Coach and team have high expectations for volleyball season
By Laura B.

When asked about this year's volleyball team, the players had many viewpoints, yet they all said the same thing. The Peacock volleyball team is great.

This year's team is doing "better than ever," commented Coach Krisik. "We only had three practices before our first game, therefore we worked on fundamentals," she explained. "The team is working towards better transition between offence and defense."

She also stated that she enjoyed coaching so much because it "gives me the chance to spend time with the kids and see them in a competitive situation."

While Mrs. Krisik has coached volleyball here at Peacock for four years, sixth grader, Kaitlyn L. just started playing this year.

Kaitlyn believes that her best skill on the court is teamwork. "I make sure that everyone is spirited and supportive," she explained.

Shannon S., sixth grade, agreed with Kaitlyn that everyone was supportive and worked together as a team.

Mrs. Krisik has similar goals as Shannon and Kaitlyn. Her main goals for the season are to "just play the best volleyball that we can."

The girls volleyball team practices Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Boys season comes to an end

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Basketball coaches reflect on successes and failures
By Stephen G.

Mr. Poremba, the coach of the sixth and seventh grade boys basketball team really enjoyed the past season. He said, "The boys tried very hard and did very well. I had a lot of fun."

The record for the six and seventh grade boys was eight and four. They tied for second place, behind Springwood.

The team's best game this season was the last game because everyone played and everyone scored.

The two most difficult games were the two games against Springwood because the boys lost both of them, one by six points and the other by eight. Mr. Poremba thought the boys should have won both games.

According to Mr. Poremba, the hardest working players on the six and seventh grade team were Mark Kischner, David Keyworth, and Kyle Poplawski.

Mr. Poremba added that any of the boys are talented enough to make the team next year and to play in high school if they keep up with their playing by going to camps or joining traveling teams.

"I could say something good about every player," said Mr. Poremba, "Lee Alexopoulos has a good drive to the basket. Brandon Cariello has good jump shot. Joe Gnutek plays bigger than he is. Erik Sarnello is a strong kid. Alex Schrautemyer is the fastest six grader. All of the starters were great."

The most improved player, said Mr. Poremba, had to be Nick Tricase.

On the whole, Mr. Poremba felt that the competition was good and there were a lot of good teams in the conference. "I'm sorry the season is over. I hope the kids are sorry it's over too," he said.

The coach of the eighth grade boys basketball team, Mr. Anderson, felt that the team didn't live up to their true potential this season. He said, however, "We finished playing good basketball."

Their record was seven and five, which tied Peacock for third place with Wood Dale, behind West Field and Springwood.

"I think that we were the second best team in conference despite the records," explained Mr. Anderson.

He felt the best played games were the first four played in the holiday tournament. The second to last game against Springwood was also played very well.

West Field was the most difficult team this season primarily because they had two very good players.

According to Mr. Anderson, the Peacock eighth grade boys were talented and worked very hard this season. The most improved players were John Vitols, James D'Angelo, and Matt Gesse.

Mr. Anderson added, "I think we were one of the top two teams in the conference. I really enjoyed the team and the season this year."

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Lake Park sophomores take third place in conference
By Ashley C.

On Friday, February 23, the Lake Park boys basketball team lost to Larkin High School. According to Peacock alumnus and Lake Park ninth grader, Ryan Cibulka, Lake Park played well in the first quarter but poorly during the entire second half.

"We also played well at the end of the second quarter because we played as a team," he said.

On the whole, Ryan thought that his team needed to work on "boxing out and keeping our composure."

Ryan said of the competition, "They won only when we played badly." He added, "the future looks good for us!"

The best moment in the game for Peacock alumnus and Lake Park tenth grader, Matt Petralia, was at the end of the second quarter when he shot and scored a three pointer with three seconds left.

"Overall, we had a good season, but we should have finished stronger," Matt commented.

Lake Park sophomore head coach, Ken Parris, said about the season, "Basketball is all about heart and the team didn't have that."

Assistant coach, Clinton Antievich, said, "They put a lot of effort into their games, but the little things hurt us."

Coach Antievich added that he was looking forward to a "good strong season, and bright future."

Larkin High School tenth grader, Aaron Kappes, commented, "We played as a team and everybody contributed."

He added, "Lake Park was a really hard team to play against! We worked our hardest and as a team, and we all contributed."

Lake Park uses the man-to-man defense and the 1-3-1 (zone). The LP starters are Ryan Cibulka, Matt Petralia, Joel Soltes, Doug Dibasilio, Mike Randall, Josh Antioho, Anthony Pavone, and Kwame Agyeman.

The high school audience was crazy at the game. The people on the Lake Park side of the stands were stomping on the bleachers and yelling at the Larkin side. The Larkin fans yelled back just as loudly.

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