SPORTS
Page B2 • Wednesday, January 15, 2014
8PREP SCHEDULE TODAY Boys Basketball Marengo at Genoa-Kingston, 7:15 p.m. Boys Swimming DeKalb-Sycamore at Woodstock North triangular w/ Byron, 5 p.m. Boys Bowling DeKalb at Streator, 4 p.m. Girls Bowling Sycamore at Ottawa, 4 p.m. DeKalb at Streator, 4 p.m. Kaneland at Ottawa, 4 p.m.
THURSDAY Girls Basketball Somonauk at Indian Creek, 6:45 p.m. Morris at Sycamore, 7 p.m. Hinckley-Big Rock at Leland/ Earlville, 7 p.m. Genoa-Kingston at North Boone, 7:15 p.m. Wrestling Morris at Kaneland, 5:30 p.m. Genoa-Kingston at Stillman Valley triangular, 5:30 p.m. Sycamore at DeKalb, 7 p.m. Girls Bowling Sycamore at Sterling, 4 p.m. Kaneland at IMSA, 4:15 p.m. Girls Gymnastics DeKalb at Neuqua Valley, 6 p.m.
FRIDAY Boys Basketball Newark at Hiawatha, 6:45 p.m. DeKalb at Morris, 7 p.m. Sycamore at Rochelle, 7 p.m. Yorkville at Kaneland, 7 p.m. LaMoille at Hinckley-Big Rock, 7 p.m. Genoa-Kingston at Richmond-Burton, 7:15 p.m. Girls Basketball Kaneland at DeKalb, 7 p.m. Wrestling Genoa-Kingston at Woodstock, 5:30 p.m.
8SPORTS SHORTS Harmon named NIU tight ends/fullbacks coach Northern Illinois has officially hired Craig Harmon as its tight ends/fullbacks coach. Harmon replaces Tim Polasek, who spent one season in DeKalb before accepting the offensive coordinator job at North Dakota State. Harmon spent the 2013 season as the tight ends coach at Wisconsin-Whitewater, which won the Division III national title. It’s a homecoming of sorts for Harmon, who was a quarterback for the Huskies from 1998 to 2000 before transferring to Quincy. Harmon was the quarterback when the Huskies broke their 23-game losing streak Oct. 17, 1998, in a 16-6 victory over Central Michigan. He was a graduate assistant at NIU under Joe Novak in 2004 and 2005. “It’s like coming home,” Harmon said in a news release. “My family and I couldn’t be happier about returning to NIU. The program means a lot to me. As a player there, we were on the ground floor of starting to turn the program around. Coming back in ’04 and ’05 as a graduate assistant, it was a different atmosphere. To see all the hard work that the past players and coaches put in to become the program that is here now is unbelievable. I’m excited to be a part of it and continue the success.”
Cubs unveil Clark, their first mascot CHICAGO – The Cubs’ newly minted mascot made his debut at a pediatric developmental center of a hospital near Wrigley Field. Clark, a young bear wearing a Cubs jersey and backward blue baseball cap, was accompanied Monday at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center by a dozen team prospects. The mascot is named after the North Side Chicago street on which Wrigley Field is located. Team officials said they held focus groups before deciding on Clark, and fans told them they wanted a more family-friendly atmosphere at Wrigley Field. Clark will greet fans at Wrigley before and during games, and the mascot will have a Twitter account and Facebook page. – Staff, wire reports
Daily Chronicle / Daily-Chronicle.com
PREP ROUNDUP
NFL PLAYOFFS
DeKalb bowling downs McHenry had a 631 series and a high game of 231. Will Todtz (223 game), Ranzy Collins (219) and Gabe Olade (204) also contributed.
