Skyhawks ready for St. Viator

Johnsburg's Mike Dixon takes a shot against Chicago Gordon Tech on Tuesday. The Skyhawks play for a sectional title today against St. Viator. (Joe Shuman – For The Northwest Herald)

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VERNON HILLS – Johnsburg boys basketball team knows exactly what it must bring to the IHSA Class 3A Vernon Hills Sectional championship game against St. Viator.

“We have to play our beat basketball game of the year,” senior guard Mike Dixon said. “This is the biggest stage.”

The Skyhawks (27-2) will become the fourth team in school history to play for a sectional title when they face St. Viator (23-6) at 7:30 p.m. today. Johnsburg is in the sectional championship game for the third time in eight years – the Skyhawks made it in 2003 and 2006.

St. Viator, which plays in the rugged East Suburban Catholic Conference, has set its school record for victories and won seven consecutive games.

The Lions knocked out North Chicago, 82-64, in Tuesday’s semifinals.

“This is similar to any game in what we have to do, we just have to do it better,” Johnsburg coach Luke Ravlin said. “We have to rebound, be disciplined, all the things we talk about all the time, but we have to do it better.”

Johnsburg has been waiting for this season since Dixon and 6-foot-6 center C.J. Fiedorowicz started as freshmen. The next year, then-sophomores Derek Talbot and Tyler Chambers, and then-freshman Mike Dombrowski jumped into the rotation.

“Everyone talks about our experience, but no one’s been in the sectional championship,” Ravlin said.

St. Viator is led by 6-1 point guard Alan Aboona, who averages 15.6 points a game and is a third-year starter. The Lions are in a sectional final for the first time.

Johnsburg saw its season come to an end on Vernon Hills’ floor in last year’s regional final loss to North Chicago, 75-72.

“It feels really great to be here,” Dombrowski said. “Not too many Johnsburg teams have gone this far, and this group has been together a long time. As we keep moving on we have to play better and better every single game. We have to come out with more and more.”

The Skyhawks want to become the second boys basketball sectional championship team in school history. Johnsburg’s 2003 team is the only McHenry County team to advance to the IHSA Class AA State Tournament. The 2006 team lost to Warren in the sectional title game.

“[Playing in a sectional championship game] means everything to me,” Dixon said. “We’ve been working for this our whole lives. We really have to execute on everything. We have to make sure it’s perfect in order for us to get a win.

“These teams are very evenly matched. It should be a great game.”

About the Skyhawks: Johnsburg is led by 6-foot-6 center C.J. Fiedorowicz (16.3 ppg., 9.0 rpg.), guard Mike Dixon (13.5 ppg., 5.0 apg., 4.4 rpg.) and guard Mike Dombrowski (11.0 ppg.).

About the Lions: Point guard Alan Aboona leads St. Viator (15.6 ppg., 65 three-pointers). Richard McLoughlin (12.5) is the other leading scorer. Jack Etchingham (7.3), Chris Myjak (7.3) and Brendan King (6.9) give the Lions balanced scoring. St. Viator’s 23-6 record is the best in school history.

This and that: Johnsburg’s starting five are shooting 80.3 percent (261 of 325) from the free-throw line. … Johnsburg is in its fourth sectional title game; St. Viator is in its first. … Johnsburg advanced to the sectional championship in 1979, its first year of existence, losing to Oregon. One of Johnsburg’s guards was Scott Dixon, the father of current guard Mike Dixon. Oregon’s top player was Bob Barnett, who now is the boys head coach at Hampshire.

What’s next: The winner advances to the Hoffman Estates Supersectional at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday against the winner of the Riverside-Brookfield Sectional. Chicago Marshall and Chicago Crane play in that game.