Concluded there is more to the story in high school basketball than just the games themselves. Whether players were mourning the loss of a former player or capturing the best games of young athletes' lives, reported on a lot of ground.
In the midst of being assigned to report on the same team weekly for the Beloit Daily News it allowed me to learn about the student more than the athlete. Through observation and capturing the emotion of student-athletes it became apparent they possessed a passion and desire to win games while still wanting to enjoy life outside the game.
Knights miss chance for win
January 13, 2007
By Jason Arndt
The News-Sun
GRAYSLAKE -- Grayslake North's bid to dent the win
column for the first time in school history fell short in McHenry on
Friday night, as the host Warriors prevailed 50-38 in a
non-conference game. McHenry is now 2-14 on the season, with both
wins over the Knights.
Grayslake Central - a first-year program with
no senior class - is now 0-14. The hosts led 8-1 early and were up
26-20 at halftime, and though the Knights never took the lead, they
did pull within 29-28 on a Noel DeLaMar bucket with three minutes
left in the third quarter.
But McHenry led 32-30 after three
quarters and steadily pulled away from there.
The Knights were led in scoring by Clay
Henrickson with 10 points. McHenry got 11 points from Ryan
McNaughton.
"It was a hardfought game,"
said Grayslake North coach Todd Grunloh. "Both teams were
scrappy."
The game featured 48 fouls - 24 for
each team. Grayslake North was just 6 of 18 from the free-throw line.
The Knights will return to action
Tuesday night with a non-league game at powerful Lakes in Lake Villa.
Mistakes doom Corsairs in ESCC battle
January 6, 2007
By Jason Arndt
The News-Sun
MUNDELEIN - Costly turnovers prevented
the Carmel Corsairs from capturing their first East Suburban Catholic
Conference victory of the season, as the home team lost 33-31 to
Notre Dame of Niles here Friday night. The Corsairs led 16-10 at
halftime, courtesy of sophomore Jack Baucus,who scored seven of his
team-leading 11 points in the second period to allow Carmel to pull
ahead.
Baucus played in his sixth varsity game after being promoted
from the sophomore squad. "I am just trying to pitch in whenever
possible," Baucus said.
Carmel was able to hold a four-point
lead going into the final period before turnovers in the final two
minutes allowed the Dons to take the lead for the first time since
the early first period.
Carmel held the largest lead of the
game at the start of the third period with the score 20-10, but Notre
Dame then made three consecutive shots from behind the arc.
The Corsairs were unable to overcome a
flurry of two-point field goals by Notre Dame's Madiaga Erateya which
tied the game at 28-28.
"Turnovers are what cost us the
game, we just couldn't keep it together at the end," said Carmel
coach Jon Baffico.
Despite dropping to 0-3 in the ESCC,
4-11 overall, the Corsairs' coach remains optimistic the team will be
able to reach the upper half of the conference standings by the end
of the season.
"It's a realistic goal (to be in
the upper half) and we have games left to be played and we continue
to improve every game," Baffico said.
With the promise of Baucus as the
team's sophomore, Baffico said he has the player in his future plans
of the season.
"We will look to start him more
and he will be given quality minutes," Baffico said. "We
started him in all the games in the prior holiday tournament."
Carmel was able to put the game within
one point after a David Venegoni hit a 3-point shot to make the score
32-31 with less than a minute to play. Venegoni ended the game with
eight points.
The Corsairs maintained possession of
the ball with seven seconds remaining, but were unable to convert a
crucial free-throw opportunity after Notre Dame's Erateya drew a late
foul with five seconds remaining.
Other scoring contributors for the
Corsairs were Matt Eckhart with seven and Sean Kane with five.
Grant gets what it wants: A rematch
December 30, 2006
By Jason Arndt
The News-Sun
FOX LAKE - Behind senior center Jeremy
Shedrick's double-double, Grant got its wish to face off against
Lakes High as the Bulldogs defeated Richmond-Burton 62-55 here Friday
night to win their pool and earn the right to take on the Eagles in
the Grant Holiday Tournament championship game at 7:00pm today.
Shedrick scored 15 points, grabbed 14 boards and added 3 blocked
shots to help the Bulldogs improve their record to 10-1.
"He usually does double-doubles
every game, and this game is no different," said Grant coach
Phil Ralston.
Mike Shields also scored 15 points for
Grant. He drew several fouls in the game, but was just 4 of 9 from
the stripe.
"We were not as aggressive as we
would have liked in the first half and played the perimeter too much
and didn't penetrate," Ralston said.
During halftime, Ralston told his team
to be more aggressive in the low post, and the Bulldogs came out with
a scoring explosion in the third period, scoring 21 points to give
them a 46-30 margin entering the final period.
Shedrick was only able to score two
points in the first half, but was able to pour in 13 points in the
final half.
"My leg was bothering me in the
second half and I was able to tough it out and play more aggressively
in the (second) half," Shedrick said.
The center played the most minutes in
the game, only sitting on the bench for the final two minutes of the
third period.
In addition to Shedrick and Shield, the
Bulldogs had two other scorers in double figures.
Junior forward Mike Grischeau pitched
in 12 points and converted 4 of 6 free throws late in the contest
while Zak Jolly scored 10.
