Boys Basketball

January 12, 2007

Teams gear up for second half push

Red-North Conference Boys Basketball Standings as of January 12, 2007 (team that finishes in last place goes to the Blue-North Conference in 2007-08 season; each team plays 10 conference games)

                                          Lane Tech plays neighborhood rival Gordon Tech this Saturday, January 13 at Gordon Tech. (www.LaneTechFan.com photo)

 Pioneer Press Article

Teams gear up for second half push

January 10, 2007

By ROB VALENTIN | Sports Editor

After some small skirmishes before the Holiday season, the battle for the Red North hits full force this week.

Von Steuben, Foreman and Senn are all 2-0 in conference play and should contend for the conference title. Meanwhile, Lane Tech, Lake View and Taft are all 0-2 and they will work their butts off to avoid last place and a forced drop down to the Blue North Conference next season.

» Click to enlarge image

Senn head coach Brandon Moody has his team primed for a run at the Red North Conference title.
(Dan Luedert/Staff Photographer)

While Von Steuben and Foreman have always been the conference powers, Senn is new to the bunch. They won the Blue North last year and at times this season they've looked like world beaters.

The Bulldogs nearly upset Crane early in the season and they had a solid showing at the Centralia Tournament to finish off the 2006 portion of their season.

Senn (9-6, 2-0) will now turn its attention to the Red North. The Bulldogs face Foreman and Lake View this week but to win a conference crown, they will have to beat Von Steuben.

"Von is a good team," Moody said. "It's just going to be who plays better that day. They're not going to turn the ball over. I think they're one of the top four teams in the city."

Senn opened the Centralia tourney by beating Mitchell (Memphis, Tenn.) 94-60, Wednesday, Dec. 27. Mitchell was averaging 87 points a game but the Bulldogs defense kept them in check while six Senn players scored in double digits.

The following day, the Bulldogs handed Craigmont (Memphis, Tenn.) a spectacular 84-74 loss. The Bulldogs trailed by 12 points in the fourth quarter before exploding with a 20-0 run.

"It was real special because it was against a good team," Bulldogs head coach Brandon Moody said. "When we went to the restaurant people we're telling us that it was one of the best games they've ever seen and that tournament has been going on for 64 years."

While Senn was rolling along, a bit of adversity caused some hard times in their semifinal showdown against O'Fallon, Friday, Dec. 29. Moody suspended three of his players -- Tommy Calhoun, Graciano Negron and Jeremiah Moore -- for a minor rules violation, and the result was a 64-50 loss.

Despite the defeat, Moody saw some things he way happy with. Most importantly, was how his other players responded. Robert James and Lamar Clinton stepped into the lineup and made an immediate impact.

Later that day, the Bulldogs lost a 68-67 heartbreaker to Paducah Tilghman (Ky.) in the third place game.

"It was a great game and it went down to the buzzer, but after playing an afternoon game and being down three players we just didn't have the energy to finish," Moody said. "They hit two free throws with 10 seconds and we had three shots rim out to win the game."

Moody thinks his team learned a lot from this tournament and they had a real chance to bond.

"It was fun and it was something I never experienced." Moody said. "It was the first time taking the team out of town and we played against all these teams with great traditions. When they say they treat you nice in Centralia, they do."

Byron Pickens was named to the All-Tournament team after leading the tourney in blocks and rebounds.

Lake View

The Wildcats have had an up and down season so far as they prepare to delve into Red North Conference play.

Lake View is a very respectable 10-5 but they have limped out to an 0-2 start in conference play.

"Right now we're really struggling to create a good shot on offense," Wildcats head coach Mike Menczynski said. "We take a lot of bad shots and there's no fluid on offense."

But if Lake View wants to stay in the Red North, things will have to start clicking, fast. The Wildcats take on Lane Tech and Senn this week. The game against Lane is a must win as both teams are 0-2.

"Every game has to be treated like a playoff game," Menczynski said. "I think the kids kind of know that Foreman, Senn and Von Steuben are the top three teams. And they know that Lane and Taft are playing better than us right now. But the kids are resilient. They can lose by 20 and play great in practice the next day."

If the Wildcats are going to have success, they will need Jeremy Dunn, Terrence McGowan and Kelvin Jacobs to lead the way. Dunn, the primary ballhandler, may be the most important.

"Jeremy is our leader and when he's shooting well the team doesn't play nervous," Menczynski said. "When he struggles, Terrence or Kelvin try to overplay their games to pick up the slack and that takes them out of their games."

While Lake View needs to win its Red North games, Menczynski and the Wildcats won't look too far ahead.

"Right now it's just a game by game approach," Menczynski said. "We're just trying to get through conference and peak for the playoffs. We're not looking at our conference record, we're looking at getting better so we can have a good showing in conference."

Lane Tech

After losing its second round game against Stagg in the Luther North Tournament, the Indians showed what they are made of.

Lane Tech responded to the loss by knocking off Luther North 68-46 and Latin 59-53 to pick up fifth place in the tourney. The win over Luther North may have been the most impressive.

"We probably played the best we have in the two years I've had the program," said Lane head coach Leroy Jarka, who saw his team lead 48-19 at halftime. "(Wildcats head coach Michael Yurk) does a good job but everything felt right for us. It was good to see us come back from the night before in a loss to Stagg."

The Indians finished the tournament strong with a solid win over Latin, Saturday, Dec. 30. It wrapped up a successful tourney that could be the stepping stone to bigger things in 2007.

"The teams we've played so far are 99-51," Jarka said. "I told the kids at Luther 'Lets start using that to our advantage.' "

In his second year at Lane, Jarka has really started to mold the program into a Catholic School image. Gone are the me-first attitudes. Instead the focus is on the team.

"I think what we have discovered this year is that we have young men who want to play hard," Jarka added. "That is a big key. These kids are really wanting to lay it on the line. Obviously we're not where we want to be but the kids are working towards it."

While Lane is just 7-6 and 0-2 in the Red North, there have been many bright spots. Shelton Jackson has really stepped up and Jarka thinks he might be the best player to play at Lane in 30 years.

Jarka has also seen big contributions from Lalo Bellamy, John Holzman, Brian Hill, Steve Guevara, Chris Harris and Kortez Delaney.

Lane takes on Lake View and Taft in perhaps the biggest week of their season. All three schools are 0-2 so far in conference play. The last place team in the Red North will drop down to the Blue North next season.