Sports S
The Regional News - The Reporter
outhwest
Ken Karrson, Sports Editor sports@regionalpublishing.com
Thursday, March 20, 2014
Section 2
Page 1
2013-14 All-Area Basketball Teams First Team MAX STRUS, Stagg, G/F, Sr. • The 2013-14 Player of the Year — who was mentioned by more than one opposing coach this season as the second-best player in the south suburbs behind Marian Catholic and future University of Kentucky guard Tyler Ulis — finished his prep career as the greatest basketball player in Stagg history. That’s the tag applied to Strus by veteran Chargers coach John Daniels, and it’s certainly difficult to debate the claim. After all, Strus was the top performer on Stagg’s finest single-season hoops squad, one that garnered 22 wins and came within two points of defeating four-time defending state champion Simeon for the Class 4A Shepard Regional crown. In his three full varsity campaigns, the Chargers piled up a total of 56 victories. Already a two-time all-area second-team selection, the 6-foot-6 Strus became a first-teamer by accruing per-game averages of 19.0 points, 8.0 rebounds and 3.2 assists while connecting on 82 percent of his free throws and sinking 68 3-pointers. He recorded 10 double-doubles and led Stagg in every major statistical category except assists, where he was second to Kevin White, and Strus departs the program as its No. 1 man in made foul shots (241) and charges taken (31). His 1,140 career points are only 16 off Jeff Miller’s pacesetting mark and put him third overall in team scoring annals. Other notable career stats include 180 assists and 165 3s. Strus’ college destination has yet to be determined, but Illinois State, Nevada and Missouri-Kansas City universities are among his suitors. NIKO CAHUE, Sandburg, F, Sr. • Like Stagg’s Max Strus, Cahue elevated his status as a senior, earning a first-team allarea berth after being a member of the second unit in 2012-13. When Malek Harris was removed from the Eagles’ roster prior to the start of the 2013-14 campaign, Cahue had no one else to draw inside attention away from him. But even with oppos-
First Team
Max Strus ing defenses geared to stop him around the basket, Cahue still improved on his numbers from the year before. He averaged 15.8 points and 7.6 rebounds per contest, which bettered his previous figures by nearly five and two, respectively. He also rejected 31 shots, connected on 50 percent of his own attempts from the field and nailed 73 percent of his free throws. Cahue registered nine double-double outings this past season, with a scoring high of 32 points against De La Salle included among the production. The All-SouthWest Suburban Conference Blue pick has drawn interest from several colleges — among his favorites at the moment are Illinois Wesleyan University, North Central College, Elmhurst College, Wisconsin-Oshkosh and the University of St. Francis. JEREMIAH FERGUSON, Marist, G, Jr.
Photo by Jeff Vorva
• Ferguson’s statistics were not of the eye-popping variety, but his value to a youthful RedHawks contingent was evident enough to make him one of just four underclassmen named to the 13-player All-East Suburban Catholic Conference team for 2013-14. He stepped forward in a measurable way while Marist’s one proven veteran, forward Nic Weishar, was in and out of the lineup because of a nagging ankle injury. Ferguson finished as the RedHawks’ top assist man with his per-game average of 3.0 distributions, a number that equaled the average amount of rebounds the 511 point guard pulled down in each contest. Of note, too, was the fact that Ferguson’s scoring jumped nearly three full points, to 11.0, whenever Marist was tangling with a conference foe. That latter figure led all Red(Continued on page 3)
LATONDRA BROOKS, Oak Lawn, G, Sr. • Not only is Brooks repeating as an all-area first-team selection, but this time she moves to the head of the class. Although the Lady Spartans’ 2013-14 roster featured plenty of talent, Brooks was the linchpin as she could hurt foes in a variety of ways. She almost single-handedly extended Oak Lawn’s season in the Class 4A Bloom Township Sectional final, where her seven straight points in a span of just 43 seconds wiped out a late Marian Catholic lead and forced the defending state champs into playing an overtime period. The other group of Lady Spartans ultimately prevailed, but Oak Lawn still put together its best girls’ basketball season ever. Statistically, Player of the Year Brooks delivered pergame averages of 14.2 points, 6.7 steals, 5.6 assists and 3.7 rebounds on the Lady Spartans’ behalf, and she departs the scene as Oak Lawn’s record holder in the following categories: most points (34), assists (14) and steals (14) in a single game; most assists (167) and steals (200) in one season; and most points (1,448), assists (427) and steals (572) for a career. Brooks was the South Suburban Conference Red Player of the Year and tournament MVP at Oak Lawn’s Christmas event. BROOKE ANNERINO, Oak Lawn, G, Sr. • Annerino’s ball-handling skills were an important component for the Lady Spartans’ success, as she was usually able to break defensive presses and run whatever offensive play Oak Lawn coach Janet Meyers had drawn up. The All-South Suburban Conference Red pick averaged 7.7 points, 3.0 assists and 2.1 steals per contest and shot an impressive 78 percent from the foul line. Annerino earned alltournament honors at the Lady Spartans’ own holiday event in December. MIA DIGIACOMO, Stagg, F, Jr. • Possessing a great work ethic, and in the opinion of Lady Chargers coach Bill Turner
LaTondra Brooks also serving as an excellent role model for younger players to follow, DiGiacomo evolved into one of Stagg’s steadiest performers. Her interior presence meant opponents couldn’t solely concentrate on shutting down the Lady Chargers’ vaunted perimeter attack, and DiaGiacomo handled her chores well enough to become Stagg’s leader in rebounding (227, or 8.4 per game) and blocks (31). The All-SouthWest Suburban Conference Blue choice averaged 9.2 points per contest on 47 percent shooting and supplied a half-dozen double-doubles, a few of which came against highly regarded foes. HANNAH HENDERSON, Stagg, G, Sr. • The Lady Chargers’ cocaptain was effective on both ends of the floor, as evidenced by her team-leading figures of
Photo by Jeff Vorva
3.3 assists and 2.9 steals per game. Henderson, an All-SouthWest Suburban Conference Blue selection and named her own team’s top defender, also averaged 9.5 points and 4.2 rebounds per outing and connected on 81 percent of her free throws. She will continue her academic and athletic careers at Elmhurst College next fall. JANNAH MAHMOUD, Oak Lawn, C, Sr. • One of the area’s most dominating inside forces, Mahmoud came within .9 rebounds of averaging a season-long doubledouble as she posted per-game averages of 13.1 points and 9.1 boards for the Lady Spartans. The All-South Suburban Conference Red performer also contributed 50 blocks, 47 steals and 44 assists while seeing action in all 30 of Oak Lawn’s contests. (Continued on page 3)
SXU sports summary
National knockouts administered to Cougars While there was room for St. Xavier University in both the men’s and women’s NAIA Division II basketball tournaments, neither Cougars squad will need to free up additional space in the school’s athletic trophy case. SXU’s men did advance into the second round of play in Point Lookout, Mo., last week but No. 10-ranked Midland (Neb.) University halted the Cougars’ progress on Friday. Despite a combined 35 points from senior Brad Karp and junior Jack Krieger, the Cougars dropped a 64-61 decision to the Warriors. The fate of SXU’s women was a little worse, seeing as how that group of Cougars was knocked out on Day 1 of their tourney. Escorting SXU off the national stage was the College of the Ozarks, which handed down a surprisingly lopsided 68-43 defeat on Thursday at the Tyson Events center in Sioux City, Iowa. SXU’s men opened play last Wednesday versus Cincinnati Christian University and fared quite well, as they jumped out to a 19-4 advantage and eventually pocketed an 87-71 triumph at the College of the Ozarks’ Keeter Gymnasium. “We came out playing really aggressive,” said Krieger, who tallied a game-high 22 points for the No. 6-ranked Cougars. “Everyone on our team played hard, even the guys off the bench. We had some key rebounds and forced some big turnovers, and those are the little things that helped us get such a big lead early.” The Eagles, who were making their initial appearance in the national tournament, slipped behind 24-8 before reeling off eight unanswered markers. SXU (305) countered with a 20-9 burst that carried it into intermission and regained momentum for the locals. Freshman Kyle Tackett’s buzzer-beating basket capped the run.
