Seventeenth in a series  The Patch Hardwood Tour examines boys high school basketball on a weekly rotational basis, focusing on teams in a 12-town region. Its intent is to celebrate and inform about prep hoops; the best high school sport in the state. With this column, The Tour officially concludes for this season.      Excellence was abundant on The Patch Hardwood Tour during this past hoops season. From the gloriously outstanding campaigns of the Huntley Red Raiders and Crystal Lake Central Tigers to the late-season victories finally garnered by struggling squads from Prairie Ridge and Lake…

Sixteenth in a series. The Patch Hardwood Tour examines boys high school basketball on a weekly rotational basis, focusing on teams in a 12-town region. Its intent is to celebrate and inform about prep hoops; the best high school sport in the state. The Tour will be stopping in your town soon. Four remaining survivors of the 17 Patch Hardwood Tour teams advanced into week 16 of the high school basketball season, but by the end of the seven-day stretch, the uncompromising tournament known as March Madness had swallowed the quartet whole. Such is the one-and-done nature of the IHSA prep …

The attrition that accompanies the beginning of March Madness is startling in its callous swiftness. Teams build all year for a run in the state hoops tournament, but most hopes are snuffed almost immediately, and oft-times cruelly. After one week, just four of the 17 Patch Hardwood Tour teams are still standing, proudly hoisting Regional championship plaques. Three of those (Huntley, Crystal Lake Central and Fremd) were listed as this column’s top four teams in the final regular season poll. The fourth (Grayslake Central) is no real surprise, based on potential demonstrated numerous times …

 Fourteenth in a series   The Patch Hardwood Tour examines boys high school basketball on a weekly rotational basis, focusing on teams in a 12-town region. Its intent is to celebrate and inform about prep hoops; the best high school sport in the state. The Tour will be stopping in your town soon.      At halftime, a cheerleader from each Crystal Lake team flip-flopped wildly across the basketball court from opposite ends, then slammed violently together in mid-spin near the center line to the concerned gasp of the full-house crowd.    Thankfully, neither of the young girls suffered serious …

Thirteenth in a series. The Patch Hardwood Tour examines boys high school basketball on a weekly rotational basis, focusing on teams in a 12-town region. Its intent is to celebrate and inform about prep hoops; the best high school sport in the state. The Tour will be stopping in your town soon. Jacobs coach Jim Hinkle seems to squeeze every bit of talent  from the players on his Golden Eagles team. In my eyes, he has two seasoned guards, Nick Hofman and point-man Mike Peterson who are above average high school players, and about seven other role players who fit the system and regularly get …

Twelfth in a series. The Patch Hardwood Tour examines boys high school basketball on a weekly rotational basis, focusing on teams in a 12-town region. Its intent is to celebrate and inform about prep hoops; the best high school sport in the state. The Tour will be stopping in your town soon. “The only thing that Huntley lacks is size.” That’s what I wrote in my notes as I watched the Red Raiders topple Jacobs from the ranks of the undefeated in the Fox Valley Valley conference on Tuesday. With the win, which took place on their opponent’s home court, the young  Huntley club seized sole …

Eleventh in a series. The Patch Hardwood Tour examines boys high school basketball on a weekly rotational basis, focusing on teams in a 12-town region. Its intent is to celebrate and inform about prep hoops; the best high school sport in the state. The Tour will be stopping in your town soon. Eleven weeks into the season it finally happened, thanks to a big game and a boost from the girls. I’m talking about the first full house for a hoops contest  I’ve witnessed this campaign – the first-place Mid-Suburban League West showdown Friday between the Barrington Broncos and the host Fremd Vikings …

Tenth in a series  The Patch Hardwood Tour examines boys high school basketball on a weekly rotational basis, focusing on teams in a 12-town region. Its intent is to celebrate and inform about prep hoops; the best high school sport in the state. The Tour will be stopping in your town soon. Way back when I was a reporter for my college newspaper, I interviewed the head basketball coach for a preseason article. The team had a pair of excellent returning guards on the verge of setting scoring and assist records at the school, and I asked him if either had even a scintilla-of-a-chance of having a…

