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Dick Rabbitt Craig Hill Page 19 • PLAINDE ALER-HER ALD, FRIDAY, JANUARY 11,19*5 Streaks, W resume old rivalry Friday night, for the 60th time since 1954, the McHenry High - ; School "Fighting Warriors" will take on the Woodstock Blue ; Streaks in a basketball game. Friday's game will be in Buckher • Gym at West Campus. 1 Going back in my records to 1954, the year the Warriors join- ; ed the North Suburban Conference, the two McHenry County « rivals have played a total of 59 games, with the Warriors com­ bing out on top in the series, 33-26. Four of those 26 Blue Streak wins came during the 1983-84 season. • I'm sure that our good friend S.I.H. and many others can go , back longer than I can in this old series between the two rivals. But let's just go down .a shorter memory lane -- the one since 1954. In the initial season (54-55), the Warriors and the Streaks split a pair of games. The following season, the Streaks came out on top in both encounters. But the Warriors began to hit the jackpot in the 1956-57 season, when they began a string of 14 straight victories over Woodstock, including wins in regional confrontations, before McHenry lost in its final game of the 1963-64 campaign. FROM THE 65-66 season until 68-69, the Warriors dropped eight straight, but then won eight in a row over the next four seasons. Woodstock then dropped out of the North Suburban • and entered the Northwest Suburban for four seasons, during which time the two teams didn't compete against each other. Since the beginning of the Fox Valley Conference in 1978-79, the Warriors are 4-10 against the Streaks, including the four losses last year -- two in regular-season play, one in the Wheel­ ing tournament, and another in the McHenry Regional cham­ pionship game. The Warriors will again have their hands full Friday night against the Streaks, who are on top of the Fox Valley with a 4-0 record. In looking back through history on both sides of the rivalry, the underdog can come up with a victory. Maybe Fri­ day night can be the Warriors' turn to do the trick. •It's always a good game, so you can throw out past per­ formances. This contest generally draws a big crowd as well. Hope to see a lot of you old Warrior fans at the game. And don't forget alumni -- the hospitality room on the second floor, with coffee, goodies and athletic director Joe Schlender there to greet you. Introduce yourself to genial Joe, he will make you feel welcome to Buckner Gym. REPORTS OUT OF Crystal Lake South are not too good. Seems that our good friend, Gator coach Gary Collins, had to take disciplinary measures on five members of his squad for conduct unbecoming a Gator player at the recent Collinsville Holiday Tournament. From all reports, the five are suspended from the squad. The reasons are obvious, it's pretty hard to control a group of teenagers on their first trip of several days away from home. I certainly don't condone what the boys did, but you can't blame the coaches either. Parental guidance has to be included and the parents have to take some of the blame. If the suspensions are long enough, it may hurt the Gator team this season. But in the long run, it may be a blessing for Coach Collins' crew. The prep ratings are out and Proviso West is indeed the number one team in the state. Forgot that Providence-St. Mel is a Class A school and is rated first in that poll. Leo is fourth behind Simeon and King of Chicago. Rockford Boylan, a double overtime loser to Simeon earlier this season, is rated fifth. A correction: Last week, I mentioned that no holiday cham­ pions were crowned from the Big Eight, Fox Valley or Nor­ thwest Suburban conferences. Wrong. The Harvard Hornets captured the title at the Marengo event. Harvard is rated in the top 10 Class A teams in the state, and the Hornets are a solid squad. You can read the details of the Warrior loss to Fremd Tues­ day night in Chris' story. McHenry certainly didn't look too good against Fremd. For one of the very few times this season, the Warriors were actually outhustled. Trailing by only four at the intermission, they were outscored 34-17 in the final half. Better luck against Woodstock. If my good friend Bob Beyer can get the fairways cleaned by this weekend, the old left-hander will issue a challenge on the links. It's been quite awhile since we battled it out, but spring is just around the corner -- I hope. WITH THE Streaks in town Friday, memory lane takes us back to the 1964-65 season, when Rich Smith led the Warriors with 23 points, as the locals tipped Woodstock 70-62. Myron Bentz added 16 for McHenry. McHENRY (70): Smith 10 323; Laurence5313; Bentz8016; Hiller 5212; Soda 2 15; LockwoodOll. Totals: 3010-70. WOODSTOCK (62): Martindale 9 2 20; Harting 10 2; Hart 5 3 13; Meyers 4 19; Sorenson6012; Palmquist02 2; Hall20 4. Totals: 278-62. Totals fouls (fouled out): McHenry 12 (Laurence); Woodstock 12 (Martindale). * McHenry: 8 18 2321 -- 70 Woodstock: >.... 