Cincinnati Christian recovered from that latest assault, though, to get back within 10 points of the Cougars midway through the second half. Following a timeout, SXU scored twice in a row, but the Eagles refused to fold; instead, they netted 12 of the game’s next 13 points to narrow their deficit to just four points. Nearly six minutes still remained, but Cincinnati Christian could not complete its comeback. The Cougars sealed the deal for themselves at the charity stripe, with Michael Simpson’s 15-of-15 display leading the way. Simpson’s 15 made free throws were the ninth-most for an individual in tourney history, while SXU’s total of 34 rated as the sixth-highest team amount. “I’m proud of our team for keeping it together and finishing the game strong,” Cougars coach Tom O’Malley said immediately after the contest. “I thought Cincinnati Christian was really aggressive down low and on the offensive glass, and [they] definitely showed why they are down here at the national championship.” In addition to Krieger’s output, SXU also received double-figure scoring from Simpson (19 points) and Karp (15) in the win. Michael Hill had 19 points in a losing cause for the Eagles (19-14), who actually outshot the Cougars 51 percent to 42 from the field. *** On Friday, it was SXU having to play catch-up after falling into an early hole against Midland. The Warriors staked themselves to a 14-point halftime edge and then held on as the Cougars made a few second-half surges. A sizable portion of the opening session was a back-and-forth affair, with SXU scoring seven of the first 10 points, then falling behind by as many as six points before pulling even at 21-all on two Krieger charity tosses. But with less than five minutes remaining
prior to the break, Midland went on a 16-2 tear to seize command. Five different players contributed to the Warriors’ blitz. “It was a complete turnaround [from the game before],” O’Malley said. The margin grew as large as 16 before the Cougars used a series of 3-balls to fight their way back into contention. Karp’s beyondthe-arc basket drew SXU within 55-48, then Krieger connected from downtown to make it just a two-point contest with 4:38 left. A couple misses at the freethrow line kept the Cougars from moving in front, but Karp’s jumper reduced SXU’s deficit to 57-56 with just over two minutes to go. In the remaining time, however, Midland sank a clutch 3-pointer and registered a block on the Cougars with 11 seconds remaining. Some foul shots created the final score. “I thought Midland would be a tough team to meet,” O’Malley said. “They had a good inside game and good outside game, [but] we did almost win the game without shooting anywhere near what we usually do.” SXU nipped at the Warriors’ heels despite connecting on only 35 percent of its field-goal tries, compared to Midland’s 47 percent success rate. The latter also went 13-of-19 at the foul line, while the Cougars misfired a total of 11 times from the stripe. Krieger tallied 18 points for SXU, while Karp concluded his stellar collegiate career with 17, which gave him a total of 2,889 and made him the fourth-highest scorer in Illinois college basketball history. Karp also grabbed seven rebounds. His 1,053 career boards rank second in Cougars annals. “Every year, the kid got better,” O’Malley said of Karp. “We’ll have a hard time finding a replacement for him.” Josh Mawhorr added 10 points and eight rebounds for SXU,
which earned praise from Midland coach Todd Eisner. “St. Xavier is unbelievable offensively, and they really made us battle,” he said. “Credit them with how poorly we played offensively in the second half, as they made a run and gave us all we could handle.” Alex Starkel (14 points), Marcus Franklin (12), Galen Gullie (12) and Brandon Williams (nine points, seven rebounds) were the Warriors’ headliners. “Anytime you win 30 games, you can’t cry about it,” O’Malley said. “The hardest thing to do is talk to the team after they’ve lost that last game, but we had a great year.” That didn’t prevent the veteran leader from considering a few what-ifs. “You get that far in a year, it’s disappointing when you don’t win it all,” O’Malley said. “I