Quote from: Greek Tragedy on March 04, 2024, 10:56:20 PMWould you rather have a CCIW regular season title or an NCAA bid with no guarantees you'd get out of the 1st round, like Elmhurst?

It's a very tough achievement to come out on top after a 16 game CCIW schedule. That said, Elmhurst hasn't won the CCIW title since 2001 and I've barely noticed or cared, given the success they've had under John Baines. I'd take the tournament bid every time.

An end to an era for Elmhurst, as Friday night's game will be the last Elmhurst game featuring starting members of the '22 national runners-up squad. Hopefully, another 20+ season, CCIW tournament title, and national tournament appearance will help Baines and company on the recruiting trail. Elmhurst faces their biggest rebuilding challenge in over a decade starting this offseason.

John Baines has now coached five Elmhurst squads to national tournament qualification.


Elmhurst played their best ball all year this weekend in Bloomington. 

Great win for Elmhurst last night at the RAF. It was a closer game than the final score indicated, Elmhurst led by just 1 with 7 and a half minutes remaining in the second half. Wesleyan did a nice job of frustrating Elmhurst's office in the first half, but Tagen Pearson really stepped up and hit some big 3s for Elmhurst when the rest of the team was struggling offensively. He finished with 24 on the night, and probably had his best performance in his Elmhurst career thus far. Elmhurst really found their stride in the second half and went off for 61 points, with Zapinski, Johnson, and Ittounas returning to their usual form. All finished in double digits to go along with Pearson's 24.

Nice for Elmhurst to start CCIW play with a win, after starting last season's conference campaign so poorly.

Elmhurst had to do it the hard way, coming back from 14 down midway thru the second half to get the 77-72 win. Elmhurst started the game looking very, very rusty, whereas Concordia played like a team in midseason form, executing almost at-will in the first half. That said, Elmhurst finished the game on a 26-7 run, at one point hitting 3s on three consecutive possessions, which put them in the lead with just under a minute to play.

John Ittounas came off the bench and scored 26 points, 12 of those coming in the final 10 minutes. Ocean Johnson had 14, Zapinski just missed out on a double-double with 9 points and 11 rebounds. Quinn Pemberton had 8 points in his Elmhurst debut. Matt Woloch had a nice game with 9 points off the bench. Concordia had 4 players in double figures and while they'll be disappointed in how they finished the game, they looked really good in the first half, and seem like they're more than ready to put last year behind them.

I don't believe this has been reported yet in this forum, but I just learned yesterday that Mark Krueger, longtime voice of Elmhurst and many other local sports broadcasts, passed away in August. There was a moment of silence in his honor before tipoff yesterday.

Quote from: kiko on February 26, 2023, 03:18:28 AM

Quote from: Gregory Sager on February 26, 2023, 01:03:38 AM
I have all kinds of respect for the Bluejays, who certainly went down fighting tonight. How did a team that good only go 8-8 in this league, anyway?

This is a question I have asked myself several times in recent weeks.  Elmhurst can beat you in a myriad of ways and has a wealth of senior experience.  Since the Vikings were already headed to the tournament through whichever door they queue up next to, I was hoping the Jays could find a way today for the simple reason that I thought that if they snuck into the tournament, they (like NPU and Wheaton) had the potential to stick around for a bit.  And there aren't a lot of conferences where an 8-8 team can bring that degree of quality.

Elmhurst had sort of a weird season. They started and ended their CCIW schedule losing 3 out of 4, and went 6-2 in between. They were 3-5 in home CCIW games, 5-3 in road games. Elmhurst had a lot of talent, but for me they lacked cohesion, confidence, and weren't as deep as some  Elmhurst teams of recent vintage, which really affected their ability to close out some tough games. 4 of their 8 CCIW losses were by 4 or less points. I'm happy they were able to turn things around in the CCIW tournament, with two great wins vs North Central and Wheaton, but a trip back to the national tournament wasn't to be. Credit to North Park, who thrice bested Elmhurst this season, and who should do the CCIW well and proud going forward.


It's been an incredible last 4 seasons for Elmhurst. I'll be eager to see what kind of team Baines has on the floor next year.

Quote from: Gregory Sager on February 25, 2023, 04:15:27 AM
Very impressive performance by the 'jays, who completely turned the tables on Wheaton in the space of less than a week.

Fun atmosphere. I've never in my forty-plus years following this league seen so many Elmhurst students at a road game for the Bluejays. There was as much Columbia blue in the various sections where students were seated as there was orange.

I have also never seen two student sections literally side by side, which was the case at one end of the arena last nite. Granted, this is not Man United vs Liverpool, but I did have to scratch my head at that decision. I suppose there was no other option given the high attendance. Anyway, it certainly made the atmosphere better, and that's all that matters.

As for the game itself, I was very happy to see Elmhurst SLOW DOWN for most of the game yesterday. For far too many possessions this season, they have rushed it into the front court to either fire off a low percentage shot or commit an unforced error. They played a much more effective possession game last nite, committing just four turnovers, which helped make sure Wheaton was never able to get back into the game.

Since 2020, Elmhurst has a 16-2 record in postseason play under John Baines, and despite a very up and down season, he has the team going head-to-head for the chance to play in another national tournament. What an incredible job he has done.

Hang a star on that one! What a time to turn in the best performance of the year.

Quote from: Gregory Sager on February 18, 2023, 05:56:28 PM
I really like the way that Elmhurst does Senior Night. John Baines takes the P.A. mic and says a few words about each senior, both as a player and person, as that senior walks onto the floor. It's a really nice way to personalize the event and emphasizes the value of each student-athlete.

