Big guys battle injuries, illness

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This week was a rough one for some of the area’s best big men.

McHenry’s boys basketball team played without 6-foot-5 Brian Madson (mononucleosis) and 6-4 Jimmy Preston (sprained ankle), and Hampshire missed 6-7 Tyler Watzlawick (sprained ankle), although all three players hope to be back when regional tournaments start the week of Feb. 28, if not sooner.

McHenry loses about 28 points and 20 rebounds a game without Madson and Preston, although the Warriors defeated Dundee-Crown, 66-63, on Tuesday. They lost to Cary-Grove, 54-47, on Friday.

Preston suffered the injury to his right ankle Feb. 5 against Wauconda when he leaped to block a shot and landed on another player’s foot.

“The doctor I went to gave me some exercises to get the swelling down,” said Preston, who’s averaging 11.8 points a game. “I had crutches for a couple days, but I’m off them now. I hope to be back before the tournament.”

Madson, who averages 15.9 points and 12 rebounds, felt so poorly Friday he stayed home from school and was unable to speak on the phone. His mother, Patty, said he was spending most of the weekend sleeping.

“We have to hold him out of contact for a while,” Patty said. “We hope he’ll be back by the end of the month. He should be cleared by the regional.”

McHenry is the No. 2 seed in the IHSA Class 4A Prairie Ridge Regional.

Watzlawick is averaging 13 points a game for the Whip-Purs, who have not lost in the 2011 part of the season and have won 12 consecutive games. He also sprained his right ankle when he landed after blocking a shot Tuesday against Marengo.

“I had an MRI and I tore two ligaments, but the doctor said I wouldn’t need surgery,” Watzlawick said. “I got hit in the air and landed awkwardly. I want to try to make it back for this Friday.”

Hampshire is the No. 2 seed in its own sectional and will need Watzlawick to take on No. 3 Marmion and, potentially, No. 1 Crystal Lake Central in the championship.

Van Dorin to Iowa Wesleyan: Hampshire senior Jessie Van Dorin recently committed to NAIA Iowa Wesleyan College in Mount Pleasant, Iowa, where she will play golf.

Van Dorin is relatively new to golf, having been recruited to play by Whips coach Sue Ellett before Van Dorin’s freshman year.

“I started the summer before my freshman year because Mrs. Ellett wanted to start a team,” Van Dorin said. “I play a lot at Blackstone (Golf Club in Marengo) and go to the range a lot.”

Van Dorin’s father, Rick, grew up in Mount Pleasant. and her mother, Sue, also has family near the area.

“I wanted to be around my family,” Van Dorin said. “I still have two great-grandmothers around there too.”

Van Dorin is a starting guard on Hampshire’s 25-2 girls basketball team and is second in the area with 72 three-pointers. Johnsburg’s Melissa Dixon leads all players with 82. Van Dorin has advanced to the state Three-Point Showdown two of her three years in high school.

• Joe Stevenson covers high school sports for the Northwest Herald. He can be reached by e-mail at jstevenson@
nwherald.com.