By Kristin Sharp
recordsports@sbcglobal.net
Staying competing in the final Western Sun Conference season was among the list of goals for the Yorkville boys’ basketball team this season.
The Foxes entered the 2009-10 campaign on a 35-game losing streak in league play dating back to January 2007, but the team won its first WSC game of the season when Yorkville beat Sycamore on Dec. 4.
Yorkville went on to win three more conference games to finish 4-10 and place sixth in the eight-team standings ahead of Rochelle and Sycamore, and posted an 11-17 overall record.
“We’ve had some pretty good teams that we’ve played,” Yorkville head coach Jerry Farber said. “You’d like to be .500 and 11 wins is a great improvement over last year. Hopefully next year’s team will build on this one and get more than that.”
Yorkville opened the season with a 2-2 mark in the Sandwich Thanksgiving Tournament, defeating Streator and the host Indians and built a 6-6 mark through December with a sixth-place finish in the Plano Christmas Classic after a loss to Newark. The Norsemen went on to win 26 games this season and reach the Class 1A Elite Eight.
“We knew going back to Plano that there would be some pretty good teams over there and we lost to Newark, which had an awesome team this year, and Genoa-Kingston in a close game. Even thought they’re smaller teams, we knew they had good teams,” Farber said. “We were happy going back there.”
Yorkville lost six straight WSC games in January including an overtime battle against Glenbard South, but won three of its final five, defeating Kaneland, Rochelle and DeKalb – which went on to reach the Class 3A Hampshire Sectional final last Friday.
Yorkville graduates six seniors on this year’s team, including guard Tavis Gibson, who was a three-year varsity player after transferring from East Aurora before his sophomore season. He led nearly every statistical category for the Foxes with 323 points for an average off 11.1 per game, 73 assists, 54 steals and a second-best 127 rebounds to earn All-Conference honors this season.
“Tavis, really the last half of the year started playing well,” Farber said. “He was taking the ball to the basket and creating things for himself which he’s been doing all year, but towards the end of the season he did real well.
Centers Eric Johnson and Everett King, forwards Cobe Williams (5.3 ppg) and Luke Parece (3.8 ppg) and guard Kager Schlichting (5.4 ppg) also capped off their high school careers.
“We got some good minutes from Kager, who ran the point for us in the last five or so games. Cobe came in new to our district and had some big games for us rebounding and blocking shots. It was nice to have him part of the team,” Farber said. “Everett King, Eric Johnson and Luke Parece were the other part of the team that contributed as seniors.”
And although the senior class will leave a void to be filled for the 2010-11 season, Farber will return four players who saw time in the starting rotation this winter.
Sophomore guard Derek Piszczek (8.6 ppg, 46 assists, 32 steals) – an All-WSC honorable mention this season – and junior guard Kyle Dhuse (4.2 ppg, 23 steals) both made their second appearance on the varsity squad this winter while junior guard Derek Fitzpatrick (7.6 ppg) and junior starting center Jordan Jones, who led the team with 137 rebounds, played key minutes for the Foxes.
“We’ve got a nucleus of guys coming back who, if they work real hard this summer, can get themselves ready for next year,” Farber said. “We’re losing a little height, so we’re going to have to fill in the four-position for us. We have a couple combinations we can work with, but we really have to rebound the ball next year.”
The 2010-11 season schedule will also have a new look as Yorkville moves into the Northern Illinois Big 12 Conference, which will include former WSC teams DeKalb, Rochelle, Sycamore and Kaneland.
“Newark will be at the Sandwich tournament next year and we lost Geneva, Batavia and Glenbard South, but picking up LaSalle-Peru is a good, quality opponent, and we’ll se Streator twice at Thanksgiving and the regular season,” Farber said. “I think it’ll be good for the school in all sports. We only play 10 conference games next year, so those conference wins are going to be real important if you want to win the conference.”
And next season will also be Farber’s last as head coach before he is expected to retire from both teaching and coaching basketball and boys’ golf.
“I told a couple of juniors that the pressure is on to go out in style,” Farber said.
Notes: Gibson was named Team MVP at the team banquet held earlier this week. Dhuse received the Best Defense Award, King was given the Fighting Fox Award and Jones was given the Most Rebounds Award while Piszczek was named the Best Free-Throw Percent after making 82 out of 97 (84.5%).