By DAILY CHRONICLE STAFF sports@daily-chronicle.com DeKalb boys bowling won two games and the overall series from McHenry in a nonconference meet. The Barbs topped McHenry, 3,8373,798, overall. Michael Belluzzi led the way with a 726 series and games of 245, 255 and 226. Jack Berry recorded a 668 series, including games of 255 and 244 while Seth Pinne
BOYS BASKETBALL: KANELAND 49, MARMION 47
Kaneland holds off Marmion By DENNIS D. JACOBS sports@daily-chronicle.com AURORA – Kaneland somehow survived losing a 15-point lead, losing its leading scorer to five fouls, and missing a shot on its final possession of the game Tuesday to escape Marmion’s Alumni Hall with a 49-47 nonconference victory. The Knights (9-5) led 37-22 with two minutes left in the third quarter, but the Cadets (7-10) went on a 15-1 run over the next three minutes to pull within one. Marmion tied the game at 47 with 48 seconds left on a 3-pointer from the top Ty Carlson of the key by Michael Sheehan. Kaneland took a timeout to draw up a play for the last shot and point guard Drew David found senior Ty Carlson on a back-door cut. Carlson missed the shot, but was able to grab the rebound on the other side of the rim. “Coach [Brian] Johnson had a great play call there,” Carlson said. “Drew made a great pass. I missed the first one but I jumped back and got the second one.” The “second one” came from the free-throw line as Carlson was fouled on the rebound. He hit a pair of free throws with 1.3 seconds left to give Kaneland the win. “Ty’s been clutch all year long,” Johnson said. “It really started at [the] Plano [Christmas Classic] when he’s been feeling it and it’s kind of rolled all the way through. He made some big free throws and was playing a position and a play we usually run for John [Pruett] and he was able to execute on that.” Carlson actually scored the last seven points of the game for the Knights, all on free throws, so he wasn‘t feeling any trepidation stepping to the line with the game in the balance. “I felt pretty confident,” Carlson said. “Once I hit the first one and we got the lead, it felt pretty good.” Kaneland needed Carlson to step up because Pruett fouled out with four minutes left in the game after scoring 16 points. “The first three quarters we played really hard and John Pruett was outstanding in my opinion,” Johnson said. “When he goes, we look pretty good, and I challenged him today and he stepped up. I’m very proud of how he responded.” Marmion struggled out of the gate, falling behind 8-0. The Cadets went scoreless for the first five minutes and the only 5 points they scored in the first quarter came from senior guard Michael Murphy off the bench. Marmion didn’t get any points from a starter until Tyler Maryanski’s steal and jam midway through the second quarter.
BOYS BASKETBALL Spartans win again: Sycamore defeated Hampshire, 67-57, on the road in a nonconference game.
LATE MONDAY GIRLS BASKETBALL Knights lose to Plano: Kaneland lost, 44-
41, to Plano. Brittany Kemp finished with 11 points, six rebounds for the Knights. Hawks lose to Serena: Hiawatha lost, 7028, to Serena on the road.
WRESTLING Cogs lose twice: At Winnebago, Winnebago defeated Genoa-Kingston, 48-21. Rockford Lutheran also defeated the Cogs, 66-15. G-K senior Joe Murray posted two wins on the night.
BULLS ANALYSIS
Chicago Sun-Times It’s been quite the last week for the Bulls. Their season-best five-game winning streak ended Monday night, they’re comfortably back in the mix for a playoff spot in the victory-challenged Eastern Conference, and besides Nazr Mohammed’s sprained finger, they’re about as healthy as they’ve been since Derrick Rose went down for the year with an injured right knee on Nov. 22. In the day-by-day world of coach Tom Thibodeau, it really hasn’t been any better than that this season. At least that’s what the players and Thibodeau are selling lately. “Everyone on this team is focused and believes in each other,” reserve center Taj Gibson said. “And we believe what the locker room says. We understand we can do a lot of great things.” Those are all cute phrases that overachieving teams like to throw around. If “great things” means winning a firstround playoff series, then, yes,
the Bulls are very capable. But in the big picture, this season couldn’t have been more disastrous, and the front office might not have a big enough broom for the cleanup. The mess is the roster, and how to flip it around as quickly as possible so that it can contend in a conference that could be there for the taking with Miami’s dynasty possibly heading for a Final Act. And it comes with a huge leap of faith that is Rose. While a growing minority seems to feel that the Bulls can no longer trust a player whose knees continue to betray him, that’s exactly what they are doing. Rose is still the foundation that the house will be built on. “What we’ve done in the long run is we’ve given ourselves an opportunity going forward to create flexibility and to put together a complete roster, and with depth,” VP of basketball operations John Paxson said last week, when explaining the Deng trade. “Again, with the idea of guys that can compliment Derrick and can play well with
Derrick.” That means looking forward to meetings with soonto-be free agents like LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony, and trying to sell them on taking that leap of faith on Rose as well. Basically, an upcoming offseason that will define the Paxson/Forman Era. No pressure. And if the duo fails to land a star the magnitude of Anthony or James? There is a consolation prize. The Bulls would love to nab Lance Stephenson from the Pacers, move Jimmy Butler to the three and add highly-touted Nikola Mirotic with Carlos Boozer amnestied. A talented roster, but still not a great one. Definitely a group of players that can throw around phrases like “focused” and “we understand we can do a lot of great things.” Because that’s what an overachieving team which has no chance of winning a ring sounds like.
