This isn’t the time of the boys basketball season for any team to be hit with an injury, serious or minor. The serious ones can be crushers with state tournament play around the corner. The minor ones can mess with everything, throwing off a team’s rotations, responsibilities and timing.
Several top players in the area are banged up, starting with 6-5 junior guard Mason Lockett, whose foot injury is a huge blow to Oswego East. After missing the last two games, he looks as though he may be done for the season.
New Trier’s primary catalyst, junior guard Christopher Kirkpatrick, went down with an ankle injury in a loss to Fremd last week. The Trevians then lost to Glenbrook North on Friday as Kirkpatrick, who had been putting up significant numbers since the holidays, sat out.
Senior guard Jack Weigus, who has become a go-to player for Brother Rice and is on the radar of some high-academic Division I programs, missed Saturday’s loss to West Aurora with an ankle sprain. Fortunately for Brother Rice and Weigus, who’s averaging 16 points as one of the premier shooters in the senior class, the injury doesn’t appear to be significant and he’s expected back soon. The Crusaders face a big week with red-hot St. Laurence and Mount Carmel coming up and the Catholic League title on the line.
Meanwhile, McHenry has attempted to weather the storm the last three weeks without 6-8 junior big man Adam Anwar, who has been out with a broken wrist.
Creeping up in Catholic League
The spotlight on the Catholic League’s top teams and ranked players has been steady this season. But two lower-profile teams, Immaculate Conception and Leo, seem to be heating up just in time for the start of the Class 2A state tournament.
IC Catholic, led by senior big man Andrew Hill, has 22 wins and has built a case to be seen as a bonafide contender in the Christ the King Sectional. The Knights have never won a basketball sectional.
Leo is 17-9 and prepared for a Class 2A run after facing the rugged Catholic League Blue slate all season. The Lions, led by three double-figure scorers in Dontae Bell (12.5 points per game), Karon Shavers (12.3) and Ethan Jackson (11.5), will be in the thick of things with Dyett in the Julian Sectional.
Rising Stevenson
The Patriots are hot and heading in the right direction at an opportune time. They’ve won nine of their last 10 games, with the only loss coming against highly ranked Waubonsie Valley. That stretch included three straight impressive North Suburban Conference wins over Waukegan, Lake Forest and Warren to take sole possession of first place.
Coach Will Benson’s team was 9-7 in early January. Now it’s 18-8 heading into sectional seeding week in a field it’s quite capable of navigating.
With savvy senior point guard Aidan Bardic leading the charge, Stevenson has shined the most when players fall into their respective roles and share the ball. Balance is a major strength. Bardic (13.5 points and 4.6 assists per game), Rocco Pagliocca (12.4 points), Donny Williams (11.7 points), Atticus Richmond (10.4 point, 9.6 rebounds) and Liam Curtin (9.0 points) have all scored at least 17 points in a game this season.