Recent call-up Nickerson leads the way
December 16, 2006
By Jason Arndt
The News-Sun
WINNETKA - Colin Nickerson was recently
called up from the sophomore squad for the Waukegan Bulldogs, and he
helped salvage a game that went out of reach in the third period for
Waukegan. Nickerson scored 12 points off the bench as Waukegan was
unable to keep up with the New Trier Trevians Friday here and lost
73-54.
The sophomore guard hit three 3-pointers and was able to
convert 3 of 4 free throws. He also added a baseline jumper in the
fourth period. The loss drops the Bulldogs to 2-7 overall while the
Trevians remain unbeaten.
"They were a good team and we have
young kids. We will keep working to get better," said Waukegan
coach Al Rogers.
Waukegan started one senior and four
juniors in the game against a more experienced and bigger New Trier
squad.
The Bulldogs were able to maintain
consistent intensity to hold the game within 20 points when the game
was out reach by the third period.
"This is the first night for the
young sophomore (Nickerson) and he came off the bench with a lot of
energy," Rogers said. "Again, that is what this group is.
They are not going to quit on us and they will give us everything
they got."
Rogers remains optimistic for the
remainder of the season as he believes the team "will right the
ship."
"The young kids continue to step
up and we will continue to build on it," Rogers added.
Leading the Bulldog scorers was junior
guard Rashaan Melvin with 14 points. Melvin scored nine of his 14
behind.
Waukegan and New Trier entered the
second half with the score 34-26, but the Trevians were able to widen
the gap to 55-34 at the conclusion of the third period.
Pitching in for the Bulldogs was Josh
Smith with 11 points and Reginald Thomas with six points.
Wildkits hand Giants first loss despite
19 from Wroblewski
December 2, 2006
By Jason Arndt
The News-Sun
HIGHLAND PARK - It was all Highland Park
High's boys basketball team in the first half, but the Evanston made
necessary adjustments to thwart the perimeter shooting Giants in the
second half as the Wildkits handed the host team its first loss of
the season 58-49 on Friday.
With the score 22-18 in favor of the
Giants (4-1) entering the second half, the Wildkits (5-1) were able
to apply more pressure behind the arc to prevent three-point threat
Chris Wroblewskifrom making any more treys.
"I thought we did a nice job down
the stretch to keep it a one or two possession game, but those free
throws (at the end) really couldn't get us over the hump," said
Highland Park coach Paul Harris.
Early in the fourth period, the Giants
were able to keep themselves within four points but drew eight fouls.
The Wildkits were able to take advantage of the fouls by converting
11 of 18 free throws to widen the gap at the end of regulation.
Highland Park accumulated more than 10
fouls in the second half compared to only three in the first half.
Both teams appeared to play aggressive
defense in the second half, drawing free throw bonuses for both
teams.
Wroblewski scored a game-high 19 points
for the Giants with three 3-point shots in the first half.
The Giants were able to hold the lead
until midway into the third period when Evanston's Eric Hilbring
scored seven points to put the Wildkits ahead 32-28.
Highland Park was able to prevent any
inside penetration in the first half with a 1-2-2 defensive
formation, but the Wildkits were able to break through the defensive
scheme in the second half.
"I thought all night we did a
pretty nice job at stopping their penetration and forcing them behind
the perimeter," Harris said.
Giants senior Steve Mandell pitched in
11 points for the Highland Park team, including four points to keep
the game within one before Evanston's Sean Croegaert-Key hit a buzzer
beater at the end of the third period.
Croegaert-Key scored a team-high 14
points for the Wildkits.
Bees win in double-overtime
November 25, 2006
By Jason Arndt
The News-Sun
CHICAGO - It took two overtimes for
Zion-Benton High to give Oak Park-River Forest its first loss of the
season at the Lane Tech High holiday boys basketball tournament here
Friday night.
Behind the leadership of sophomore guard Ronald
Steward, the Zee-Bees came away with a 60-56 victory over the Huskies
to improve to 3-1. Steward began the second-overtime rally with his
third 3-pointer of the night, and he added two free throws on the
next possession to give Zion-Benton a solid 57-52 lead.
The sophomore guard remained modest
after the game despite scoring a team-high 22 points for the Zee
Bees.
"They were playing man defense and
we attacked it, and I took advantage of it with open shots,"
Steward said. "It wasn't just me. Our whole team stepped up. Our
whole team made the necessary adjustments."
Steward came through in the third
period when Zion-Benton was down 28-23 with his first two 3-pointers
and hit a midrange jumper to put the Zee-Bees ahead 31-30 entering
the fourth quarter.
A key for the Zee Bees was the strong
ball control and ability to keep the ball moving without turning the
ball over.
The Huskies were able to come within
one point when senior center Jamis Nelson hit a layup in a low-post
jam with 1:14 left in the overtime.
"It was an extremely tough,
hard-fought game. The traps, the hard presses, the full-court presses
..." said Z-B assistant coach Bob Worthington. "This was a
good basketball team."
With Zion-Benton unable to convert key
offensive rebounds in the first half, the coaching staff told the
team to slow down and take fouls in the low post.
"They are a young team and
sometimes they get a little surprised by the pressure,"
Worthington said.
Terrance Davis scored 10 points for the
winners, while Rodney Clinkscales added eight points. Sophomore
center Markus Yarbrough scored just one bucket.
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