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SECTION 2 - PAGE 12 - PLAINDEALER - FRIDAY, MARCH 16, 1984 let's talk I \ I - V - STAFF PHOTO-WAYNE GAYIORD DUNNE DONE IT -- McHenry's Pat Dunne lays-in two points as a Woodstock defender could only watch during last Friday's A/VcHenry regional championship game. Only a junior, Dunne will be an important link to next year's squad. Johnsburg captures first power lifting invitational By Barb Ansell It was the first annual J o h n s b u r g S k y h a w k PowerHfting Invitational, sponsored by the Fellowship of Christian Athletes program held at Johnsburg High School last weekend. And of the eight schools which had been invited. the event provided powerlifting competition for 107 lifters. The Skyhawk lifters easily captured the winning trophy with 66 total points, followed by Tiskilwa with 31, Lake Zurich with 29, Grant with 14, Marian with 8 and Harvard with 2 Continued on peg* 10, section 2 Forget the record. Warriors peaked in March By Mike Lamb It was a long road back to McHenry from Algonquin, after McHenry lost to Jacobs in a battle for second place in the Fox Valley Conference during the last regular season game. Many Warrior fans probably didn't give their team much chance in the regionals, much less against Johnsburg. But what nobody realized, except for maybe coach Ken Ludwig and his squad, the team was ready to peak. That's exactly what hap­ pened. Forget the 10-15 overall record and 6-6 FVC record. What's important is that McHenry came very close to knocking off Woodstock in the McHenry regional final. The Warriors peaked at the time when basketball coaches want their teams to peak - in March. "I never seen the kids play harder than they did against Jacobs. The ball just wouldn't fall through the basket," said Ken Ludwig. The Warriors lost to Jacobs 49-43, and consequently lost second place in the process. The Warriors, however, came back to defeat Johnsburg 45-39 and Cary-Grove 66-63. The two wins advanced the Warriors into the championship game against Woodstock. It took several breaks and spectacular plays by Brad Hutter and Greg Brad- shaw for the Blue Streaks to shake off McHenry. This was a team that Woodstock had beaten convincingly three times already that season. "We peaked at the right time," said Ludwig. "The kids did a super job in the regionals. There was a lot of pressure on them. You couldn't ask for a better way to end the season." The Warriors scored 72 points against Woodstock, which was the second highest total run up by them in the season. But what probably pleased Ludwig the most of the entire regional was the play of three juniors - Craig Hill, Scott Freund and Pat Dunne. The play of those three juniors has Ludwig ^smiling when he thinks about the potential of next year's squad. No one on the Warrior squad had a better two final games than Craig Hill. Coming into the tournament with a 5.5 scoring average, the 6-foot guard showed the kind of potential he was holding inside of him the whole season. After being held scoreless against Johnsburg, Hill ex­ ploded for 16 points against Cary-Grove and 24 against Woodstock. Against Woodstock he was just unstoppable. Nobody on the Blue Streak team could stop his baseline move to the basket. Scott Freund, the starting point guard for most of the season, scored 21 points in the three games, while Dunne scored 28 points. It's no secret those three hold the key to McHenry's season next year. "Tht nucleus is there," Ludwig said. "Those three juniors started in 20 of the 24 ballgames, except for Scott Freund. It took eight games into the season before he started." The 10-15 record also doesn't show some of the great moments the Warriors experinced. Ludwig won his 300th ballgame against Downers Grove North in the Wheeling Tournament during the holidays. A double overtime win over Crystal Lake Central in Buckner Gymnasium is also worth remembering. Also, Mark Peterson was placed on the coaches and writers all- conference teams. But what probably is most ^satisfying is when the pre­ season stories and polls filled the sports pages, McHenry was not even mentioned. "I was a little disappointed with the 10-15 record, but I was talking to the kids and we can't be disappointed with the con­ ference record," said Ludwig. "Second place was my goal, but I can't be disappointed with third place. "The games that seem to kill us was the non-conference games. In defense to that, we played a very tough non- conference schedule. I would have to say we had the toughest non-conference schedule in the conference. "And we played Woodstock four times. TTiat'6 four losses." Out of 10 non-conference games, the Warriors only managed to win two of them. The Warriors beat Grayslake and Downers Grove North, while losing to Sycamore, Sterling, Deerfield, Grant, Immaculate Conception and Waukegan West. The Warriors also beat every team in the FVC at least once except for Woodstock. "I just didn't seem to play well on Saturday nights," Ludwig added. "Ten and 15, with only two returning lettermen, is not all that bad. Our kids were a team. There was no outstanding in­ dividual . The kids got along really well." Another aspect Ludwig was impressed with was his bench. "We had a good bench. We had the best bench in the conference. That's what helped us win a lot of ballgames. Those four guys deserve a lot of credit." Ludwig was referring to Dave Toussaint, William Schmitt, Tim Schmitt and Ross Vehring. Schmitt, silent for most of the season, was another player who came on strong in the regionals. His 10 points in the fourth quarter was the major dif­ ference in the win against Johnsburg. He scored 12 against Cary-Grove and seven against Woodstock. He came into the regional with a 2.3 scoring average. "We didn't have much talent, but we had a lot of depth." STAFF PHOTO-WAYNI GAYlOftD William Schmitt came on strong for the Warriors in the regionals. Here he slows down a Jacobs player with his Hnfnntn Hutter went from weakling to FVC brute by Sam Natrop Shaw-Free Press Service WOODSTOCK-Five years ago, Brad Hutter was a small, uncoordinated kid. He was not an athlete. Who says so? He says so. One look at Brad Hutter today makes one wonder what happened to the 5-foot- 7, 130-pound junior high school weakling. Today, he is a muscular 6 foot, 4Vfe inch, 200-pound senior center on the Woodstock High School basketball team. His aggressive style and dominating presence has earned him Player of the Year honors on a vote of the Shaw-Free Press News Service sports writers. But his 14.8 point per game scoring average and his 10.1 rebound average didn't come along just because he grew eight in­ ches (from 5-7 to 6-3) from the beginning of his fresh­ man year to the end of his sophomore year. There was no magic in­ volved, and the road to becoming the Fox Valley Conference's Player of the Year was a rough one. Hutter, who was an-All FVC choice last year, paid the price for being a talented underclassman. He grew up in Woodstock and was a conference wrestling champion at 135 pounds in eighth grade. He was a wide receiver on the football team and set a school record in the shot put. But thought he would try something different. "I've hated going to practice ever since I started playing basketball...up until this year," Hutter said. During his freshman year at Woodstock, Hutter said he decided he'd try out for the basketball team. "My brother played basketball and was pretty good. He was my first in­ spiration in basketball. 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