Lane Tech wanted to host one of the toughest Thanksgiving tournaments in state and it looks like they succeeded in last week's Frank Lollino Sr. Thanksgiving Tournament.

Division I men's basketball coaches certainly showed plenty of interest as Illinois' Bruce Weber, Northwestern's Bill Carmody and Northern Illinois' Rod Judson were all in attendance.

"We wanted to make it the best tournament in the state and I think we have," Lane Tech head coach Leroy Jarka said. "Just go by the number of college coaches that came."

Lane's tourney featured Oak Park-River Forest, Evanston, Zion-Benton, Brooks, Lane Tech and Taft. Zion Benton, OPRF and Evanston all went 4-1.

As for Lane Tech, Jarka is pretty happy with the results despite a 2-3 record.

"I think you can play five games and play nobody and go 4-1 and not know how good you are," said the second-year head coach. "I think I have a very good sense of who on my team can play. We may not be winning right now but we are competing. This is the happiest I've been since I've been a coach at Lane."

Lane Tech fell to Zion Benton (68-43), Evanston (65-57) and OPRF (65-32) but managed a 51-50 win over Brooks and a 61-33 triumph over Taft.

The Indians have seen some unheralded players stepping up this season.

"We have three guys (Kortez DeLaney, Steve Guevera and Rudolfo Fransual) that may be the hardest working threesome I've had in 25 years of coaching," Jarka added.

Jarka feels like the program is definitely heading in the right direction.

"We are instituting a Catholic school program in a Public school," Jarka said. "We're going to set screens, play intense defense and be outstanding students. The only difference between us and a Catholic school is we're free."

Jarka also wanted to thank Athletic Director Rich Rio and the Letterman's Club for making the tournament run smoothly.