By Randy Whalen Correspondent Sandburg coach John Daniels doesn’t have to give to his team what he refers to as the “let’s play hard” speech. The Eagles play hard. But as Daniels acknowledged after a 53-43 loss at Lockport on Jan. 17, they “have to play better.” David Vargas led Sandburg (9-14, 0-3 entering this […]
Category: Regional Prep Sports
Girls Basketball | Eagles get going in Blue as Fotopoulos notches win 100
By Randy Whalen Correspondent Nick Fotopoulos knows that 100 career wins don’t happen without good players. This season’s bunch of players helped the Sandburg girls basketball coach get his milestone 100th victory on Jan. 10 with a 56-39 road triumph over Lockport. “We knew that today was an opportunity to get that,” said Fotopoulos, who […]
Area Sports Roundup: Freshman Noah Jones rolls 300, leads Stagg to first boys regional title
By Jeff Vorva Staff Writer The Stagg boys bowling team had never won a postseason tournament. That changed Jan. 14, thanks in part to a sensational postseason debut by Noah Jones. In the second game of the Oak Lawn Regional at Palos Lanes, Jones rolled a 300. He wasn’t perfect the rest of the way, […]
College Notebook | Sandburg grad Oblena has big season for Illinois-Chicago volleyball
By Mike Walsh Correspondent Illinois-Chicago women’s volleyball player Jaclyn Oblena was one of two Flames named to the Missouri Valley Conference Scholar-Athlete Team. Oblena, a Sandburg graduate, was named to the First Team. Oblena, a junior libero, appeared in all but one set this season for the Flames, leading the team with 394 digs (3.46 […]
Paving a path to the pros?
Sandburg grad Chris Toth optimistic about following his father’s footsteps to the NFL By Mike Walsh Correspondent When your father is able to list blocking for Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Marino on his resume, chances are pretty good that football is a strong component of your family’s lineage. Such is the case for Aurora […]
Local Hoops Wrap: Scuffling St. Rita eyes big March
By Jeff Vorva Staff Writer They have never had a nickname, such as the Fab Four. But that title could have applied. The foursome of James Brown, Morez Johnson, Josh Pickett and Jaedin Reyna came to St. Rita High with high expectations, with all four receiving scholarship offers from Northern Illinois before playing a single […]
College Notebook | Stagg alum on fire in pool for Illinois-Chicago
By Mike Walsh Correspondent One of the top performers at the recent three-day House of Champions Invitational held at the Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis natatorium was UIC women’s swimmer Taira Juronis. Juronis, a Stagg graduate, won the 200-breaststroke with a time of 2:16.49, nearly two seconds faster than the second-place swimmer. Juronis also bested her […]
Boys Basketball | Stagg looking for a spark as conference play begins
By Randy Whalen Correspondent The return of Connor Williams and a fast start provided Stagg hope for its first back-to-back wins in nearly a month. A stifling Lockport defense and a slow finish thwarted that possibility. The Chargers scored only 13 points over the final 23:44 of the game and fell to the Porters, 43-31, […]
Local Hoops Wrap | Four area teams win holiday titles; Shepard coach Chiucciarello notches 300th victory
By Jeff Vorva Staff Writer With the odds of 8-to-1, 16-to-1 or even 32-to-1 of winning a holiday basketball tournament, championships are not easy to come by. But the area produced four champions — two boys teams and two girls teams — at the end of December as Mount Carmel won the 16-team Pekin Tournament, […]

