THREE THINGS WE KNOW
No. 1: Is next year Lincoln-Way West’s turn? Lincoln-Way East and Lincoln-Way North have ruled the far south suburbs the last two years, but with three juniors (Michael Wexter, Jake Gasparich and Jake Martin) and a sophomore (Scott Christensen) among their top players, things are looking up for the Warriors. “They’re students of the game,” coach Rory Olson said. “They love learning new strategies. You really see them take the things that you tell them and apply it to their game. It’s a great group. They just love the sport.”
No. 2: Niles West ran into a brick wall in the finals of the Glenbrook North tournament, and it had nothing to do with Hersey’s big front line. “The problem is when we allow ourselves to get frustrated, we don’t play our game,” coach Drew Roche said. “The other team builds that momentum and we have a hard time getting out of that funk.” Niles West did beat Glenbrook North in the semifinals Saturday, a team the Wolves will likely see in the regional finals at Northbrook.
No. 3: Barrington is 21-0 in matches played Monday through Friday. It’s Saturdays that have given the Broncos problems. Last weekend at Glenbrook North, Barrington dropped to 3-8 on Saturdays with a 25-10, 22-25, 25-20 loss to Hersey in the semifinals. “It was our ball control,” Barrington coach Rob Ridenour said. “We kind of struggled in serve receive. We actually passed really well for a game-and-a-half. Then we just kind of broke down late in Game 3 and struggled from there.”
