Boys Basketball: Seniors leave impression at Joliet West
By Tina Akouris takouris@suntimes.com March 12, 2013 7:28PM
Updated: May 6, 2013 4:32PM
Joliet West coach Luke Yaklich has had some thoughts about his program for the 2013-14 season.
“It’s going to be weird,” he said. “It won’t be the same.”
Yaklich is referring to losing Morris Dunnigan, Carl Terrell, Brandon McCullum and Ryan Modiest to graduation.
The Tigers had a solid postseason run, advancing to the Class 4A sectional semifinal round. Yaklich said he owes the program’s success to one particular group.
“Our program owes our seniors everything,” Yaklich said. “They built a great foundation for our freshmen and sophomores.
“As a staff what we were most proud of is that it was never about individuals — it was always about the team. In a sense, we became something bigger than ourselves.”
Mr. Efficiency
Bolingbrook forward Ben Moore, who is bound for SMU, has earned the title of the most efficient player in school history based on a grading system. Moore averaged 16 points, 10 rebounds, 2.8 blocks, 3.0 assists and 2.0 steals per game while shooting 63 percent from the field. Moore also had three career triple-doubles.
How good is he?
Providence sophomore Miles Boykin made a huge impression on coach Tim Trendel and the rest of the Celtics, who lost to Hillcrest in a Class 3A sectional semifinal.
“He single-handedly kept us in games on the boards,” Trendel said of Boykin’s rebounding.
Two of the Celtics’ senior guards, Kevin Kozan and Jay Ramadurai, also sang Boykin’s praises.
“He is one heck of an athlete,” Kozan said. “He skies.”
Said Ramadurai: “Every game he grew and matured. It will be fun to watch him the next couple of years.”
And he’s just as good, too
Trendel said there’s no way to overstate what Kozan, who surpassed the 1,000-career point mark in December, meant to the Providence program.
“You can’t take away anything Kevin has done with the ball in his hands,” Trendel said. “He averaged 4.0 turnovers a game, which is outstanding considering how much he had the ball and what he had to do with it.”
