Boys basketball notes: Yorkville starts busy stretch, set to play in high-profile shootout Saturday

Yorkville has experienced both the benefit and detriment of a January schedule back-loaded at least in part by weather.

The Foxes (9-8) on Monday played just their second game since the calendar flipped to 2024. But starting with Monday, a two-point loss to Stevenson, Yorkville will play 10 games over a 20-day period, including two rescheduled contests.

“We’re over halfway through January and we’ve played two games,” said Yorkville coach John Holakovsky, whose raspy voice makes him sound like a guy who could use a break. “I think it’s good for us in terms of rest and health and to get guys away from grinding every day. But it has hurt us maybe chemistry-wise. We were playing our best basketball during the holiday tournament. I think we maybe lost some of our rhythm offensively.”

The Foxes will indeed get a chance to rediscover it – and will need to.

A difficult weekend slate starts with a home game Friday against Southwest Prairie East division leader Romeoville. On Saturday, Yorkville will play traditional Chicago Public League power Young as one of five games in the When Sides Collide Shootout at Benet.

Holakovsky is opting to take the glass half full outlook of what lies ahead for his team that’s had a rollercoaster ride so far. Yorkville started 3-5, won five consecutive games but has since dropped three of its last four.

“It’s an opportunity for us,” Holakovsky said. “We’ve had a weird season so far, but it’s getting down to the wire. We have less than a month left of regular season basketball. We have three games this week, three next week and four the following week. It’s time to do stuff and execute at the highest level. It could be tough but at some point everybody is playing the same amount of games. We can’t make excuses and need to be ready to go.”

The five-game slate at When Sides Collide Saturday will include Normal Community vs. DePaul Prep at 1 p.m. followed by Downers Grove North vs. Homewood-Flossmoor at 2:30, Yorkville-Young at 4 p.m., Kenwood-Mount Carmel at 6 p.m. and Benet-Thornton at 7:30 p.m.

It isn’t often that Yorkville has a chance to play in such a high-profile event, but Illinois recruit Jason Jakstys has put the Foxes on the radar. On Saturday they’ll play a Young program with pedigree, a four-time state champion with six state appearances since 2009. The Dolphins (10-8) are having a down season by their standards, and their best player – 6-foot-6 junior Antonio Munoz sprained his ankle in early January.

“It means a lot to be a part of this,” Holakovsky said. “Obviously we wish we were going in there playing better and more consistent. But if you can’t be fired up to be playing in an event like this and an opponent like that something is wrong with you. Hopefully we can get a lot of people there supporting us and hopefully we can use it as a springboard.

“No doubt we have our hands full this weekend. They will be tough, in your face, athletic, physical and aggressive. There is nowhere to hide. You have to be able to respond.”

Sandwich turnaround

Sandwich had a rough Plano Christmas Classic, going 1-3 with three losses by greater than 20 points.

New year, new life.

The Indians (7-9) have won three consecutive games since the calendar turned over to January heading into a three-game slate this week against Woodstock North, Woodstock and Marengo.

“The guys are starting to buy in,” Sandwich coach Kevin Kozan said. “The guys are getting used to playing with each other. We only start one senior so I knew it would take time to get going. They are starting to buy into the defensive end, really getting down and really guarding. I think we are starting to learn how to win.”

There were indeed growing pains early. Against Johnsburg in December, Sandwich was up five with three minutes to go and lost, had the ball with 50 seconds left up one against Serena and lost and was tied with two and a half minutes left at Plano and lost.

Frustrating, yes, but the Indians learned from it. A 20-point win over Genoa-Kingston sparked the streak, but most impressive was a 61-60 win at Rochelle in which the Indians trailed by nine in the third quarter.

“I think that was the turning point,” Kozan said.

Dom Rome, a 6-foot-4 junior, had 21 points and 11 rebounds in the Rochelle win.

“Dom is just playing with a little more edge, is a lot more locked in,” Kozan said. “He is a matchup nightmare when he wants to be. He’s only hitting one three a game, but if he can hit it it forces teams to get out and guard him. We’ve been working with him on his post up game.

“We’ve been playing together, getting down and getting stops. I’m excited to see where we can go. Our sectional, a lot of the teams are pretty equal. Seneca is good but not unbeatable. I think it’s wide open.”

Yorkville Christian’s big win

Yorkville Christian (8-14) picked up a huge 73-72 win this past Saturday over Christ the King, a team that came in with just two losses and ranked eighth in Class 2A by the Associated Press.

Jayden Riley scored 30 points with the game-winning three-point play and Zach Marini had 23 points with seven of the Mustangs’ 13 3-pointers.

“My older son is one of our assistant coaches and he told me ‘Dad, outside of the state championship win this may be one of the biggest ones we have had at home, top three or four in school history,’” Yorkville Christian coach Aaron Sovern said. “Understanding the context of things, in some polls they’ve been ranked second in Class 2A, they’re a horrible matchup for us with their size and athleticism. But our kids scrapped. It was not a pretty game but we found a way to win.”

The Mustangs indeed overcame a fair share of adversity to get there. Freshman starter Tray Alford sprained an ankle in the game’s first minutes and didn’t return, but junior Sam Painter provided big minutes off the bench. Riley and Brady Sovern had four fouls by late in the third quarter.

Yorkville Christian trailed by four with 25 seconds left, but Brady Sovern made two technical free throws. Down two, the Mustangs ran a set for Riley, who got the basket and the foul. Riley made 15 of his 17 free throw attempts, including the game winner.

“It was just a physical, grind it out game,” Sovern said. “It was never more than four points in either direction. Our guys made just enough plays at the end.”