The Doings Weekly

Eck defense helps Devils reach expectations

 

by george m. wilcox | gwilcox@pioneerlocal.com | @geomwilcox February 19, 2013 5:58PM

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Hinsdale Central's Jared Eck moves the ball past Oak Park River Forest's Erick Locke during the boys basketball game in Oak Park Saturday Jan. 26, 2013 | James C. Svehla~for Sun-Times Media

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Don’t Miss

Friday

Boys swimming: State meet, 3:30 p.m.

The swimming preliminaries at New Trier begin in the afternoon, but Ryan O’Donnell is ranked in the top five for diving, which begins at 9 a.m. Another of Hinsdale Central’s top candidates to reach Saturday’s finals is Eddie Mapel in the 100-yard breaststroke. The Devils’ 200 medley relay and 200 free relays are ranked in the top 12 based on sectional times with hopes of advancing.

Wednesday

Boys basketball: at Wheaton Warrenville South Regional semifinal, 7:30 p.m.

The Devils (18-5) carried a 12-game winning streak into their West Suburban Crossover game against Proviso East (21-3) Wednesday night. Hinsdale opens the playoffs Feb. 27 at the Wheaton Warrenville South Regional against Geneva (18-8) or the host Tigers (6-20). The winner will play at 7:30 p.m. March 1 in the regional final. Hinsdale’s top seniors are Rigas Pappas, Alec Hutcherson and Brian Owens.

Updated: March 22, 2013 7:01AM

Jared Eck’s contributions aren’t easily summed up in the weekly updates sent out by statistician Marv Breig, a science teacher at Hinsdale Central.

In addition to the usual categories for basketball stats, Breig added a few of his own, such as SAT (steals plus assists minus turnovers) or PRO (total points plus rebounds plus SAT).

Eck, a 6-3 senior guard, has found a regular spot in third-year coach Nick Latorre’s starting lineup due to his defense. Eck, the starting center-fielder on the baseball team, has found a second calling as the defensive stopper assigned to the opponent’s top scorer.

When Hinsdale (18-5) won its first West Suburban Silver title since 2000 by beating York 54-39 Feb. 12, Eck held Colorado State-bound guard David Cohn to seven points.

“It has been awesome. We expected it,” Eck said about a conference title. “We worked hard all through the fall. The chemistry has been great with everyone on the team.”

The Devils carry a 12-game winning streak into their West Suburban crossover game Wednesday against Gold champion Proviso East (21-3).

At Hinsdale, defense comes first. Since the Devils’ last loss to Hillcrest, 61-59, at the Proviso West Holiday tournament, only two teams have burned them for more than 50 points. Hinsdale beat Glenbard West 66-58 Jan. 18 and defeated Proviso West 73-53 on Feb. 8.

“As long as we work hard on defense, our offense will come off that,” said Eck, a Hinsdale resident.

Eck, who averages just 4.3 ppg, which ranks sixth on the team, began the season as part of a rotation to fill the fifth starting spot. He said that the first time he became a regular starter was at York Dec. 15 for a 53-46 conference victory, Hinsdale’s seventh game of the season.

“I wasn’t that nervous if I started or came off the bench,” Eck said. “I would still get a pretty good amount of time either way.”

The Devils received the fifth seed in its own Class 4A sectional and will play 12th-seeded Geneva (18-8) or 21st-seeded Wheaton Warrenville South (6-20) at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 27 in the WWS Regional semifinal. Fourth-seeded West Aurora (20-5) could await in the regional final at 7:30 p.m. March 1.

“I know it will be tough to win (the regional),” Eck said earlier this week. “I’m excited. We’ve got all the pieces, but we’re focused right now on Proviso East.”




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