The closest race in the 11-year history of the Du Page Valley Conference ended Friday with Wheaton North emerging as the winner.
Wheaton North (17-7, 11-3) won its first league title since 1979-80 by defeating Naperville North 72-50 in Wheaton. Wheaton North had won the first meeting between the two teams 52-51.
Wheaton Central (19-7, 10-4), which defeated West Chicago 49-40, and Glenbard North (16-8, 10-4), which edged Glenbard South 55-54, tied for second. Naperville North (17-7, 9-5) dropped to third.
”This is one of the few times we`ve gone to the end,” said Wheaton North coach Jim Hedrick. ”It`s usually decided before the last weekend.”
Kent Graham, a 6-foot-5-inch junior, led Wheaton North with 26 points.
Hedrick had been concerned with his team`s offense. It was the most points scored by the Falcons since a 76-49 victory over Glenbard East in January.
Wheaton Central 49, West Chicago 40–Bill Wainwright`s 15 points paced Wheaton Central. Dave Sostak had 16 for West Chicago (13-11, 7-7).
Glenbard North 55, Glenbard South 54–Manie Benitez hit a 6-foot jump shot with nine seconds left. Dan Frehe had 16 points and Benitez 13 for Glenbard North, which had won or shared the last four Du Page Valley titles.
King 91, Bogan 47–King (22-1, 10-0), The Tribune`s second-ranked team, clinched its third Public League Red-Central title in the last five years with its 20th consecutive victory. Levertis Robinson (35 points, 14 rebounds, 5 blocked shots) and Marcus Liberty (21 points, 10 rebounds, 7 assists, 6 steals) led the way.
St. Joseph 47, Marist 46–No. 3 St. Joseph (24-1, 14-0) outscored Marist
(14-9, 9-5) 28-19 in the second half to conclude a perfect East Suburban Catholic season. Billy Stanback`s 11 points led St. Joseph. St. Joe guard Tony Freeman sat out the game as part of a penalty imposed after he was involved in a fight during the first game between the two teams.
Rich Central 90, Crete-Monee 70–No. 4 Rich Central (24-1, 9-1) clinched the South Inter-Conference Association South title as Kendall Gill scored 25 points and Bobby Smith added 21.
Leo 69, Weber 57–Randy Doss had 19 points and Chris Henderson added 18 as No. 5 Leo (23-2, 12-1) claimed the Catholic League title. Ken Redfield scored 31 points for Weber (16-9, 9-5).
Homewood-Flossmoor 53, Bloom 36–Dick Seidel had 17 points as No. 6 H-F
(21-4, 11-1) claimed the SICA East title.
Oak Park 53, Proviso West 51–Oak Park (15-8, 9-5) held on to upset No. 7 Proviso West (21-4, 11-3) in the West Suburban Conference. Bryan Lindsey had 12 for Oak Park.
Argo 85, Oak Lawn 62–No. 9 Argo (21-3, 12-0) rolled in the SICA North behind Joe Griffin`s 21 points and Alan Hampton`s 20.
Gordon Tech 70, St. Rita 68–Ed Stritzel`s 25 points and Maurice Nelson`s 17 earned Gordon (15-9, 8-5) the upset in the Catholic League. Jim O`Boye had 17 for No. 10 St. Rita (21-5, 10-3).
St. Viator 61, St. Patrick 56–No. 11 St. Viator (20-5, 10-4) finished second to St. Joseph in the East Suburban Catholic. Pete Altenberger and Ted Sharpenter led the way with 17 and 16 points, respectively.
Benet Academy 68, Montini 40–Porter Moser scored 23 points as No. 13 Benet (21-3, 12-0) completed another perfect West Suburban Catholic season.
Lockport 65, Andrew 49–The No. 14 Porters (20-3, 12-0) rolled to the SICA West victory behind Maurice Hamilton`s 23 points.
Bradley-Bourbonnais 58, Kankakee 38–Steve McCarty`s 16 points helped No. 15 Bradley (21-4, 8-2) to the SICA South victory.
Lane Tech 83, Sullivan 52–The No. 16 Indians (22-2, 12-0) clinched at least a share of the Blue-North title with their 21st straight victory. Adrian Moore scored 26 points to pace the Indians.
Bloom Trail 50, Thornridge 44–No. 17 Bloom Trail (22-3, 10-2) finished runner-up to Homewood-Flossmoor in the SICA East. John Scott had 11, Wilbon Perry 10 and James Banks 10 for Bloom Trail.
Mendel 53, Mt. Carmel 45–No. 18 Mendel (17-8, 7-5) finished the regular season with eight straight victories. Richard Johnson and Darren Shepard each had 11 points for the Monarchs in the Catholic League game.
Lyons Township 80, Glenbard West 42–No. 20 Lyons (18-6, 13-1) clinched the West Suburban Conference title. Dennis Paloucek, Mike Klusendorf and Ken Ingersoll had 18, 17 and 16 points, respectively, for Lyons, which led 40-18 at halftime.
Oak Forest 77, Hillcrest 64–Troy Agler and Casey Brennan scored 27 and 22 points, respectively, as Oak Forest (20-4, 9-1) earned the SICA Central title. Hillcrest is 15-8, 7-3.
Elgin 58, Larkin 55–Elgin overcame a 30-19 halftime deficit to claim the Upstate Eight title. Tim Moritz and Mark Baugh led Elgin (18-6, 11-3) with 25 and 18 points, respectively. Larkin is 16-9, 8-6.
St. Charles 59, Streamwood 49–St. Charles (20-5, 10-4) rallied from a 24-23 halftime deficit in the Upstate Eight behind Mark Thompson (14 points)
and Cory Powell (13).
Highland Park 54, Glenbrook North 41–Peter Rudman hit 26 points as Highland Park (15-9, 7-3) tied for the Central Suburban League South title with Evanston (18-8, 7-3), a 68-52 winner over Maine South.
Round Lake 62, Grayslake 53–Frank Ptak scored 21 points for Round Lake
(20-5, 10-4), which scored the last eight points in the Northwest Suburban Conference game. Round Lake`s Greg Kreitner threw the ball the length of the court for a basket just before halftime.
Notre Dame 50, Holy Cross 49–Dan O`Grady hit the winning free throw with seven seconds left in the East Suburban Catholic game. Mike Patke had 16 points for Notre Dame (8-17, 3-11).
Downers Grove North 67, York 64–John Jacobs` field goal with seven seconds left in overtime put Downers North (8-15, 5-9) up 66-64 in the West Suburban Conference game. York was called for a technical for calling a timeout it did not have. Jeff Stone hit the technical to close out the scoring.
