Winston Elston’s favorite basketball player shouldn’t surprise anyone.
“Probably Tyler Ulis,” said Elston, a Naperville North junior, mentioning the diminutive Kentucky guard who was a prep star at Marian Catholic. “We’re the same height. If he can do it, why can’t I?”
Elston, at 5-foot-8, doesn’t stand out in a sport that prioritizes height. In fact, when surrounded by bigger guys, he might need an ID to prove he’s a high school junior.
But like Ulis, it’s best to not underestimate Elston based on size alone.
Elston stood tall for the Huskies (4-1) last week at the Hoops for Healing Tournament.
He averaged 14.3 points, scoring 16 points in the championship game loss to Oswego.
“Not that Winston is Tyler Ulis – in my opinion. Tyler is the best point guard in college basketball – but Winston is not afraid of anything,” North coach Jeff Powers said. “He scored for us last week, but even more impressive is the way he ran the team.”
Elston grew up in Carmel, Ind., and his older brother, Ashton, was on back-to-back state-championship teams at Carmel.
Elston never was told he couldn’t make it, but he was cut from a couple AAU teams in middle school.
When his family moved to Naperville while he was in eighth grade, though, he followed future North teammate Tyler Carlson’s lead in trying out for the Illinois Rockets. There, he joined another future Huskie, Mitch Lewis.
Elston eventually joined Lewis as sophomores on North’s varsity team last year. A big jump for a small body, but Powers saw a player who understood the game, has great quickness, is unselfish and keeps his team in rhythm.
“He just has a good feel for the whole game,” Powers said.
Elston’s persistence led him to pack on about 8-10 pounds of muscle since last year, a big difference when he’s trying to finish in the paint.
“I could always get to the rim but I could never finish,” Elston said. “Now, I can finally make most of my shots in the lane.”
Elston will be key for an undermanned Huskies team trying to make do with Lewis out with a broken foot.
He has a fan in the Powers family.
“Winston has the greatest smile in the world, and he is my wife’s favorite player,” Powers said.
Benet 4-0 start: Stop us if you’ve heard this before: Benet (4-0) looks like one of the better teams around, and it starts with defense.
The Redwings went unbeaten at the Loyola/New Trier Tournament last week. In doing so, Benet allowed barely 40 points per game.
“It’s been a trademark of ours over the years, but during the summer it seemed like we were more content to trade baskets,” Benet coach Gene Heidkamp said. “They’ve bought into the commitment.”
James Dockery scored in double figures for Benet in three games, scoring 23 and 21 in the first two.
Heidkamp cautions that it’s just a decent start.
The Redwings play their next three games at home, starting with Saturday’s game against DePaul Prep and highly touted freshman Perry Cowan. Next Tuesday, Benet hosts York, which eliminated the Redwings in a regional last March.
“There is no room to breathe in our schedule,” Heidkamp said.
Redhawks off and running: Naperville Central started well, going 3-1 at the Hoops for Healing Tournament.
The Redhawks let a close one slip away against Oswego to open things, then won the next three.
Matthew Meier averaged 17.5 points for the tournament, and Harry Hallstrom 23 the last two games.
“We have high expectations for those guys, and they answered,” Central coach Pete Kramer said. “We’re in a good place.”
Joshua Welge is a freelance writer for the Naperville Sun.