Agree. I don't know how widespread this practice is, but I'm glad Baines and Elmhurst make the effort to not just go through the motions. One Elmhurst senior that won't get discussed much outside the team is Myles Thomas, who is finishing up a four year career at Elmhurst. He only became a regular part of the rotation this year, and even then never saw big minutes, but I've never not seen him give anything less than 100% each time he's on the court. I'm glad that players like him can have their contributions recognized in moments like we saw yesterday from Coach Baines.

In spite of some great individual performances, and a memorable game, this was another bitterly disappointing loss for Elmhurst. They spent much of the second half with the lead, but could never establish control over the game. Not trying to take anything away from Chicago's CCIW Team^tm, they are a talented and entertaining side to watch, but Elmhurst just seems to lack confidence this season. It was the same story Wednesday night @ Carroll.

Though he finished with a respectable 15 points, I felt John Ittounas was never really a major factor in the game and that explains a lot for why Elmhurst lost their second in a row. When he is on and dictating that flow of the game, Elmhurst usually wins.

Carroll 65, Elmhurst 64.

Dismal shooting performance from both teams, if we're being honest. Elmhurst especially shot themselves in the foot from the foul line. 9-17 on the night. Not good enough.

I wanted to get a look at the remaining CCIW schedule and noticed that a certain school has evidently made it through all the way to the national championship game. 

Who wants to say it? 


https://cciw.org/calendar.aspx?path=mbball


Friday, March 17, 2023 Men's Basketball
Away                                     Home                                        Time   Location   
Illinois Wesleyan University          NCAA Tournament Final Four            TBA.     Fort Wayne, Ind.



Saturday, March 18, 2023 Men's Basketball
Away                                     Home                                        Time   Location   
Illinois Wesleyan University         NCAA Tournament Championship       TBA.     Fort Wayne, Ind.

Quote from: kiko on February 04, 2023, 07:32:50 PM
At the Hangar:

Elmhurst 72, North Central 61

The Cardinals, who are second in the nation in free throw percentage, shot a perfect 14-of-14 from the line in this one.  And that was probably because those are the only shots that Jonathan Zapinski and the rest of the Blue Jays are prohibited from interfering with.  Elmhurst was stout defensively from stem to stern today, forcing 15 turnovers, blocking seven shots, and making basically every possession a struggle for the Cardinals.  The Jays struggled at times offensively themselves, but it is clear with their fourth straight win that they have started to click and become more akin to the team they were expected to be at the start of the season.

North Central shot just 36% for the game, and just 26% (8-of-29) in the second half.  Their 12-of-26 (46%) first half tally masks the fact that Mitch Lewis did Mitch Lewis things in the final six minutes before the break, hitting his final six shots and boosting a struggling Cardinal offense by scoring the team's final 14 points and single-handedly turning a 26-20 deficit into a 34-31 Cardinal lead that was largely against the run of play.  Notably, all of this was done from outside as Zapinski more or less made the area within six feet of the basket a no-fly zone for the Cardinals.

For my money, this was Elmhurst's most impressive defensive performance of the year. As mentioned, the Zapinski lled defense effective turned the Elmhurst paint into a no-go zone for North Central, especially late in the game. Elmhurst handled the ball fairly well in both halves, and was able to get points when they needed them, in spite of a 40% field goal percentage on the afternoon.

Again, for my money, John Ittounas is Elmhurst's team MVP this year. He seems most confident with the ball, takes high percentage shots, and can create his own opportunities when a shot isn't there for him. Seems to excel when the pressure is on, above all. Elmhurst does not have a 5-2 CCIW away record without him.

Quote from: CardinalAlum on February 04, 2023, 08:22:06 PM
Also, those uniforms the beloved Cards were wearing tonight are God awful to look at. Very uninspiring crowd. That is all.

Allow me to agree, even as an Elmhurst fan. When I first heard of their grey uniforms I thought they'd at least have red numbers and letters (similar to a Bulls alternate of recent years), but these are just drab. If you randomly tuned into a game, you'd have no idea what school is even out there.

I was surprised to see the attendance listed as 307. I know the cameras can make the stadiums look fuller than they are, but it didn't look that low on the broadcast.

It was nice to see Elmhurst come on strong at the end last night to get the win in Bloomington, avenging another loss from earlier in the season. IWU fans are understandably lamenting the late turnovers made by the Titans, though Elmhurst fans could have easily been saying the same, as Elmhurst had about 3/4 turnovers in a row after the 10 minute mark of the second half, which helped Wesleyan regain the lead at 57-54. From that point on, however, it was basically all Elmhurst, who scored the game's next 13 points. When a long inbounds pass from Elmhurst sailed out of bounds after a Wesleyan 3 made it 67-60, I feared Elmhurst was headed to another nightmare ending at Shirk, but the Jays held on.

Wes Hooker returned to the Elmhurst lineup and scored 10, while 4 other Elmhurst players scored in double figures, including Neshat Dalipi, who has been seeing more and more playing time as of late. Elmhurst fans have to like what theyve been seeing from him, a gutsy player that brings some physicality but can also hit the outside shot.

Elmhurst has now won 3 in a row and is at least looking more and more like a team that will be playing in the CCIW tournament.

Elmhurst defeated Millikin 75-73 in an absolute dogfight of a game. John Ittounas finished with 24 for Elmhurst, with some big buckets down the stretch. Both teams really went at each other and it was one of the better played Elmhurst/Millikin games of recent memory.

The Bluejays have clawed, or perhaps more accurately, have flown back to .500 in CCIW play. This is also the first time Elmhurst has won back-to-back conference games this season.

During the broadcast it was mentioned that Wes Hooker has been out per concussion protocol these last two games, but is expected to return for Elmhurst's next run of games, all of which are on the road (Wesleyan, North Central, Carroll).