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Schools

JCA Sports Wrap: Hillmen Take Title

The Joliet Catholic Academy boys basketball team went 3-0 at Aurora Christian as Shorewood native Ryan Peter led the way. Also, girls basketball and the popular 'Where Are They Now' section.

With junior Keith Craig debuting as his point guard, Joliet Catholic Academy coach Joe Gura completed the backcourt puzzle by placing junior Shakar Washington at his regular spot, shooting guard.

Suddenly, everything clicked.

“I think what happened was getting Keith back from football stabilized a couple of positions,” Gura said. “Shakar had to play the ‘1’ and he’s not a ‘1,’ he’s a ‘2.’ We had to play him there — we had no one else.

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“With Keith playing the ‘1’ Shakar now goes back to his natural position, so we’re solid at both of the guard position. Keith is a solid point, he gets us into our offense and he’s a very good defensive player, so that allows Shakar to be more of a scoring threat along with ‘Pete’ which really, really helps.”

That “Pete” would be junior forward Ryan Peter. The native scored in double figures during all three games as the JCA boys basketball team took the title of the Aurora Christian Invitational.

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Peter totaled 23 points and 11 rebounds, and Washington notched 21 points as JCA (3-3) rallied from a 15-3 first-quarter deficit to beat the host Eagles 64-50 in Saturday afternoon’s championship game.

On Friday, Craig had 13 points and 9 assists and Peter provided 13 points and 10 rebounds in a 49-37 win over St. Edward. The Hillmen opened Thursday with a 65-38 victory over IMSA to snap a three-game losing streak. Peter had 18 points, while Craig (8 assists, 5 rebounds) and Washington added 11 points.

“They did not name an MVP of the tournament, but if they did, it would have been Ryan Peter,” Gura said. “He played the best in a tournament that had some pretty good basketball players in it. Any time you can get two double-doubles against two tough opponents, you have to give him some credit.”

Meanwhile, Gura expects an extra-credit effort Friday from Nazareth and Saturday from Minooka.

No matter.

“What doesn’t surprise me is we made progress,” nodded Gura, a veteran of Lockport and Pontiac who’s in his first year heading a JCA boys basketball program that has not won a regional title since 1987-88. “And we’re going to play good defense. But we need to take care of the ball and get into our offense.

“When we get into our offense, run the clock and get people good looks, you combine that with living on playing good defense, it makes a world of difference. You just can’t turn the ball over to play the tempo we want to play, and getting Keith back has allowed us to stabilize the ball-handling. I’m happy.”

GIRLS BASKETBALL: Senior center Shannon Butler (Plainfield) notched 16 points and 8 rebounds, freshman guard Cierra Stanciel (Naperville) added 13 points and sophomore guard Naomi Mayes (Lockport) had 6 steals as JCA dropped a 46-45 decision to St. Joseph (6-1). The Angels (1-4) ended up losing on a 30-foot shot from 3-point range at the buzzer. JCA owned a 25-24 lead at halftime.

JUNIOR HIGH NIGHT: Because of a change in the schedule, the Junior High Night for the boys basketball program will be Friday, Dec. 16 at 7:30 p.m. against East Suburban Catholic Conference rival St. Patrick. This is a chance for future Hillmen to meet coach Joe Gura and members of the varsity basketball team.

WHERE ARE THEY NOW? Brittany Budimier (’09), a member of JCA’s Class 3A state volleyball champions in 2008, was named team captain for Aurora University. After having heart surgery in May, Budimier cut the six-month recovery time in half, moved from middle hitter to the outside and led Aurora with 182 kills. The Shorewood native also totaled 37 block kills … Zach Dolph (’10) is a starting sophomore outside linebacker and Alex Kolodziej (’11) is a freshman wide receiver for fifth-ranked Saint Xavier, which reached the NAIA Football Championship Series title game with a 30-27 semifinal win over top-seeded Marian. Dolph had 9 tackles against Marian and ranks third on the Cougars this year with 69 tackles, including 25 solos. The Crest Hill native also has 2 fumble recoveries, 2 forced fumbles and a sack. Kolodziej has 11 catches for 141 yards and has returned a kickoff for 10 yards. On the coaching staff at Saint Xavier are JCA grads Billy McKeon (’06) and Tom Gullickson (’73) and former Hilltopper defensive coordinator Mike Slovick … Samantha Quigley (’06), a starting setter on JCA’s Class AA state volleyball champions, is the assistant basketball coach for the University of St. Francis women’s team. Quigley, a two-time second team All-Big East point guard at DePaul, has helped the Saints win five straight … Annemarie Hickey (’10), the starting libero for Wisconsin, finished with 558 digs and 38 aces. The sophomore reached double-figure digs in 30 of 32 matches for the Badgers and totaled 20-plus digs in 10 matches. The Oswego resident already ranks fourth on the school’s all-time career list for digs.

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