New look, same destination, with Scales Mound back at state

Mar. 9—SCALES MOUND — Erik Kudronowicz had different moments throughout the past year when a deep run in the Class 1A playoffs seemed possible for his Scales Mound boys' basketball team this winter.

Kudronowicz, now in his 17th season leading the Hornets' program, remembered on Tuesday a conversation he had with his assistant coaches in the summer. Kudronowicz made it clear back then he thought this season's Scales Mound team could win a regional title.

The expectations just kept growing from there.

A 69-65 double-overtime win against Southwestern (Wis.) in the championship game of the Mike Alexander Christmas Classic on Dec. 30 in Benton, Wis., was the first indication Kudronowicz's Hornets team might have another special season in store.

Another one arrived on Feb. 3 when Scales Mound trailed reigning 4A state champion Glenbard West by only 10 points early in the fourth quarter in a game the Hornets eventually lost 70-49 to the Hilltoppers.

That Scales Mound would go on a nine-game winning streak after that loss to Glenbard West, a run that has the Hornets — last year's third-place finisher in 1A — back in the state tournament for a second consecutive year is impressive enough. But Kudronowicz's team has done so after graduating all five of its starting players from last season's 36-3 team that made the program's first-ever state tournament appearance.

"The expectation was not like last year's team," Kudronowicz said Tuesday, the day after the Hornets defeated Chicago Marshall 60-56 in a DeKalb Super-Sectional game to clinch a trip to the state tournament. "It was still like, 'Can this year's team win a conference?' because we play in a really tough conference in the (Northwest Upstate Illini). So therefore can we win a conference? And the idea was, 'Sure.' Once we won the conference, people were like, 'I think this team can win a regional, for sure, and perhaps a sectional,' and then once we started to do that, the buzz grew quickly. Everybody up here in the northern part of the state, the northwest part is really on board with these kids and the town is frantic right now. It's fantastic.

"For us to make a back-to-back state run is pretty amazing, pretty unique just because of how quickly that changes. This has also been something that we've had in place for the last 15 years that we've been building with the youth levels up to our middle school levels and now our high school level."

The 12-man roster Kudronowicz employs makes up nearly one-sixth of the school's enrollment of 70 students. The Hornets (32-5) made the 238-mile trip from the northwesternmost point of the state to Champaign and State Farm Center to face Tuscola (30-6) for a 1A state semifinal, which is set for an 11:45 a.m. tip on Thursday. The Warriors, by comparison, will only travel 23 miles for Thursday's semifinal game after a pep rally at the Douglas County school tips off at 8:20 a.m. Thursday.

"I've never really thought of that as far as the distance and so far," Kudronowicz said. "It might be 20 minutes (for them). It could be three or four hours for us, but you're going to be at the State Farm Center playing in the final four. It's just going to be exciting for all of us involved."

Kudronowicz's new starting five features three juniors and two seniors with guards Thomas Hereau, Charlie Wiegel and Jacob Duerr leading the way.

Hereau, a 6-foot-2, 170-pound junior, is Scales Mounds' top scorer (16.6 points) and rebounder (5.4). The 5-9 senior Wiegel is averaging 12.1 points and 4.7 assists, while the 6-foot senior Duerr does a bit of everything by averaging 9.4 points, 4.8 rebounds and 4.5 assists.

Hereau, Wiegel, Duerr and starting forwards Jonah Driscoll and Max Wienen — both juniors — benefited from going up against last season's senior-laden lineup on a daily basis in the practice gym, Kudronowicz said.

"Last year, this was our No. 2s," the Scales Mound coach continued. "These kids pushed (last year's team) so hard that when they became the No. 1s that just became the norm and they just continued to work that hard. They kind of fed off of last year's team and they play similar to that with a high IQ. The way they play together and for each other, it's all similar."

It's put the Hornets back in position to potentially make more history. Two wins this week would have Scales Mound become the smallest school to win a boys' basketball state championship in IHSA history.

Kudronowicz said the 1A bracket has felt "wide open" all season. Current Duke freshman guard Jaden Schutt led Yorkville Christian to a 1A state title last season, but Yorkville Christian didn't win a postseason game this year. Waterloo Gibault is the only member of the 1A final four that was represented in the final Top 10 Associated Press poll last month.

The confidence in what this team could do has been building all season, with Scales Mound hoping to end it with a crescendo — and a state title — on Saturday in Champaign.

"All the teams that are there are very talented and all of them could walk out of there with the first-place trophy," Kudronowicz said. "It's going to come down to doing all the little things that got you to the state tournament in the first place. Having some familiarity is definitely something that will help our group."