May 29, 2024
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Boys basketball: 5 standout stats from the 2023-24 season in McHenry County

By Joe Stevenson
Crystal Lake South's Christian Rohde ducks the ball during the IHSA Class 3A Supersectional basketball game against DePaul College Prep on Monday, March 4, 2024, at NOW Arena in Hoffman Estates.

Crystal Lake South's Christian Rohde dunks the ball during the IHSA Class 3A Hoffman Estate Supersectional against DePaul College Prep on Monday. (Gregory Shaver/Gregory Shaver )

The 2023-24 boys basketball season in the Northwest Herald area saw two Fox Valley Conference teams – Crystal Lake South and McHenry – set school records for wins, win regional titles and play for sectional championships.

Marian Central’s Christian Bentancur also grabbed the spotlight late in the season as he passed 2,000 points for his career, becoming the third boys player in the area to ever do that.

Johnsburg shot 346 3-pointers, putting it seventh in state history for a season.

Here are a few statistics that stand out from the season.

Winning big

When Crystal Lake South rolled past Kaneland 69-38 for the Class 3A Kaneland Sectional championship Friday, it made the Gators one of the three winningest teams in Fox Valley Conference history.

South, which finished 31-4 after losing to DePaul College Prep Monday in the Hoffman Estates Supersectional, joins 2022 Burlington Central (31-4) and 2020 Cary-Grove (31-3) as FVC teams with 31 victories. C-G was denied a shot at its 32nd victory in the McHenry Sectional championship when the COVID-19 pandemic caused sports to be shut down.

South is the eighth team in the McHenry County area to reach 30 victories. Along with 2022 Burlington Central and 2020 Cary-Grove, the other teams were 2017 Jacobs (30-2), 2003 Johnsburg (30-2), 1952 Alden-Hebron (35-1, state champion), 1940 A-H (31-2) and 1937 Dundee (34-1, state champion).

McHenry’s best

New McHenry athletic director Chris Madson was thrilled that the Warriors could land Corky Card as their coach late in the summer.

Madson, the former coach who stepped into the AD role, knew the Warriors had a lot of talent returning and Card, in 15 seasons previously at Prairie Ridge, was a proven winner.

The Warriors won three tournaments – the Woodstock Thanksgiving Tournament, Marengo’s E.C. Nichols Holiday Tournament and the Class 4A Regional – and advanced to the Guilford Sectional championship before losing to Warren.

They finished 26-9, one win better than the 1976 McHenry team that won a sectional title. And the win that put the Warriors into the sectional title game was Card’s 300th career victory.

Johnsburg’s JT Schmitt takes an outside shot against Harvard in varsity boys basketball at Johnsburg Saturday.

Johnsburg’s JT Schmitt takes an outside shot against Harvard during the 2023-24 season. Johnsburg thrived on the 3-pointer this season, hitting 346 shots from behind the arc, which is seventh in IHSA history. (Patrick Kunzer for Shaw Local/Patrick Kunzer for Shaw Local)

Launching away

Johnsburg thrived on the 3-pointer this season, hitting 346 shots from behind the arc, which is seventh in IHSA history.

Marengo’s 2015 team, led by Zack Knobloch’s season-record 167, hit 304, which is tied for 16th.

The Skyhawks (18-15, 13-1 Kishwaukee River Conference) almost finished their conference unbeaten in a season after graduating four starters, led by four-year varsity player Dylan Schmidt.

Johnsburg coach Mike Toussaint was not sure what the Skyhawks had this season, but soon found out. They shot 34% on 3s and averaged 11 per game. They made 21 in a victory over Marian Central, which ties for No. 8 on the IHSA list.

Marian Central’s Christian Bentancur celebrates scoring 2,000 points during a nononference boys basketball game against Marengo on Tuesday, Feb.13, 2024, at Marian Central High School.

Marian Central’s Christian Bentancur celebrates passing 2,000 career points during a game against Marengo in February. (Gregory Shaver/Gregory Shaver )

Bentancur hits 2K

Marian Central forward Christian Bentancur finished a brilliant career with the Hurricanes with 2,047 points, even in a season in which he missed a handful of games to play in national All-Star football games.

Bentancur, a 6-foot-5, 235-pound tight end headed to Clemson, passed 2,000 in an 89-62 win over Marengo on Feb. 13. And he did it in style, grabbing an alley-oop pass from teammate Braeden Todd for a dunk.

Bentancur joined Johnsburg’s Zach Toussaint (2019 graduate, 2,249 points) and Crown’s Gary Gliesmann (1981, 2,011) as the only three players in area history to pass 2,000 points.

Burlington Central Head Coach Brett Porto chats with Drew Scharnowski late in a loss to Marmion Academy in IHSA Class 3A Sectional title game action at Burlington Central High School Friday night.

Burlington Central Head Coach Brett Porto chats with Drew Scharnowski in the Rockets' Class 3A Burlington Central Sectional championship loss to Marmion in 2023. The Rockets have won 20 games for eight seasons, excluding the abbreviated 2021 season. (Patrick Kunzer)

Just another 20

Burlington Central had its consecutive run of FVC titles stopped at three, but the Rockets, with a young team, finished 21-11 for their eighth straight 20-victory season.

That excludes the 2021 season, which was abbreviated by the COVID-19 pandemic, in which Central was 16-1.

Rockets coach Brett Porto, already the winningest coach in his alma mater’s history, just keeps racking up wins. He passed 300 this season and stands at 317-128 in 15 years.