Weekend rewind: Indian Creek on 5-game win streak since Hinckley loss

It was a boys basketball conference rivalry game before the calendar even hit January, and Indian Creek was on the wrong side of a 60-57 loss to Hinckley-Big Rock on Dec. 19.

However, since then, the Timberwolves have won five straight games, most recently a 61-44 victory Friday at Genoa-Kingston.

“I think we knew we were a better team than Hinckley, and I think it just kind of made us realize if we don’t play to our potential, if we don’t play strong every game, we’re going to have those kinds of losses,” said Indian Creek junior Parker Murry, who led the Timberwolves (10-3) with 14 points against the Cogs on Friday. “It didn’t feel great losing to a rival school on their court, so I think that just sparked everyone to keep working hard at practice. The last four or five games, we’ve just been playing hard. No plays off.”

After the loss to the Royals, the Timberwolves won four straight games to win the Shipyard Showdown in Seneca, including a 56-53 victory over Lexington for the title. They became the first three-time champions of the tournament.

Isaac Willis and Logan Schrader were on the all-tournament team, with Schrader earning MVP honors.

Four different players led the Timberwolves in scoring in each of the four games, with Murry scoring 25 points in the opener against Flanagan-Cornell and Willis posting 21 against Woodland. Jason Brewer scored 15 against Hall in the semifinals.

The Timberwolves, who have back-to-back 20-win seasons but haven’t won a regional since the 35-1 supersectional qualifier of 2020, head to Wilmington on Tuesday and host Johnsburg on Saturday before conference play resumes Jan. 16 at DePue.

“Obviously, it was frustrating for us. Nobody wants to lose a conference game like that,” Indian Creek coach Nolan Govig said. “I thought it could have gone one of two ways. The guys could have gotten really discouraged by that, or they could have bonded and gelled together. I think the latter happened, and we played a really good tournament and responded well to that loss.”

Sycamore’s Michael Olson picks up career win 100

After picking up four wins Monday and Tuesday at the Don Flavin Invitational at DeKalb, Sycamore 120-pounder Michael Olson was three wins away from 100 for his career in boys wrestling.

On Saturday, the Spartans went to the Dixon Duals to wrestle four other teams. Olson wasted no time picking up win No. 100.

Olson’s day started at 126 pounds, getting a pin over Dixon’s Max Sullivan in 1:27. Win No. 99 came at 120 pounds against Morton’s Ryan Siebenthal, a 10-1 major decision.

The milestone win also came at 120 pounds against Galesburg’s Ayden Larkin, a 15-0 first-period tech fall.

Angelina Gochis follows win 100 with home tourney win, team title

At the girls wrestling Wonder Woman Invite at the start of the week, Kaneland junior and two-time state champion Angelina Gochis won the tournament title at 120 pounds and picked up career win 100 in the process.

She followed that up Saturday with three victories, all first-period pins, to win the Kaneland Knights Girls Invite. She was one of 12 Knights to place, but the only one to win. They finished with 166 points, Belvidere North had 98 and Sycamore had 95 for third.

The Spartans only had five wrestlers, four of whom won championships. Like Gochis, Jasmine Enriquez (235) won all three of her matches in first-period pins. Winter Beard (135) had two matches, both first-period pins as well. Ema Durst (145) won with a pair of pins, and Frankie McMurtry (170) won with three.