlook Plano in round one,” said H-BR head basketball coach Bill Sambrookes. “It’s nice to get a top four seed but we’ll have to be ready to go to back up our high ranking.”
All in all, another tremendous field of high school basketball teams at Plano for the Christmas hoop Classic. Can anyone upend Seneca and break their stranglehold over the past few seasons? Fifteen teams will be their giving it their all.
“Seneca is a very good team and will be very tough to beat. But I wouldn’t be totally shocked if somebody defeated them out of this very strong field,” Schmidt said.
You can get up to the minute scores and results by logging on to www.rockcreekball.com as well as catching all the games for free streaming live on www.reapernation.com. In addition, most contests will be broadcast live by WSPY 107.1 FM radio with Jim Teckenbrock on the call.
Archive Stories
Seneca 6 wins to Record/Sandwich Loses 4 in a row
State Champion Article and Bureau Valley Game
Westmont Playoff PreGame 11/2/06
Lisle Playoff PreGame 10/24/06
Seneca at Plano Preview- 9/14/06
"Reaper Nation Vs Tribe" - 8/30/06
Plano Hires New Bastkball Coach
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