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 injury, but their unintended meeting symbolized the full-bore battle that took place Friday night between the Crystal Lake Central Tigers (22-4) and the Crystal Lake South Gators (15-11).  The cross-town rivals put on the best show before the largest and most enthusiastic crowd of any game I witnessed…

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 things done. Saturday night against a taller, more talented Libertyville team, Jacobs demonstrated how they have managed to stay above .500 all season and challenge for the Fox Valley title (before finally falling short). Watching Jacobs choreograph its offense against Libertyville, I saw the best…

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 won by the visitors 75-61. In a rare pairing, the boys varsity game preceded the girls contest, meaning that the fairer of the species took center stage at prime time before a larger-than-usual audience. But, as I’ve already pointed out, the boys benefitted as well from the parents, friends and…

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 its 17-team cycle this past week with a Friday night trip to Libertyville High, where the Scouts, the last unseen team on this column’s circuit, posted an impressive down-and-dirty 71-58 North Suburban Lake conference road win over the Libertyville Wildcats. It was Lake Forest’s  first …

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 dropped to 3-12 on the year. The latest score was 63-49 in a game the Chargers commanded from the start. Dundee-Crown (7-4) is led by a pair of good-looking 6-foot-4 senior forwards, Jamel Kimbrough and Ryan Smith, with sophomore Dylan Kissack and a group of effectively interchangeable parts adding to …

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 holiday tournament performances of the six Patch Hardwood Tour teams that competed last week. As a group they compiled a combined record of 10-14, but five of those losses were by three measly points or less, meaning that just a slight reversal of fortune would have made a major difference when …

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 Tournament, 10-2 overall)Grade: A- Holiday Tournaments in December are the second measuring stick for basketball teams, the first being the initial spate of Thanksgiving tournament contests. The young, hustling Red Raiders of Huntley have fared tremendously in both arenas, gobbling up Turkey Day …