Warriors return majority of roster from last season.
By Mike Miazga
Correspondent
The success the Willowbrook boys basketball team enjoyed last year has continued into the summer.
The Warriors took second in the Riverside-Brookfield summer league, losing to Maine South in the championship game.
“There are something like 18 teams at R-B and there are a lot of good teams there such as St. Joe’s, Oak Park-River Forest, Bogan, Hinsdale Central and Lyons Township,” said Willowbrook coach Chris Perkins.
Perkins was pleased with how his team, which returns the majority of player’s from last year’s successful squad, progressed during the summer campaign.
“We had a good summer season,” he said. “We went 24-5 last year and we have our whole lineup back. It was a combination of what we established last season and the fact a lot of these kids have been on varsity now for two years and some going on three years. We have a lot of veterans and a lot of leadership and it shows in our play. We picked up where we left off. We have a lot of chemistry and continuity returning and that helps a lot. We played close to 50 games and played a lot of different teams. We saw a lot of different styles and challenges.”
Willowbrook also played in shootout events at Montini, Ridgewood and Stagg. Willowbrook made it to the semifinals of the Ridgewood event, which Perkins noted had around 40 teams. The Warriors also hosted their own shootout.
“We beat some good teams and played a lot of good teams,” said Perkins. “I felt like we got better this summer. I’m very pleased.”
Perkins’ list of players who had strong summers reads like a virtual repeat of last year’s roster with Ethan Schuemer, Matas Masys, Matt Myers, Neal Paxton Jr., Sikander Zafar and Marshawn Phillips excelling, along with Terry Lewis and Scott Tumilty.
“A lot of guys played very well,” said Perkins. “A guy like Scott Tumilty played very well. We have a lot of guys coming back.”
With last year’s standout performance, Perkins said expectations naturally are higher.
“Expectations, internally as a group, we have high goals,” he said. “We went 24-5 last year. They all want to be better than 24-5. We’re setting the mark pretty high by default. That should help us accomplish a lot. We won three tournaments last year and we shared the conference title. Our goal is to do all of that as well and try and get that regional title under our belt when it comes time for the playoffs.”