121215 23 -- 62 GARY -- "We won the battle, but we still lost the war." The words of McHenry girls' basketball coach Pat Wirtz rang true for the ninth time in as many outings this season, as the Lady Warriors droped a 56-38 Fox Valley Conference decision to Cary-Grove Tuesday. The Warriors are 0-2 in the FVC, 0-9 overall. C-G is 2-1,8-3. McHenry began the game with just six players in uniform due to illness and vacation. When Peg Chilvers fouled out in the third quarter, Wirtz * was forced to employ five guards for the final „ jiiarter-and-a-half. "PEG WAS really starting to get going. too,'4 lamented Wirtz. 'She had four buckets in the third quarter, she was getting ag­ gressive, crashing the boards, and then she fouled out. That was the burning point. We still outscored Cliielessx Warriors ripped by Fremd By Chris Juzwik PUIoduler-Herftld «orts editor 9 • ' Why? That's the main question regarding the sad state of affairs in the McHenry High boys' basket­ ball camp. The question comes simply. Why? The answer, however, is much more difficult to pinpoint. It could be one thing; it might be another. But more than likely, it's a com­ bination of many things, all of which disturb McHenry coach Ken Ludwig. "If I could explain it, I would. But I can't," said a distraught Ludwig Tuesday night after his Warriors dropped a non- conference game to Palatine Fremd, 66-45 at Buckner Gym. The McHenry sophomores also lost, 51-49. "It was just one of those nights," the veteran coach added. Unfortunately for he and the War- Embattled MCHS girls lose to Cary-Grove them in the fourth quarter, but it would have been nice to have her in there." Cary-Grove took advantage of missed McHenry opportunities to lead at the half, 33-13. «'We were missing so many easy shots in the first half. Short, three- footers. Had we been able to make those, it would have been a dif­ ferent game. We could have been in it," he said. As it was, the War­ riors trailed by 12 after one quarter. "It was very frustrating. I know the girls were getting frustrated, missing the easy shots.' We had players wide open, but the girls had their heads down, and didn't see them." WIRTZ SAID his team may have been affected psychological­ ly by the presence of just six players at the game's outset. riors, it's suddenly becoming just one of those seasons. "We weren't mentally ready. It was really a pathetic exhibition." That it was. The Warriors scored just 17 second-half points to the Vikings' 34. The locals were outrebounded 35-20. McHenry was 12-0f-32 shooting in the first half, and 5-of- 20 in the second. This game wasn't one for the Warrior highlight film, save the exploits of senior forward Craig Hill, who scored a game- high 21 points. FREMD FOUND a home for itself under and around the McHenry basket all night long. It seemed a replay of the Warriors' loss to Wheeling 10 days ago. A simple game plan for the op­ ponents; gat lay-ups or six-foot shots, or don't shoot. a "I've never seen so many easy baskets as Fremd got tonight," Ludwig said. "They did a lot of baseline screening, and we didn't help out, didn't step in front of the cutter. At all. How many times did you see us step out in front of the cutter? Not once." To the gory details. McHenry, as has been its custom, got off to a slow start. A jump shot from the left baseline by Hill at 5:50 of the quarter gave the Warriors their first points. FREMD PULLED ahead 16-10 on a jumper from the right corner by sweet-shooting Scott Hetland, before Hill stole a pass at three- quarter court and drove in for the lay-up with a minute left. After another easy Viking bucket by 6-5 Jim Wittman, who had eight nAinfs in fliA niiartor UU1 nail aH a jumper from the left side to close the quarter's scoring, with McHenry trailing 18-14. Fremd pulled ahead by 10 -- 28- 18 -- on a 15-footer by point guard Ed Bauernfreund with four minutes left in the second stanza. But the often-scrappy Warriors in­ ched back on two Hill baskets in the final minute, and at the inter­ mission, it was Fremd 32, McHenry 28. The Warriors took their customary two-minute span to get warmed up, as they watched Fremd score six unanswered points to jump out to another 10- point advantage, and for all in­ tents and purposes, that was that. McHenry never got closer than six the rest of the way. A patient, picking, cutting Fremd offense found the open man consistently in the third period, but despite themselves, the Warriors still faced just an eight-point deficit after three periods, 44-36. , BUT McHENRY scored just two baskets in the final quarter, one a spinning, off-balance bank shot by Pat Dunne, and the other on a nif­ ty drive by Hill. On the other side of the court, Fremd was scoring at will, from various and sundry spots on the floor at Buckner Gym, pulling out to a whopping 58- 41 lead with 3:10 left to play. "The defense wasn't there, and it was our worst offensive effort as well," said Ludwig. "Fremd isn't a very good team. They're 9-5 now, but they're not that good. We were so sluggish, so slow. They're one of the slowest teams we'll play all year, and they were beating us up and down the floor." Any bright spots, coach? "The hustle. That's the one com­ plimentary thing about this game. Vte hustled. And Craig played well. He's been our most consis­ tent player all year. "You know you're going to get a solid effort from him every time out," Ludwig said. "He'll have a bad game here, and a bad game there, but all in all, he's our most consistent." ^ THINGS DON'T get any easier. Friday night, the Fox Valley Conference-leading Woodstock Blue