Finding their way

DeKalb senior Pat Rourke (right) drives past St. Charles North’s Beau Blakeley during summer league play. (Wendy Kemp - For the Daily Chronicle)

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SYCAMORE – The Western Sun Conference can’t be won in July.

So the approach for Sycamore basketball coach Jeff Hillmer is to play as many players as possible in summer league games. The experience against varsity-level competition in a game setting gives inexperienced players much needed exposure to the high level of competition.

“We want to get juniors acclimated to the speed and the physicality in a varsity game,” Hillmer said.

With everyone getting equal playing time, the Spartans went 2-1 at the Hononegah Shootout, with wins over Niles North and Antioch. The lone loss came to the host Indians. The Spartans were down big but rallied to turn the contest into a close game.

Sycamore played four-and-a-half games at the Joliet West Shootout.

That was not a typo. The rare half game was because another team didn’t show up for its scheduled game, which afforded the Spartans even more time on the court.

Even though it lost every game at Joliet West, Sycamore was exposed to a variety of basketball philosophies and highly skilled, athletic players.

The Spartans will be undersized again this year, but opposing coaches are paying Hillmer perhaps the highest compliment possible after every game.

“We aren’t getting outplayed,” Hillmer said. “Every coach has told me that we are out there playing hard the whole game.”

Joining Hillmer on the bench this year will be a familiar face.  Andrew Stacy returns to the sidelines as an assistant coach after a two-year hiatus. Stacy spent a season as a volunteer varsity assistant and seven years as the sophomore coach before stepping down to fulfill family obligations.

“I really got back into basketball because I missed coaching it,” Stacy said. “My kids are a little older now and I can bring them with me if I have to go scout an opponent.”

Hillmer said Stacy, who was the Spartans’ golf coach the last two years, has fit right in with the team.

“Drew has done outstanding work with the defense so far,” Hillmer said.

The Spartans have played .500 basketball in the Geneva Summer League and will wrap up the summer season July 10-12 at the Crystal Lake South Shootout.

Thus far, Sam Smith has emerged as a slashing, swingman that is deft at finishing around the rim. The lefty has big hands and has emerged as a scorer in an offense that Hillmer said will feature more of a group effort in 2009-10.

“As a group I think we are going to score through the offense,” Hillmer said. “We won’t get a lot of stuff on our own, I don’t think there is one guy that will step up and look to take all the shots.”

Rourke redefining role

Refine your jump shot. Work on your ball handling. Add muscle to your frame.

All of the above would qualify as individual achievements.

Yet, each is vital to the success of your team when the season gets underway in the fall.

“Individuals are made in the summer,” DeKalb coach Dave Rohlman said. “Not the team.”

But this summer, the Barbs had an unusual team-building opportunity on the way back from a Geneva Summer League game.

Senior center Jordan Threloff had just played in his first game back from family vacation. He rode to the game with his mom and sister; vacation gear still stowed in the family car. After the game, Threloff took the bus with his teammates.

His mom and sister departed and hit a deer on the way home. No one was injured, but the team stopped, helped unload the vehicle and provided a lift home for three Threloff’s.

The Barbs made the most of the off-season teambuilding experience and have found a potential team leader for the upcoming season. Pat Rourke has had an outstanding summer, according to Rohlman.

A gym rat that seemed to get comfortable on the court during the second half of the season, Rourke has brought his game to another level averaging nearly 25 points per game and making veteran decisions on and off the court.

“I am not surprised by the performances Pat has had this summer,” Rohlman said. “He does a lot of little things that coaches love to see. He’s been a team leader that gets guys out to games. If someone misses he is the one making the phone call. He’s done a great job of organizing things from the inside.”

With Grant Olsen and Darius McNeal graduated, Rourke has helped ease Brian Sisler into his potential new primary ball handler role.

Rohlman said Sisler brings “scoring and good decision making,” and could be a solid replacement for McNeal.

Meanwhile, Jake Jouris brings an inside-outside game similar to Olsen’s and a sturdy 6-foot-4 frame.

“I think we will shoot the ball better from the outside this year,” Rohlman said. “But I also think the seniors from last season built a good foundation for this year’s returning players.”

DeKalb will be at the CLS Shoot Out and at the Rock Falls Shoot Out to wrap up the summer season.

“Crystal Lake has very good competition,” Rohlman said. “It is invitation only and a bracketed tournament. The format forces you to win if you don’t want to go home early. So there is some motivation there for the players.

“We also play two games in one night at Rock Falls which allows us to get familiar with their gym since we will head out there in January to play Elgin.”