East Aurora tops South Elgin; Geneva, W. Aurora announce new Hall of Famers. (2024)

Byline: Jerry Fitzpatrick [emailprotected]

South Elgin handled the internal pressure of a first-place showdown with East Aurora well for the first 28 minutes of ThursdayAEs Upstate Eight boys basketball game.

It was a different kind of pressure u the full-court variety u that caused the Storm to unravel in the final four minutes of a 75-63 defeat.

The game was close throughout and South Elgin (10-5, 3-1) pulled within 61-59 when senior point guard Alex Sanchez sank a one-handed runner in the paint with 4:28 remaining.

One possession later East Aurora sophom*ore guard Ryan Boatright stole an entry pass intended for South Elgin center Dani Lopez and raced the other way for a layup and a 4-point lead. From that point forward, the Tomcats pressed the Storm right out of the game.

Alex Sanchez led South Elgin with 15 points. East Aurora (14-3, 3-0) was led by 6-foot-4 junior Tramell Weathersby, who scored 27 points to offset the absence of leading scorer Will Brown. Brown was benched for the first half due to a recent missed practice and played 3 minutes in the third quarter before he was ejected with 2 technical fouls.

"We have to make it happen," South Elgin coach Chaz Taft said. "We have some kids who are three-year players here, so thatAEs not enough just to run with somebody. ThatAEs not our expectation."

Boys swimming

St. Charles East 100, West Chicago 72: Ken Tilges took first place in the 200 free and 100 fly and his 200 free relay team also came in first. Shaun Seuschek won the 500 free, took second in the 50 free to teammate Adam Carnell, and swam on the victorious 200 medley and 200 free relay teams.

Marmion 98, Brother Rice 64: Tyler Capen swam the 100 backstroke in 52.03, a new Cadet and pool record. He also took second in the 100 butterfly to teammate Matt Lifka, who also won the 200 breaststroke. Matt Pircon won the 50 free in 21.53, also setting a new pool record. Marmion also set pool records in the 200 medley relay and the 200 free relay.

General

Geneva Hall of Fame: Geneva High School will induct Jill Odenthal, Dave Shaver and Allan Tison into their Hall of Athletic Fame on Friday, Jan. 30 in the main gym during halftime of the Geneva-Yorkville varsity basketball game.

Odenthal, class of 2001, was named All-Conference for three years and led Geneva to consecutive volleyball regional titles. USA Volleyball Magazine named her one of the nationAEs top 50 players in 2001. She attended the University of Wisconsin on a scholarship and made the All-Big Ten team in 2003 and 2004 and helped the Badgers reach the NCAA Elite Eight in 2004. She is currently coaching volleyball near Madison and is studying to become a doctor.

Shaver, class of 1975, starred in wrestling, track and football. A lineman in football, the Vikings went 31-3 in games he played over four years. He was named All-Conference two straight years and All-Area as a senior captain. In wrestling, he took second place in the conference twice, first at 185 pounds and then as a heavyweight. In track, he set a shot put record that stood for 33 years. Shaver played football for Western Illinois University and started for three years. He lives in Schaumburg with his family.

Tison, class of 1966, scored 1,097 career points playing basketball, ranking second only to his brother Haskell. He won two conference scoring titles and his 780 career rebounds remain a school record as do single-game records of 10 blocked shots ad 24 rebounds. He went onto play for Georgia Tech on a basketball scholarship. He is now retired from Stone Container Corporation.

West Aurora Hall of Fame: Three former athletes and a coach will enter the West Aurora High School Sports Hall of Fame on Saturday, Jan. 24: Richard (Rich) Becker, Class of 1990; Leigh Jaffke, Class of 1980; Tony Leonardi, Class of 1981; and the late Richard (Dick) Zuege, a former coach.

Becker was one of the most exceptional baseball players ever to play at West Aurora High School. He was also a standout football player.

Becker was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in 1990. He made his major league debut that year, appearing in three games with seven at bats, getting two hits. After several trips between the major and minor leagues, his first full year with the Twins was in 1995. In 1996, Rich preceded Kirby Puckett as the TwinsAE starting center fielder and had his best year as a major leaguer, batting .291 with 12 home runs, 79 RB1 and 19 stolen bases..

