About the only thing most people know about West Chicago is thatit's west of Chicago.
The Wildcats haven't made an impact in high school basketball,even in the western suburbs. Two years ago, they were 6-19. Theyhaven't won a regional championship since 1960. That's ninepresidents ago.
So with only one starter returning from last season's 14-12team, first-year coach Dan McCarthy shouldn't have been surprisedthat his team was picked to finish last in the DuPage ValleyConference this season.Already it appears there has been a misjudgment - if not ofWest Chicago's talent, than of McCarthy's ability to make thingshappen. West Chicago is 5-0, including a victory Friday night on theroad against perennial conference contender Naperville North.McCarthy has done it not with an infusion of talent, but adistinctive style of man-to-man pressure defense, relentlessintensity and an 11-player substitution pattern "very similar to whatPhil Jackson does with the Bulls," McCarthy said. "We just rotatefresh bodies. In all our games, we've worn our opponents down."Naperville North, 102-38 over the past five years, knows all toowell."They came out in the first quarter with the same kind ofdefensive frenzy you see teams playing in the fourth quarter - andthey kept it up," Naperville North coach Mark Lindo said. "They cameout with an aggressive, nothing-to-lose attitude, and to theircredit, they sustained it the whole game."West Chicago is paced by 6-6 senior Eric Daniel, a three-yearstarter who scored 25 points against Naperville North. He averages14 points a game."I said it before they beat us and he threw 25 at us, and I'llsay it again - he's a very underrated player," Lindo said. "He's a6-6 kid who jumps well and scores outside of 15 feet, and he's adominant rebounder."Daniel is the only Wildcat scoring in double figures. ButMcCarthy isn't lacking for contributors: 5-10 Jeff Weber, 6-2 JeremyGleason, 6-foot Jeff Murphy and 6-3 Tim Fraser complete theall-senior lineup. Juniors Jon Hall and Jim Callahan (who scored 11points, including a back-breaking three-pointer, against NapervilleNorth) have been impact players off the bench.McCarthy, 44, came to West Chicago from Ottawa Marquette, whichwent 25-3 last year. But even he doesn't know if the Wildcats arefor real."It's hard to say right now," he said. "But when we go on theroad and beat the team that's picked to win the conference, that saysa lot about the kids. We're just happy to be 5-0. If we can keepsneaking up on people, that's great."There's always that fear we could come down to earth becausewe're not blessed with (superior) basketball players, just 15 kidswho are working extremely hard."That work ethic has led to our record this year."
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