Growth in high school basketball essential element

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The high school basketball season for boys and girls can take on various forms during the season with possible injuries, growth of players in size, strength, skill, experience, and accomplishment.

Emotional and maturity can be factors.

Part of the process is the bonanza of basketball during the recent seasons of the Martin Luther King holiday weekend with possible games Friday, Saturday, Monday, any day, or, all three days.

For example the boys games at jam-packed sites such as Geneva and Wheaton Warrenville South. Joy, learning, and competition are part of the process.

Wheaton Warrenville South was host to 12 games each the most recent Saturday and Monday. Geneva was host to eight games Monday this week. Host Geneva beat Prairie Ridge by an eye-popping 59-33. There were shutouts at Burlington Central and Lakes. Three games at Burlington Central were big-time contests among six big schools: Lyons against DeKalb, Neuqua Valley against Woodstock North; Lyons against Marian Central, and Burlington Central against Neuqua Valley, with the first team listed the victor.

Many good games were worked around important conference and non-conference games the rest of expanded weekend. Larkin defeated crossstown rival Elgin, 67-38, West Aurora defeated Joliet Central, 77-45, and highly-rated Oswego East defeated even higher-rated Joliet West, 72-59, all Friday, Jan. 13.

Saturday, Jan. 21 there will be three big shootuts with four likely wonderful games each at Aurora Christian, at Batavia, and at Benet Academy. Special and unusual note is the eight-team shootout at Aurora Christian with the unlikely all-Aurora field. Good job for the schools to agree to and produce such a field and host Aurora Christian to create positive conditions.

Girls basketball growth has continued each decade and each year. See Bobby Narang’s piece on Benet Academy’s team with its success.

• Illinois High School State tournament play will begin for girls basketball March 2-4 and for boys March 9-11 preceded by regional and sectional tournaments.

• The boys bowling State tournament will begin Winter tournaments January 27-28 preceded by regional and sectional tournaments. The girls bowling State meet will follow three weeks later.

• The Oswego High School girls bowling team has met with success thus far. The Panthers took second place at the 20-team prestigious 20-team Morris Invitational Saturday, Jan. 14 with 5928 total pins just under the total pins of champion Joliet West, 6230. Oswego East took sixth place with 5157 pins.

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