Boys Basketball: Coal City earning some respect
By Tina Akouris takouris@suntimes.com March 5, 2013 7:44PM
Updated: April 7, 2013 6:30AM
Coal City is rewriting its history books — and having a blast doing it.
Coach Brett Boresi has led the Coalers to a 14-4 record in their last 18 games, and 19 victories overall.
The win total is the most for Coal City since the 2003-04 season — when Boresi was a senior on that team and the squad went 19-7, losing in the regional semifinal as the No. 1 seed.
The Coalers are coming off a big 49-47 victory over Morris in the Class 3A Herscher Regional final and will play Rich East on Wednesday night in a Rich South Sectional semifinal.
The regional title was Coal City’s first since 2001 and just the eighth regional crown overall for the program. Friday’s win marked Boresi’s first over Morris as head coach.
Nick Peters is the Coalers’ go-to guy, averaging 14.5 points, 7.4 rebounds and 2 blocks per game.
Brennen Shetina is contributing 10.9 points, 3.6 assists and 3.5 rebounds per game.
After the victory over Morris, Boresi made a telling statement about how far his program has come in the past season.
“The main reason why this one is so sweet is we won 10 games total the past two years,’’ he said. “We’ve been the butt of everybody’s jokes.”
What a weekend for Kozan, Providence
Providence may have been a .500 team when the regular season ended, but the Celtics are proving that playing in the ultra-tough Catholic League South has prepared them well for the postseason.
The Celtics hammered Plano 74-39 in Friday’s Class 3A Lincoln-Way West Regional title game. It marks the first time the Celtics won back-to-back regional titles in 14 years.
The next day, Celtics guard Kevin Kozan earned the Lawless Award as the Catholic League South Player of the Year.
Celtics coach Tim Trendel said he’s fairly certain Kozan is the school’s first Lawless Award winner.
Providence will meet Hillcrest on Thursday in a Rich South Sectional semifinal.
