The battle for Mr. Basketball of Illinois is starting to take shape. King`s Marcus Liberty is rated the top junior prospect in the nation by talent scout Bill Cronauer. He also ranks Nelison Anderson of Simeon as one of the top 12 seniors still unsigned and Alton senior guard Larry Smith, who is headed for Illinois, as the ”sleeper of the year.” . . . Opposing coaches are getting on the Kendall Gill bandwagon. Gill, the charismatic Rich Central star, and Smith may wind up in Illinois` backcourt next year. Gill is rapidly becoming the top player in the south suburbs this year. . . . Elgin has announced its roster for next season`s 16-team Christmas tournament. It includes St. Patrick, which will leave the Carbondale tournament, and Maine East, which went to Collinsville the last two years. The other teams are Rolling Meadows, Zion-Benton and Conant, which all played at Wheeling last year; Lyons and Barrington, which left Proviso West; Weber, a refugee from Pontiac; St. Rita, winner of the Luther North meet this season; Robeson from the Mayor`s tournament; Joliet Catholic from Rich South; Fremd from Sycamore; and Glenbrook South, Lake Forest and Stevenson, which along with Elgin were in the eight-team Elgin meet last year. . . . Class AA regional tournaments start next Monday, and basketball fanatics might have their choice of sensational title games if form holds. The three top finals should be Leo vs. St. Rita at Quigley South; Rich Central against Homewood-Flossmoor at Rich South; and St. Joseph vs. Proviso West at Willowbrook. Other possible matchups include Benet Academy against Naperville North at Naperville Central; East and West Aurora at West; St. Viator vs. Prospect at Rolling Meadows; Highland Park against either Loyola or New Trier at Glenbrook North; St. Charles vs. Elgin at St. Charles; and Lockport against Romeoville at Lockport.
GIRLS` BASKETBALL
The 1986-87 season will begin with a bang when defending Class A champion St. Edward plays host to Class AA power Young Dec. 2 in Elgin. St. Edward is ranked No. 8 in The Tribune poll, which includes both Class A and AA schools, and No. 1 in the Associated Press Class A poll. Young has spent the season alternating with defending Class AA state champion Marshall between the No. 1 and 2 spots. St. Ed coach Ken Mattini tried unsuccessfully to add Marshall to St. Edward`s 86-87 schedule.
SWIMMING
First-year Hinsdale Central coach Tom Schweer was the head coach at Western Illinois for five years before coming to Hinsdale. ”This is the only high school program in the state that I would have gone to from the college level,” said Schweer, whose team is expected to be among the top three at the state meet this weekend. Diving preliminaries begin at 9:30 a.m. Friday. Swimming prelims are at 4 p.m. Friday. Saturday`s finals begin at 1 p.m.
GYMNASTICS
Naperville North will appear in its first state meet in four years, the first for Brad Foerch as a head coach. ”I`m just excited to be there,” said Foerch after the Huskies finished with a 143.50, just behind team champion Naperville Central`s 143.95 Saturday in the Glenbard North sectional. The performance earned the Huskies an at-large berth, just as they had earned an at-large berth after finishing second to the Redskins in the regional at Naperville Central. Foerch was thrilled for both schools. ”Maybe Central and North can someday be like Palatine and Fremd. Maybe we can get a dynasty going.” . . . Downers Grove North sophomore Helen Kim finished third in the all-around competition with a 36.60. Her score could have been higher, however. Kim forgot to take off her earrings before her uneven bars routine, and the judges trimmed three-tenths of a point for the lapse. . . . Naperville Central senior Amy Rechenmacher said the elbow she hyperextended in practice last week hurt a lot until Saturday`s sectional began. Then, she didn`t notice it at all. ”I was really scared because it was hurting so much, but once the meet started, I didn`t think about it at all.” She doesn`t think it will hurt next week, either. ”State`s a no-pressure meet. You just do your best. I`m a senior, this is it.”
WRESTLING
Proviso East has seen Naperville North in action. A few of the Pirates, who will wrestle the No. 4 Huskies in the Glenbard North sectional if both teams win first-round matches, witnessed a dual meet last month. ”They looked pretty tough,” said Proviso 119-pounder Terry Murphy. ”They are good in the lower weights and so are we. That will make or break the meet. Whoever wins down there should win.” Murphy wrestled at 119 for the first time this season in the Morton sectional and lost to Lyons Ray Serbick 10-4. . . . Morton coach Mike Costello thinks the fruits of the Morton consolidation will show in two or three years. The Mustangs were strong on the lower levels this year. . . . Proviso East starts all seniors but don`t look for the Pirates to roll over and die next year. Proviso won the West Suburban Conference on two junior varsity levels and were third on the freshman level. . . . The Leyden individual sectional will feature some tremendous match-ups, especially at 105 and heavyweight. Fenton`s Ben Morris and Lake Park`s Sam Geraci are on a collision course at 105 while Leyden`s Eric Wenckowski and Conant`s Carl Presley will collide at heavweight. Geraci will take a 36-0 record into the sectional, while Morris is 37-0. The two met last year in the sectional final at 98 with Morris winning. ”I`ve been looking forward to it,” said Geraci, who defeated Ray Villar of Hoffman Estates 12-5 in the Larkin regional final. ”It`s hard not to. It will decide who is rated No. 1 (Morris defeated returning 98-pound champion Bam Bam Pustelnik of East Moline). It adds a lot of pressure, but that`s great. I like pressure. If I lose, I`ve got another week (state tournament) to prove myself.” . . . Larkin`s Anton Kossakowski continued his unbeaten ways. The Royal 167-pounder is 21-0 after beating Hoffman Estates` tough Cedric Coombs. Kossakowski received a first-round bye on Friday and didn`t like the way he wrestled in his 3:31 pin of Lake Park`s Byron Lawson. ”I`d rather have wrestled last night,” he said. ”I had to run last night to make weight. I had to keep any weight off and keep busy. I`ve still got a lot to learn. Every match is a different story. We`ll have to wait until to see who the contenders are.” . . . Hoffman Estates` Mickey Marchese waited until Jan. 31 to drop down to 119 pounds for good but hasn`t felt any negative effect from it. ”I feel strong at 119, better than I did at 126,”
said Marchese, now 35-0. ”I planned on going to 119 but coach (Angelo Testone) wanted me to wrestle at 126 for a while so we could have a stronger lineup. I feel stronger even though I cut weight. I feel a lot more pressure this year. People expect me to win, but I think that helps me perform better.”
