No one ever said the life of a high school basketball coach has to be stress-free. Take the plight of coaches Mike Ritchie of Richards and Randy Voels of Sandburg.
One week, they`re riding high, bouncing along as coaches of two of the few remaining undefeated teams in the area. The next week, they`re worried about staying in contention in their own conference.
”You have to keep reminding yourself this is only one of 12 games in the division,” said Voels of Friday`s encounter with the SICA North rival Bulldogs at Sandburg.
”But there is no denying whoever wins this one will be off to a great start and the other team will proably need the help of some of the other teams (in the conference) to get back in the race.”
Indeed, the SICA North shapes up as three-team race. Along with defending champion Stagg, the Bulldogs and Eagles are expected to battle down to the wire for the division title.
”On defense, that`s were this one figures to be won,” said Ritchie.
”We`ll start out in our man-to-man, but we`re the invaders here. So we know we`ll have to shake things up a bit and keep them from settling into a rhythm.”
Picking it up on defense will come as nothing new to the Bulldogs, who in four straight victories have allowed an average of less than 46 points a game. Guards Courtland Byrd and Antwoin Stephens have been the sparkplugs for Richards, which, in fowards Tom Levi and Jim Williams, also returns two other starters from last year`s 14-11 team.
”Courtland`s the key,” said Ritchie. ”He fuels everything we want to do defensively. When he`s able to keep pressure on the other team`s guards, we`re normally able to have some success.”
”They`re an athletic bunch, but we feel we can match up with them,”
said Voels, who will counter with guards Matt Knight (15.4 points a game) and Dave Markusic (15.2).
Last weekend, Sandburg (5-0) won its conference opener by streaking past host Oak Lawn 74-56. Against Richards, the Eagles will be playing their first home game of the season.
”It`ll be good to finally be home,” said Voels. ”But that doesn`t mean we`re going to do anything different from what we`ve been doing all year.”
Thus far, how the Eagles have been doing it is by playing up-tempo. Behind Knight, Markusic and foward Jeff Alberson (9.5 points per game), Sandburg averages over 70 points a game.
”We have a lot of balance,” said Voels. ”Already we`ve had different top scorers in three of our games.”
In the recent Lincoln-Way Thanksgiving tournament, won by the Eagles, Knight was named most valuable player and Markusic was named to the all-tournament team.
”It`ll be a tough game and my guys know that,” said Ritchie. ”Over the last few years, the battles these two teams have waged have gone a long way toward determining a conference champion.”
In 1990, Sandburg swept the Bulldogs and won the conference, finishing a game ahead of them. In 1989, Richards won both games and the Eagles had to settle for a second-place finish. Last season, the Eagles again swept the two- game series, but finished second to Stagg in the division.
”It`s a rivalry that`s growing by the day,” said Ritchie. ”Soon, it`ll be on par with the one that exist between the school`s two football teams.”
The games ”get more intense all the time, not to mention important,”
said Voels. ”These battles are not for the weak at heart.”
Nor the stress weary.
