The sign that the holiday basketball season is here is at Oak Lawn, where the Spartans began hosting its tournament on Saturday. Photo by Jeff Vorva
Area Hoops Wrap: Holiday tournament season starts early at Oak Lawn
By Jeff Vorva
Staff Writer
Oak Lawn got a jump on the rest of the area basketball world when its girls holiday tournament opened for business Dec. 10.
Most area boys and girls holiday basketball tournaments take place the week before or the week after Christmas. But Oak Lawn has a tradition of hosting its event early.
For those teams that want the holidays off, this works well. For those who want to get involved in more than one tournament in December, that option is open as well.
Oak Lawn’s Rose Savaglio fakes out an Eisenhower opponent but then has to contend with her hair before shooting on Saturday. Photo by Jeff Vorva
Oak Lawn (5-4) won the opener, 80-13, over Eisenhower. The Spartans led 24-2 after the first quarter to set the tone.
All 11 Spartans who entered the game scored. Sophomore Briana Torres led Oak Lawn with 13 points and sophomore Lamia Quinones added 12.
“We’re a very young team with one junior and one senior on the roster,” Spartans coach Mark Sevedge said. “This was a good chance to get everyone in the game and contributing.”
Riverside-Brookfield (4-4) dropped a 61-52 opening-round decision to Romeoville. Emily Organ and Alyssa Morris each had 11 points for the Bulldogs.
Pool play was scheduled to continue Monday and Wednesday this week in the eight-team tournament. The championship, third-place, fifth-place and seventh-place games are scheduled for Saturday.
Lockport, Aurora Central Catholic, Thornton Fractional South and Lindblom are also in the tournament.
R-B’s Devon Encher looks for an open teammate against Romeoville during the Oak Lawn tournament. Photo by Jeff Vorva
An Eagle Holiday
Many teams will be leaving the area for holiday tournaments, but the Sandburg girls will host a 16-team tournament starting Dec. 26. Riverside-Brookfield, Argo, Oak Lawn and Richards are the area schools heading to Orland Park.
Morton College is hosting a 16-team girls tournament starting Dec. 27 ,with Mother McAuley opening up against Naperville Central and Marist facing Geneva.
In boys basketball, Brother Rice is in the 16-team large school division of the State Farm Holiday Classic in Normal. The second-seeded Crusaders face Oswego in the first round on Dec. 27. Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin, the defending Class 3A champion, is the top seed.
The Lyons, Nazareth, Riverside-Brookfield, St. Laurence and Stagg boys teams will compete at the 32-team Jack Tosh Holiday Classic at York.
Old rivalry, new faces
The Mother McAuley-Marist neighborhood battle took place Dec. 8 with two new coaches on the bench.
Curtis Lewis is the head coach for McAuley and Renee Chimino is the new boss at Marist.
The two teams put on a show. McAuley freshman Quinn Arundel helped the host Mighty Macs to a 56-53 victory over the RedHawks.
She had 14 points, including a 3-point basket in the overtime to put her team up 48-45. Maeve Egan had 15 points for McAuley, which improved to 8-1. Elise Ward had 26 points for the RedHawks.
Home streak at 33
Morton College’s home winning streak reached 33 games on Dec. 2 with a 75-50 victory over Illinois Central.
Morton, ranked second in the nation by National Junior College Athletic Coaches Association coaches, knocked off the 14th-seeded Cougars to hit that mark.
The next day they went on the road and knocked off No. 6 Lake Land.
Morton finished second in the nation among Division II junior colleges last year and opened the season 11-0.
Local players on the roster are Jacquelin Magallanes (Morton), Jovanna Martinucci (Nazareth), Franchesca Metz (Nazareth) and Kaylen Evans (Nazareth).
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