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Raiders race past McHenry By Dick Rabbitt Waukegan West raced out to a 20-10 first period lead and never looked back, defeating the Warriors 66-50 Saturday night at Buckner Gym. The Warriors battled on even terms until midway in the opening period when Tom Boddie and Ed B^ow, the 6-foot-5 center of the Raiders, took charge and gave the visitors a 10- point margin at the buzzer. The loss dropped McHenry's overall record to 8-12. Waukegan West raised its record to 14-9. "They were hot, and we were ice cold. Along with poor defense, it put them in the drivers seat early," said McHenry coach Ken Lud- wig. "They blocked a lot of our shots, and their jumping ability had us shooting off balance. "Our emotional will last night over South probably took something out of the kids." Ludwig was referring to Friday nights 47-45 win over Crystal Lake South. Mark Peterson began to hit the hoop for the Warriors in the early going of the ! second period. He led Warrior scoring with 17 points. Terry Hill, the Raider forward, got into the act and hit four buckets and the visitors increased their Continued on pago 20 Johnsburg errors Warrior defense shuts down Gators for season sweep By Greg Ives Shaw-Free Press Service CRYSTAL LAKE - Crystal Lake South and McHenry are among scores of teams this time of year riding out the regular- season schedule and awaiting a breath of fresh air in the post­ season tournament. Both coaches, however, didn't act the part of mentors whose teams are playing out the string. For the record, McHenry's sticky man-to-man defense held the Gators to one field goal and six points in the fourth quarter to help the Warriors rally to a 47- 45 Fox Valley Conference win Friday night. It was the first time ever a McHenry team has defeated the Gators twice in one season. "We needed this one real badly, if we'd have lost . . ." McHenry coach Ken Ludwig said. "We've been battling the flu all week and we've got four guys who aren't here tonight. This game was really a big one for us." That talk was hardly expected from a coach whose team is 6-4 in the FVC, but 8-12 overall. Had it not been for an opportunistic defense that left the South middle clogged in the_fourth quarter, it would have instead been the Gators in the win column. South (4-6 FVC, 10-12 overall) led 27-22 jat halftime and built the bulge to 11 points at 39-28 on Bill Buckles' third straight field goal midway through the third quarter. That, however, was the last two-point tally the Gators would score until Buckles rang the bell with a 10-footer with 2:52 left. By that time, the Warriors owned a 43-41 advantage and never gave it back. "We had eight possessions when we didn't score," South coach Gary Collins said of the fourth quarter. "We just became a little tentative, but it's not something I didn't expect. We play a little bit not to lose instead of to win. that's a sign of a team trying real hard, but struggling a bit at the same time. "We're learning from it and we're going to* get better. Un­ fortunately, people measure you success with W's and L's and that's really not what's hap­ pening here." McHenry, on the strength of Scott Freund's four free throws, outscored South 15-0 in a 6:44 stretch of the third and fourth quarters. The Warriors' man-to­ man defense held South to just one field goal in eight tries in the final frame. While most teams stick with a specific game plan, Ludwig and Company shelved their defensive battle plans early in the game and it worked like a charm. "I told the kids that's the best man-to-man defense I think we've played this year," Ludwig said. "We really played good defense. "It was not our game," he added. "We were going to switch defenses and play man-to-man when we scored and zone when we didn't. Our kids aren't too sharp at that yet, even though we're this far in the season. The man-to-man was good the first quarter and I said, 'Let's stick with it." Freund scored eight of Jus 14 points in the first period, 4n- cluding six in a row to close out the frame, as the Warriors sped to an 18-11 lead. South's junior ladened lineup began hitting the cords in the second quarter, while the Warriors could hit just two of 10 shots. After McHenry center Mark Peterson scored to make it 20-11, South went on a 16-2 spurt in the second