• Joe Cowley is a sports reporter for the Chicago SunTimes. He can be reached at jcowley@suntimes.com.
Ryan’s 17 points led the Royals. Dutch Schneeman also finished in double figures
CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS Sunday AFC, 2 p.m. NFC, 5:30 p.m.
PRO BOWL Sunday, Jan. 26 At Honolulu TBD, 6:30 p.m.
SUPER BOWL Sunday, Feb. 2 At East Rutherford, N.J. AFC champ vs. NFC champ, 5:30 p.m.
EASTERN CONFERENCE Central Division W L Pct Indiana 30 7 .811 Bulls 17 19 .472 Detroit 16 22 .421 Cleveland 13 24 .351 Milwaukee 7 30 .189 Atlantic Division W L Pct Toronto 19 17 .528 Brooklyn 15 22 .405 New York 15 23 .395 Boston 13 26 .333 Philadelphia 12 25 .324 Southeast Division W L Pct Miami 27 10 .730 Atlanta 20 18 .526 Washington 17 19 .472 Charlotte 16 23 .410 Orlando 10 28 .263
GB — 12½ 14½ 17 23 GB — 4½ 5 7½ 7½ GB — 7½ 9½ 12 17½
WESTERN CONFERENCE Southwest Division W L Pct San Antonio 30 8 .789 Houston 25 14 .641 Dallas 23 16 .590 Memphis 18 19 .486 New Orleans 15 22 .405 Northwest Division W L Pct Portland 28 9 .757 Oklahoma City 28 10 .737 Denver 19 18 .514 Minnesota 18 19 .486 Utah 13 26 .333 Pacific Division W L Pct L.A. Clippers 26 13 .667 Golden State 25 14 .641 Phoenix 21 16 .568 L.A. Lakers 14 23 .378 Sacramento 13 23 .361
GB — 5½ 7½ 11½ 14½ GB — ½ 9 10 16 GB — 1 4 11 11½
Tuesday’s Results Indiana 116, Sacramento 92 Charlotte 108, New York 98 Memphis 90, Oklahoma City 87 Cleveland at L.A. Lakers (n) Today’s Games Bulls at Orlando, 6 p.m. Charlotte at Philadelphia, 6 p.m. Miami at Washington, 6 p.m. Toronto at Boston, 6:30 p.m. Sacramento at Minnesota, 7 p.m. Memphis at Milwaukee, 7 p.m. Houston at New Orleans, 7 p.m. Utah at San Antonio, 7 p.m. L.A. Lakers at Phoenix, 8 p.m. Cleveland at Portland, 9 p.m. Denver at Golden State, 9:30 p.m. Dallas at L.A. Clippers, 9:30 p.m. Thursday’s Games Brooklyn vs. Atlanta at London, England, 2 p.m. New York at Indiana, 6 p.m. Oklahoma City at Houston, 8:30 p.m. Monday’s Results Toronto 116, Milwaukee 94 Houston 104, Boston 92 New York 98, Phoenix 96, OT Washington 102, Bulls 88 San Antonio 101, New Orleans 95 Dallas 107, Orlando 88 Utah 118, Denver 103
NHL WESTERN CONFERENCE Central Division GP W L OT Pts Blackhawks 49 30 8 11 71 St. Louis 45 32 8 5 69 Colorado 46 29 12 5 63 Minnesota 49 25 19 5 55 Dallas 45 20 18 7 47 Nashville 48 20 21 7 47 Winnipeg 48 20 23 5 45 Pacific Division GP W L OT Pts Anaheim 48 35 8 5 75 San Jose 47 29 12 6 64 Los Angeles 47 28 14 5 61 Vancouver 47 24 14 9 57 Phoenix 46 21 16 9 51 Calgary 47 16 25 6 38 Edmonton 48 15 28 5 35
GF 177 163 135 118 127 113 133
GA 135 100 117 122 139 143 146
GF 161 150 120 123 135 105 126
GA 119 117 96 115 143 148 169
EASTERN CONFERENCE
Monica Maschak – mmaschak@shawmedia.com
Sycamore’s Lauren Goff drives to the hoop during the second quarter of Tuesday’s game in Sycamore.