think we had the right mixture of people to do that, but it just didn’t work out. We do have quite a few kids coming back [in 2014-15], so I hope they look at this and decide they don’t want to go through [the losing] again.” — Ken Karrson • Editor’s note: Some quotes were provided by the NAIA offices. WOMEN’S BASKETBALL In their previous 32 games, the Cougars rarely experienced a time when at least one player didn’t step up and carry the load in the midst of a team-wide shooting slump. SXU finally did last Thursday, and at the worst possible moment. A disastrous 24 percent success rate doomed the No. 2-seeded Cougars against seventh-seeded College of the Ozarks, which rolled over SXU in the opening round of the national tournament. The Cougars (27-6) finished with just 17 baskets. Junior forward Morgan Stuut did post her 25th double-double of the campaign with 14 points and 13
rebounds, but her scoring total was below average for her. “When you get to this level, you just can’t have a bad game,” SXU coach Bob Hallberg said. “We were just out of sync. It’s bad when the whole team goes cold — that’s what happened. “I liked our draw going into the tournament, and I thought we could have went a long way, [but] the whole game boiled down to shooting. You can’t win when you shoot the way we shot. When we shot like that in the past, somebody was able to step up for us and have a good game, and that just didn’t happen for us [here].” College of the Ozarks entered the tourney as one of NAIA Division II’s most battle-tested programs, with 20 national trips in the 23-year history of the event. Freshman guard Alice Heinzler led all scorers with 18 points. Joining her in double figures for the Bobcats was senior Emily Walker, who tallied 13. College of the Ozarks opened the contest with a 10-4 run and never looked back, eventually getting its lead up to 20 points following Walker’s layup off a Heinzler assist with two seconds remaining in the first half. The Cougars couldn’t get their offense going in the opening 20 minutes, as they converted only 8-of-33 attempts from the floor, a mark that included a 1-of-6 showing from 3-point range. The Bobcats kept their foot on the gas in the second half, never allowing SXU to draw closer than 14 points. As a team, College of the Ozarks shot 39 percent from the field and was 16-of-20 at the foul line. “We have to now reflect that we finished the season at 27-6,” Hallberg said. “It’s some consolation that a lot of coaches would love to have that kind of record. We got into the tournament with a lot of potential to go a long way,
but we just didn’t shoot well. You don’t have time to recover, [so] the season is unfortunately over. “When it ends like that, it’s not like a two- or three-point loss. I have no answer why we all went cold on the same night together. You don’t have to go much farther than the shooting percentage to find out the reason why we lost. “It doesn’t do you any good to vent [about] what we could have done [differently]. We have to move on to next season.” — Anthony Nasella WOMEN’S TRACK Highlighted by 19th-place finishes from senior Ashley Shares in the 5,000-meter run and the 3,200-relay team, the Cougars concluded their indoor season at the NAIA Indoor Track & Field National Championships in Geneva, Ohio. Shares posted her fastest time of the season in her race as she completed it in 18 minutes, 13.56 seconds. Meanwhile, the relay quartet of junior Leslie Rosario, senior Anna Galvez, senior Jordan Wallace and freshman Nicole Watkins established an SXU record in their event by clocking a 9:33.19, which eclipsed the previous standard by 18 seconds. “I’m so proud of these women and what they were able to accomplish at the national meet,” Cougars coach Lisa Ebel said. “Breaking a record is always exciting, but doing it at nationals makes it extra special. I’m glad these young ladies were able to achieve that. “This is great momentum for our team heading into the outdoor season.” SXU begins the outdoor portion of its schedule on Saturday, March 29, at Goshen (Ind.) College’s Maple Leaf Invitational. MEN’S TRACK Some Cougars men also took part in the NAIA meet, and ju(Continued on page 4)