At the end of the 2002 season,

Becker retired. After 13 seasons in professional baseball, he finished his major league career having appearing in 789 games with 2,227 at bats, 570 base hits, including 45 home runs with a .256 batting average.

Becker presently is a firefighter in North Ft. Myers, Fla., and resides in Cape Coral, Fla., with his wife and three children.

Jaffke was an outstanding basketball player, and is regarded as one of West AuroraAEs finest post players in school history.

She was a three-year varsity letter winner and was named most valuable player her junior and senior years. Sh eled West Aurora in rebounding all three years playing at the varsity level, and earned All Conference honors in the 1978-79 and 1979-1980 seasons.

Jaffke has the distinction of being the first female basketball player at West Aurora to have earned a Division 1 NCAA athletic scholarship. After graduation from West, Leigh attended East Tennessee State where she continued her academic excellence graduating Magna Cum Laude with a BS in Science Education in 1984.

After ending her playing career, Jaffke started her teaching career at Sycamore Middle School in the science department. She earned an MS in Education Administration from Northern Illinois University in 1993. Her involvement in basketball continued as she coached in both the girls and boys programs.

Jaffke served as assistant principal/athletic director at Sycamore Middle School from 1993-2000. She became the athletic director at Kaneland High School in 2000 where she currently continues her professional career. Jaffke presently lives in Yorkville.

Leonardi was an outstanding three-sport athlete during his high school career.

He was the starting varsity quarterback as a sophom*ore when an early injury sidelined him for most of that season. He went on to lead his team at the quarterback position for the next two years passing for 2,070 yards, completing 52 percent of his attempts. He was also the varsity punter with an average of over 30 yards per punt.

Leonardi lettered in basketball his freshman, sophom*ore and junior years. A football injury sustained in the season-ending East-West game contributed to his missing the entire basketball campaign his senior year.

Leonardi was an outstanding pitcher for the Blackhawk varsity baseball program. In his junior and senior years, he compiled an earned run average of 1.41 while striking out 235 opposing batters. During those same two seasons the team went 47-12-1. He was an All-Conference selection both his junior and senior years. When not pitching, he played shortstop or designated hitter, and his batting average was .413 his senior year.

After high school graduation, Leonardi was afforded a number of options to continue his football/baseball career. The Atlanta Braves drafted him to pitch for their organization. He also received numerous football and baseball offers from major universities, deciding to accept a baseball scholarship to the University of Illinois.

Leonardi pitched two seasons with the Illini baseball program, winning Big Ten player of the month his freshman year. After his sophom*ore year, the Braves drafted him for a second time and offered him a contract which he accepted. His professional baseball career was cut short by a shoulder injury which did not respond to surgery and intense therapy.

Leonardi has worked for HaydenAEs Athletic in Champaign and Aurora for over 24 years. He and his wife Ellen have three children, Olivia, Vincent, and Raymond, all attending Freeman elementary school.

Zuege graduated from Ottawa High School in 1946 and Illinois State University in 1950. He came to West Aurora in 1958 to teach Physical Education and Industrial Arts. Later he would become chair of the Industrial Arts department for many years. His great teaching extended into his long coaching career. From 1958 until 1973, he was an assistant coach in football, wrestling, basketball and track. From 1970 to 1973, he was the head football coach.

In 1976 Zuege accepted the position of athletic director for West. Until his retirement in 1984, he worked tirelessly to build West High athletics. He increased the number of boys sports from six to 10 and was instrumental in starting eight new girls sports programs during his tenure as A.D. His efforts didnAEt go unnoticed, as in 1984, he was presented the school districtAEs Golden Apple Award for his excellence.

Zuege passed away in 2003 and is survived by his wife Lois. And by his three children, all of whom are successful West graduates u Lynn Girls (and her husband Jeff); Craig Zuege (and his wife Lynda), and Cynthia Coil (and her husband Dewain).

MenAEs basketball

Benedictine 83, Aurora 76: The home loss set the Spartans back to 8-9 overall, 6-3 in the Northern Athletics Conference, while Benedictine advances to 10-7 overall and 5-4 in the NAC. For Aurora, Chad Trudo scored a game-high 30 points while Lance Robinson had 16 points, seven rebounds and three assists. The Eagles sank 11 three-pointers, including three from Dan Klecan, who finished with 16 points. Jared Bailey added 14 points and five assists.