Sycamore starts 4th with 15-4 run • SYCAMORE Continued from page B1 Sycamore (12-4) went on a 15-4 run to start the fourth quarter to lead, 43-24, and the Spartans showed just how dangerous they can be when they hit their offensive stride. “This year, we have several different [offensive threats], and we’re learning to trust
each other more,” Moll said. “That makes it even easier because they have to sag off of [Gilbert] and help with our other players, because we can do anything in this offense. Then, Bailey gets an open shot and, like coach said, she’s been on fire for this whole season.” After losing twice to Hampshire last season, the young Spartans showed Tuesday just how far they’ve come in
a year. “I wasn’t too worried [early],” Moll said. “I knew we could come out of the gate at any time. I think we’re that good of a team, to be able to turn on a switch, and I think we proved that tonight. We were still leading at halftime, and I think we came out and just, metaphorically, put our foot on their neck. We kind of put it away.”
Indian Creek outrebounds Hinckley-Big Rock, 32-19 • HOOPS Continued from page B1
Saturday Seattle 23, New Orleans 15 New England 43, Indianpolis 22 Sunday San Francisco 23, Carolina 10 Denver 24, San Diego 17
NBA
Bulls need an offseason clean-up By JOE COWLEY
DIVISIONAL
with 10 points. Eric Phillips chipped in with nine points. H-BR next will play Friday against LaMoille. For Indian Creek, Post finished with 10 points and seven rebounds. Nick Bald-
win scored nine points. The Timberwolves dominated the glass by outrebounding the Royals, 32-19. The Timberwolves next will play Tuesday against Paw Paw.
“The conference games are going to keep getting tougher the more and more we win and the better we play,” Govig said. “So we need to keep playing better and better every game.”
Atlantic Division GP W L OT Pts GF GA Boston 46 29 15 2 60 132 102 Tampa Bay 47 28 15 4 60 136 113 Montreal 47 26 16 5 57 118 111 Toronto 48 23 20 5 51 132 146 Detroit 46 20 16 10 50 118 127 Ottawa 47 21 18 8 50 134 146 Florida 46 18 21 7 43 109 141 Buffalo 45 13 27 5 31 80 125 Metropolitan Division GP W L OT Pts GF GA Pittsburgh 47 33 12 2 68 152 112 Washington 46 22 16 8 52 137 137 Philadelphia 47 24 19 4 52 125 132 N.Y. Rangers 48 24 21 3 51 119 126 New Jersey 48 20 18 10 50 112 118 Columbus 46 22 20 4 48 129 131 Carolina 46 19 18 9 47 111 130 N.Y. Islanders48 18 23 7 43 132 156 Two points for a win, one point for overtime loss Tuesday’s Results Colorado 3, Blackhawks 2, OT Toronto 4, Boston 3 Tampa Bay 2, N.Y. Rangers 1 San Jose 2, Washington 1, SO Philadelphia 4, Buffalo 3 New Jersey 4, Montreal 1 Florida 4, N.Y. Islanders 2 Ottawa 3, Minnesota 0 St. Louis 2, Phoenix 1 Nashville 4, Calgary 2 Edmonton at Dallas (n) Today’s Games Buffalo at Toronto, 6:30 p.m. Washington at Pittsburgh, 7 p.m. Vancouver at Anaheim, 9:30 p.m. Thursday’s Games Detroit at N.Y. Rangers, 6 p.m. Nashville at Philadelphia, 6 p.m. Montreal at Ottawa, 6:30 p.m. N.Y. Islanders at Tampa Bay, 6:30 p.m. San Jose at Florida, 6:30 p.m. Los Angeles at St. Louis, 7 p.m. Edmonton at Minnesota, 7 p.m. Boston at Dallas, 7:30 p.m. New Jersey at Colorado, 8 p.m. Winnipeg at Calgary, 8 p.m. Vancouver at Phoenix, 8 p.m. Monday’s Results Calgary 2, Carolina 0 Columbus 3, Tampa Bay 2 Winnipeg 5, Phoenix 1 Los Angeles 1, Vancouver 0