quarter to grab thqr\ halftime lead. South's Chris Kardys scored 10 of his team- high 12 points in the first half. "We always have that gosh darn quarter," Ludwig added. "Every game we've lost the last month I can point to a quarter like that." The Gators outscored McHenry 12-4 in the third quarter to lead 39-28, but then the bottom fell out. Collins was disappointed, but not discouraged, in the Gator effort. "We're getting better," he added. "The team doesn't have a lot of experience and that's going to show a bit. But they did the things we asked them to do. We just didn't get the ball to do down." Pat Dunne also hit 14 points for the Warriors while Buckles added 10 for South. South hit 16- of-46 shots (35 percent) while the Warriors shot 40.4 percent (19- of-47) for the contest. The Gators' 12th loss ties the school record set in 1979-80. South, in its sixth campaign under Collins, has never had a losing season. Johnsburg wrestlers fall short in sectionals BARRINGTON -- It has been a wrestling season of ups and downs for McHenry and Johnsburg this season and unfortunately it finished a little mi the down side. Neither squad will be sending a wrestler to next weekend's state championships. For McHenry, the end came sooner than expected. Bob Sarabia, McHenry's 126-pound sectional qualifier lost his bid for a state qualifying berth when he was ruled inelgible to compete bv McHenry High officials for an athletic code violation. But McHenry's loss was Johnsburg's gain, as the Skyhawks' Jim Walker was awarded the open spot at Barrington. Neither Walker or Jim Bentz were able to last long enough to place. Bentz won his first match, but was eliminated in his second match. Walker was eliminated at his first match. "I'm not disappointed in the least," said Johnsburg coach Mike Roberts on Bentz's per­ formance. "He accomplished beyond what I ever felt he would accomplished. It's great to have a heavyweight that successful. It helps out the program." Bentz pinned Bob Johnson of Antioch in 1:38 in the preliminary round. His state plans were ruin, however, when he was pinned by Rory Rion of Deerfield in 3:28. Rion ended up placing third in the, tourney and qualified for state. Bentz's season ends with a 19-4 record. "He was down 1-0 and was pinned in a cradle. He wrestled a real good match," said Roberts on Bentz's match with Rion. "It's so unfortunate, unless a wrestler places at state, his career ends losing a match." Walker lost his first round match to Glen Rymsza of Bufflo Grove 14-2. * Roberts was just delighted to have a freshman in the sectional meet. "It was great experience for a freshman." hand Wauconda win By Barb Ansell It was a lack of luster per­ formance by the Johnsburg Skyhawks in their meeting with the Wauconda Bulldogs Friday night. A multitude of Skyhawk errors allowed the Bulldogs to easily claim a 48-40 win. Despite the loss to Wauconda, the Skyhawks managed to stay one game ahead of Wauconda in the Northwest Suburban Con­ ference standings. Johnsburg owns a 4-8 record in the NWSC, while holding a 10-11 overall record. "We just came off two con­ secutive wins over Marian and Grayslake, who are both tied for second in the conference," said Skyhawk coach Ben Beck. "A win would have helped us move up to fifth place in the standings, but the loss just about puts that away." The Skyhawks stayed with the Bulldogs throughout the early quarters of the game. The Skyhawks defensively worked to keep the Bulldogs out of the lane, forcing them to make the outside shots count. However, when the Skyhawks had the opportunties to move ahead using offensive rebounds and free throw shots, Johnsburg failed to make use of their ad­ vantages. The Bulldogs, however, made every one of their eight first half free throws to hold a slight 18-16 halftime lead. "We have to give Wauconda credit," said Beck. "They made us play their ballgame. We played their style and their tempo and that's how you win •" ballgames." The second half saw little improvement by the Skyhawks. "We didn't maintain mental intensity either because of numerous turnovers or lack of desire," Beck said. "Our seniors didn't have a good game. If we could just find the answer to consistently maintaining in­ tensity, we would solve our up and down season." The Skyhawks did manage to outscore the Bulldogs from the