Ninth in a series. The Patch Hardwood Tour examines boys high school basketball on a weekly rotational basis, focusing on teams in a 12-town region. Its intent is to celebrate and inform about prep hoops; the best high school sport in the state. The Tour will be stopping in your town soon. Prior to Wednesday night, the big game always got away. But when the Grayslake North Knights bagged the powerful Tigers from Crystal Lake with an impressive 59-56 home win, the hunt for basketball respect was finally fulfilled. This is as meaningful a triumph as any in Grayslake North’s short five-year …

Eighth in a series. The Patch Hardwood Tour examines boys high school basketball on a weekly rotational basis, focusing on teams in a 12-town region. Its intent is to celebrate and inform about prep hoops; the best high school sport in the state. The Tour will be stopping in your town soon. The upscale demographics of the village they represent aren’t usually accompanied by blue-collar references. But when one watches the Lake Forest High Scouts play basketball, the inclination is to envision hard hats and lunch pails rather than silk ties and white shirts.   The Patch Hardwood Tour completed…

Seventh  in a series. The Patch Hardwood Tour examines boys high school basketball on a weekly rotational basis, focusing on teams in a 12-town region. Its intent is to celebrate and inform about prep hoops; the best high school sport in the state. The Tour will will be stopping in your town soon.  The rubber left on the road turned out to be worth the wear Friday night as The Tour took a long trip to Elgin to get a first look at the Dundee-Crown Chargers. For the second time in its last three games, Dundee-Crown came away with a victory at the expense of a young Larkin Royals club, which …

Sixth in a seriesThe Patch Hardwood Tour examines boys high school basketball on a weekly rotational basis, focusing on teams in a 12-town region. Its intent is to celebrate and inform about prep hoops; the best high school sport in the state. The Tour will will be stopping in your town soon. What is it that the person in charge of report cards usually says to all but the straight A students? "With a little more work you could turn that B into an A." Or "You are so close to getting a higher grade if you would only (fill in the blank)." You get the idea. That's how I felt when assessing the …

Fifth in a seriesThe Patch Hardwood Tour examines boys high school basketball on a weekly rotational basis, focusing on teams in a 12-town region. Its intent is to celebrate and inform about prep hoops; the best high school sport in the state. The Tour will will be stopping in your town soon. The initial volley in the season of jolly is in the books, with more holiday action coming this week.Here's a team-by-team report card of how Patch.com teams performed in their respective tournaments, grouped from top to bottom, good-as-gold to ho-ho-horrible.Huntley Red Raiders: (3-1 at Jacobs …

Fourth in a series The Patch Hardwood Tour examines boys high school basketball on a weekly rotational basis, focusing on teams in a 12-town region. Its intent is to celebrate and inform about prep hoops; the best high school sport in the state. The Tour will will be stopping in your town soon. 'Twas the week before Christmas and basketball teams everywhere were looking for a little winning momentum to slingshot them into holiday tournaments across the state. Doing so has been an uphill battle for many teams on The Patch Hardwood Tour, due in part to a common injury theme that has been …

Third in a seriesThe Patch Hardwood Tour examines boys high school basketball on a weekly rotational basis, focusing on teams in a 12-town region. Its intent is to celebrate and inform about prep hoops; the best high school sport in the state. The Tour will will be stopping in your town soon. The two Patch.com teams witnessed on The Tour this past week both went down to bitter defeat, but in different fashion. The Fremd Vikings were upset for the second time in as many meetings by the Schaumburg Saxons, dating back to last year's final game of the season, while the Libertyville Wildcats …

From the heady 5-1 start of the Grayslake North Knights to the rugged 1-4 beginnings of a Prairie Ridge Wolves team still finding it's basketball legs, Patch.com-area teams have already experienced wide-ranging degrees of success this young season. But all the clubs and their coaches have the same overall goal in mind, even this early in the campaign. They all want to put the game experiences into proper perspective, learn something from each outing  and, most importantly, improve in the process. Here's a few examples of  highs and lows  witnessed in Week 2. LOSING WITH GRACE It can oft-times…