Streaks come to town, and Saturday, McHenry will trek to Deerfield in a rematch of a first- round Wheeling tournament game, won by Deerfield in over* time. "We'll find out which team shows up. If it's the same one that was here tonight, we're gonna be in trouble," said Ludwig. Perusing the shot chart after the loss didn't help Ludwig's state any. "Look where all our shots were. We didn't take bad shots, they're all in the middle. We had the ball where we wanted it." Fifteen games into the season, the Warriors suddenly find themselves at 5-10. The promise sho^yn after four disappointing one-point losses early on is gone. "We\e very inconsistent," said Ludwig. "And it's getting a little . bit late ih the year for that." And the questions linger, the most pressing of which still is: Plalndealer-Heratd photo by Chrla Juzwik McHenry center Mark Etheridge and Fremd's Jim Thiele await a rebound opportunity during the Warriors loss Tuesday night. Friday, the Woodstock Blue Streaks come to Buckner Gym for a Fox Valley Conference tilt. Lackluster Skyhawks topped by Richmond McHENRY-Page 18 in the Warrior loss. riauiucaici - nci aiu piiuiu I»J «.M is •>«««*•» McHenry's Pat Dunne forces a shot over the outstret' <<cd arms of Fremd's Jim Wittman (55) and Jim Weil. Dunne h ' 11 points By Steve Peterson PlalndMtor-Herald New* Service RICHMOND - A basketball law says offense can be a fickle commodity but defense should be a constant. Such was the case of the Rich- mond-Burton boys Tuesday night. The Rockets didn't have a whole lot of offense, and neither did the Johnsburg Skyhawks. But R-B overcame its non­ existent offense, while JHS could not, as the Rockets posted a non-conference win, 51-37. "We were shooting terribly from the field. The defense won us a game. Everyone played tremendous defense," Rich­ mond-Burton Coach Doug Brown said. The Rockets blew open a close game in the third quarter. After the two teams struggled to a 19- all tie, R-B used a three-quarter court press to take advantage of the Johnsburg's shaky ballhandling^ Unofficially, the Skyhawks committed 17 tur­ novers. "We found that out and we started to expand the defense. We've been preaching defense all year and now they 're starting to believe it," Brown said. THE ROCKETS (5-9) won the third quarter, 14-0, and then dominated the final stanza, 18- 10, for the mar giiyfl) victory. Chris Ozburn provided the Rockets with three clutch fourth-quarter buckets and finished with 11 points, second to Kevin Miller's 12. Richmond-Burton shot just 30 percent in the first half, im­ proving slightly to 36 percent in the second. The Rockets also shot less than 50 percent from the free throw line. Johnsburg (5-7) never could get on track offensively, scoring eight points, nine and 10 twice. Sophomore guard Frank Husak led the Skyhawks with 10 points, the only Johnsburg player to reach double figures. "I felt we did not adjust to their press. We did not do a very good job of handling it," Johnsburg Coach Ben Beck«aid. THE SKYHAWKS battled R-B even for the first four minutes of the second half and enjoyed a slim 27-26 lead after a 15-"footer from Husak. But the Rockets took over from there. Three points by Tom Otto, a basket by Miller and a shot at the buzzer from Bill Rabelhofer gave the Rockets a 33-27 advantage after three. Johnsburg had missed its last four shots and committed four turnovers while the Rockets raced to the lead. Johnsburg pulled to within four points twice in the early going of the fourth quarter. Hoops by Bill pust and Mark DuRei trimmed the lead to 35-31. The Rockets then began to pull away. Kevin Klein's layup started the Rockets on a spree which saw their lead extend to seven points. Ozburn's first fourth- quarter bucket on a bank shot made it 39-32 with 3:34 remaining. " A THREE-point play by Johnsburg's DuRei brought the Skyhawks to within four, but it would turn out to be only a momentarily rally. The Skyhawks, who alter the three- pointer made the score 39-35, did not score for the next two minutes. The Rockets soon gained the upper hand. The Rockets made their free throws down the stretch, con­ verting on their last four in a row. That did not exactly give the winners anything to brag about, though as they finished ll-of-23 from the free-throw line. The first quarter was a signal of what was to come. Richmond-Burton missed 12- of-17 shots but sill managed a 10- 0 lead after eight minutes. The Rockets had a 10-4 advantage at one point, but the Skyhawks made it close on three points from Tim Shine and a layup by Jeff Nichols. That was the first of just two baskets from Nichols, who was hampered with foul trouble and eventually fouled out. John­ sburg's floor leader and leading scorer had just four points. RICHMOND-Burton extended its margin to four points early in the second quarter. Miller's basket and Ken Elliott's free throw gave the home team a $3-9 lead. But Johnsburg dominated the rest of the quarter as the Skyhawks started to get the ball inside. Johnsburg outscored R-B 10-6 through the final five minutes of the first half to forge the halftime tie. Both teams get back into conference action this weekend. Johnsburg is at Lake Zurich in Northwest Suburban Conference play while Richmond-Burton hosts Harvard Saturday in a Big Eight match-up.