field, shooting 43 percent to the Bulldogs 32 percent and com­ manding control of the rebounds. However, the Skyhavks only foiled their own efforts by losing concentration and speeding up the tempo of the game. Even with 20 seeonds remaining in the game, the Skyhawks could have pulled themselves back into the game, as Jeff Jayko brought the Skyhawks to within three points, 43-40. But the Bulldogs Brad Freking had other plans as his basket and two free throw shots , iced the win. 1 Freking led all scorers with 17 points. The Skyhawks Jeff Preston sanked 16 points and grabbed 17 rebounds. Team­ mate Joe Majercik added 13 points. UNDER PRESSURE -- is McHenry's Craig Hill as he attempts to fire a jump shot over the reach of Crystal Lake SHAW-FREE PRESS PHOTO »V OREG IVES South's Chris Kardys. Hill scored one basket in the Warriors 47-45 win over the Gators. Hurricanes run over Grant for revenge did not put forth an effort. We came out really flat," Rokus said. "So tonight, we reminded the kids of that game. I thought we came out real strong." Chuck Hartlieb scored seven points and Andy scored six in the first period as Marian ran to its ninth NWSC win of the season against four losses. Chuck swished a 17-footer just 20 seconds into the contest, Andy added two jumpers and Dan Lalor hit a short shot in the first two minutes as the 'Canes jumped to an 8-0 lead. Grant, which didn't get its first basket until 3:16 remained in the first quarter, found itself behind 8-2 at the time. It never recovered from the slow start. Andy's layup and Chuck's swisher from the right angle gave Marian a 17-2 lead with 1:13 left in the period. To prove that the first quarter was no fluke, Marian kept the pressure on in the second period. Chuck Hartlieb tallied 10 points in the period, including two hoops on a sizzling fast break, to give MC a 25-10 lead. Rokus said part of the reason for his team's up-beat play could have been the fact that the 'Canes were playing at home for the first time in nearly three weeks. "It's sure nice to be home," Rokus said. "Right now were in second place and we're happy with that. We had three tough games in a row on the road (at Marengo, Cary and Johnsburg which Marian won two) in 18 days and it's nice to get back here and see the kind of effort they played with." Grant offered a mild comeback in the second quarter getting as close as six at one point but, in what proved to be the way things went for Marian, Chuck Hartlieb heaved home a 30-footer at the buzzer to give the 'Canes a 32-24 halftime edge. Grant would never get closer than 10 the rest of the night. The Bulldogs made a defen­ sive change and put more pressure on Marian's outside threats which, in turn, opened the inside game. Dan Lalor and Curt Wozny each had four points in the third quarter as did Andy Hartlieb. Marian led, 48-33, at the three-fourths juncture. Lalor added six points in the fourth quarter (he finished with 11) as Marian opened a 23-point lead midway through the period at 61-38. Grant's reserves then tallied 12 of the game's final 15 points to close the gap. Chuck Hartlieb finished with 22 points while Andy added 15. On Saturday, the Hurricanes made it two in a row with a 69-53 non-conference win over Genoa Kingston. Marian took a 17-14 lead in the first quarter, increased it to 34- 24 at the half, and broke the Continued on pag* 21 FLYING -- through the air is Marian's Andy Hartlieb lookina for a teammate to oass the ball off to. Andy led Marian scoring with 24 points against Genoa-Kingston and scored 15 against Grant. By Sam Natrop Shaw-Free Press Service WOODSTOCK - If getting off to a fast start is the key to winning basketball games, then Marian Central's Hurricanes deserved to be on the blowout side of a Northwest Suburban Conference win over Grant Friday night. And they were. Exploding to first-quarter leads of 8-0 and 17-2, the Hurricanes took the drama out of the game early and showed flashes of brilliant fast break in a 63-50 win over the Bulldogs in the Marian gym. The 'Canes made it a double win weekend Satruday with a whatever win over Genoa-Kingston. Friday's was an especially sweet win for Marian Central Coach Hans Rokus who saw his charges overcome a 60-48 loss at the hands of Grant the last time the teams met. "That was the only game we SHAW FREE PRESS PHOTO BV SAM NATROP