Lemont junior point guard Zane Schneider is back to a familiar spot on the team.

After earning a starting position in his freshman season, Schneider played a different role last season due to the arrival of elite transfer Gabe Sularski. The Benet transfer made a big impact in his lone season with Lemont, averaging 17 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists to be named the South Suburban Conference Blue Player of the Year, while leading the team to a conference championship and sectional final.

When Sularski announced his decision to transfer again, Schneider assumed his previous starting position.

“Last year we had a good year,” Schneider said. “I was like a sixth man, playing more of a role player. I played a lot of defense, brought up the ball up the court a couple times. I was the glue guy, and gave Gabe a break at times.”

Now, six games into the season, Schneider is the go-to guy for Lemont (5-1, 2-0).

“I worked hard in the offseason creating opportunities for myself and I targeted my shooting because I knew I would have to do more shooting,” Schneider said. “I was going to be our number one scoring option and needed to improve.”

In the second game of the season, the 6-foot-3 Schneider exploded for a career-high 26 points to lead Lemont to a win over Providence. Schneider and teammate Ryan Crane both were named to the WJOL All-Tournament Team.

“My shots were falling and I was taking advantage of mismatches when we would set screens get switched and take my guy to the hoop,” Schneider said of his career effort against the Celtics. “We all knew we would have work harder as a team without Gabe. We went into the season knowing that. We emphasized playing hard and playing good defense. We worked on that a lot.”

Lemont coach Rick Runaas said Schneider is stepping up for his team in the first month of the season.

“Zane was put in a difficult situation in the summer after the transfer and has taken on a bigger role,” Runaas said. “He’s still learning after playing off the ball for most of his freshman season. He’s taking care of the ball more and leading the offense as a point guard.

“The modern point guard is a scoring guard, so we run a lot of offense through him. The kids understand his value. He’s also been consistent good. The crazy thing is I don’t think he’s still playing his best basketball yet.”

Schneider, who also plays baseball, said the team is focused on winning another conference title.

“We want to have the best record we can have and also winning the conference outright,” Schneider said.

Despite several new faces, Runaas said his players are aiming high after finishing with a 26-8 record last season, including an undefeated record in conference.

“We have a team full of guys who did not play a lot last year,” Runaas said. “We’re slowly growing up and developing and jelling as a team. I like the way the ball is moving and the grittiness of this team. We don’t have the size of last year, but we got some fight in us.”

Crane, a senior guard, is also having a solid start, scoring 23 points against Eisenhower on Tuesday.

“It started clicking for Ryan late in the fall and he’s been aggressive and shooting at the volume we want him to,” Runaas said. “He’s also playing better defensively.”

Downers Grove North football players settling in

Downers Grove North basketball coach James Thomas is used to the routine by this point. With several of his players annually playing football well into the playoffs, Thomas has learned to adjust his practice schedule to accommodate the football players.

This season, Thomas said three players – starters Connor Crowley and Jacob Vroman join junior Owen O’Reilly – among his late arrivals from football.

Downers Grove North (2-3, 0-1 West Suburban Silver) has an extended break before hosting Oak Park-River Forest on Saturday.

“We’re having a great week of practice before Saturday’s game,” Thomas said. “We have five days of practice and have to reinstall some things because three of our top six players are football players. Getting those guys back will help. It takes them a few weeks to get their football feet under them. We’ve had to do some day one stuff and be patient. We’re not close to reaching our best self yet as a team.

“Our last three practices we’ve had a hop in our step. We’ve had to do a lot of repetitive stuff because we have to get everyone on the same page. Next week is a big week of games for us.”

Junior forward Colin Doyle, at 6-7, is a player to watch after he committed to play baseball for Duke. Senior Jack Romsey is among the top returnees and a key defender. The 6-5 Vroman is a key wing presence, while O’Reilly is a hard-nosed competitor and Crowley, a sophomore, is running the offense at point guard.

“The kids are looking forward to a great year,” Thomas said. “We’re young from an experience standpoint, but we’re looking to be super competitive.”

Outstanding achievements

Downers Grove South senior guard Adam Flowers passed the 1,000-point career mark on Wednesday…Glenbard West senior forward Josh Abushanab poured in 31 points against Willowbrook.