Boys basketball notes: ACL injury ends season early for Marian Central’s Cale McThenia

Marian Central guard Cale McThenia tried to take his premature ending to the basketball season in stride.

McThenia suffered a torn right ACL and meniscus damage on Feb. 8 in the Hurricanes’ 71-63 victory over Timothy Christian in a Chicagoland Christian Conference Tournament game.

McThenia made a move for a loose ball early in the game and felt the joint pop. That play ended the 6-foot-3 senior’s high school career.

“I planted, I was just going for the ball, no contact, and it popped,” McThenia said. “It was tough. I just have to keep a positive mindset and just go into rehab trying to get back as quickly as possible.”

McThenia was Marian’s quarterback and a Northwest Herald All-Area first-team after completing 229-of-329 passes (69.6%) for 3,108 yards and 39 touchdowns. He will play quarterback at NCAA Division I Northern Iowa and was an Illinois High School Football Coaches Association Class 2A All-Stater.

McThenia averaged 16.3 points a game and hit 48 3-pointers for the Hurricanes this season. He passed 1,000 career points early in the season. He will have surgery on the knee on Tuesday by Dr. Cort Lawton, an orthopedic surgeon with Ortho Illinois who has worked with several Bears players.

“It will be six to nine months (recovery),” McThenia said. “In four months, I’ll be at summer camp (in Cedar Falls). I’ll be able to be in a brace and doing dropbacks and everything. No sharp cuts or contact.”

McThenia can lift upper-body weights and will be able to throw from kneeling on his left knee. Fortunately, he was able to play in 28 basketball games as a senior.

“I look at it as God has a plan for everyone,” McThenia said. “Everything happens for a reason. I’m not going to be angry, I’m not going to be upset. Just keep a good mindset, be positive and grateful for what I got. Just keep going.”

Flying high: Johnsburg clinched the outright Kishwaukee River Conference title on Wednesday with a 78-30 victory at Harvard, the Skyhawks’ first conference championship since 2010.

Johnsburg was a team that flew under the radar early in the season after graduating four starters, led by 1,000-point-plus scorer Dylan Schmidt. But the young team hit its stride in January, has won 10 of its last 13 and thrives from long distances. The Skyhawks are closing in on 300 3s for the season and hit 34.2% behind the arc.

“I knew we would be able to shoot it,” Johnsburg coach Mike Toussaint said. “The guys have shot it well at every level. I was more concerned with our size, athleticism and experience. Before the season, my brother, (assistant coach) Eric told me that he thought this could be the best shooting team I ever had. He was right.

“Our schedule was tough early on. Our nonconference games, which included our Thanksgiving tournament and Jacobs tournament, were all against 3A/4A schools. I think that, along with our sophomores getting varsity game experience helped us to progress.”

Senior Ben Person leads the team in scoring, followed by junior JT Schmitt, the two players who had the most experience returning. Sophomores Jayce Schmitt and Jarrel Albea are starters who have played significant roles.

Johnsburg was 16-14, 12-1 heading into Friday’s KRC finale against Plano. The Skyhawks are the No. 4 seed in the Class 2A Genoa-Kingston Regional next week. Byron is the top seed.

“I really like our chances,” Toussaint said. “When we shoot it well, we are really tough to beat. We need to correct some things on the defensive end over the next week or two, but we won’t quit, and whoever we play will get a battle. That’s for sure.”

Another streak ended: Crystal Lake South had its 12-game winning streak stopped Saturday by hot-shooting Geneva 62-57 in a nonconference game. That loss might not be all bad for the Gators, however, who still had a shot to finish the Fox Valley Conference at 18-0 and look strong heading into next week’s Class 3A Cary-Grove Regional.

“Geneva loss was tough, great road crowd and environment plus an opponent that was hot (won 11 of 13),” Gators coach Matt LePage said. “We were up 13 in the third and didn’t close, mainly because Geneva played more physical in the fourth and wanted it more than us down the stretch.

“We got a little complacent and didn’t keep the gas down and it cost us. Losses can be a good thing if we learn from it, we’ll see if we do.”

South had equaled the school record set by former coach Gary Collins’ teams in 1983 and 1988.

Been a while: McHenry and Woodstock both are enjoying their best seasons in decades.

McHenry was 23-7 heading into Friday’s game against Huntley, which is the Warriors’ second-best record in school history. Ken Ludwig’s 1976 team won a Class AA Sectional and finished 25-5.

Woodstock moved to 20-9 with Wednesday’s 55-43 win over Woodstock North, giving the Blue Streaks their first 20-win season since 2000 under former coach Gordie Tebo.

The Streaks are one of two area teams with two winning streaks this season of at least eight games. South had winning streaks of 10 and 12.

Elite company: Marian Central forward Christian Bentancur, a 6-foot-5 senior, passed 2,000 points for his career in Tuesday’s 88-62 win over Marengo, putting him in a group with four former area players.

Huntley’s Ali Andrews (Class of 2015, 2,548) and Johnsburg’s Melissa Dixon (2011, 2,146 points) passed 2,000 career points for girls. Johnsburg’s Zach Toussaint (2019, 2,249) and Crown’s Gary Gliesmann (1981, 2,011) did it in boys basketball.

Bentancur, who will play tight end at Clemson, also holds the distinction of having 231 career receptions, which is fifth on the IHSA all-time list. He is the only athlete in state history with 200 receptions and 2,000 points.

RIP, Charger: Dundee-Crown will hold a moment of silence to honor Chuck Feldmann, its longtime P.A. announcer for sporting events, who died last weekend at age 62.

Feldmann’s booming voice always made games more fun. Before each game, fans would hear, “Welcome to Charrrrger Country!”

Feldmann, known as “Charger Chuck,” was loved by all, from the D-C community to others who just enjoyed his enthusiasm at games.