Class A Speaks

Leo's Chris Burras hopes to be crowned the Class A Player of the Year
while leading the Lions downstate.

By Frank Rusnak
It is their last hooray, final go-around and end of the line. For eight of Class A's top seniors, this plane has almost landed on their high school careers, as they have one last season to fulfill all of their dreams and aspirations.

"Second place won't be acceptable for us this year. We've already been there."

Justin Shrake
Pana High School
--On his team's goals for the season

A common goal and dream shared by all is to get downstate and help lead their teams to Peoria for the Elite Eight, Illinois high school basketball's ultimate playground. Pickneyville is going to try and defend its title, but with a bulls-eye on its back there is a lot of hungry competition out there.

With the days flying by before these eight Class A stars are walking down the aisle for graduation, see if you can tell how deep their desire is burning for success in their culminating year of high school.

Chris Burras:
Leo's Chris Burras is a 6'5" menacing post player. While he has the versatility to take the ball to the perimeter, he is placed in the post for the Lions, as there are few who can hang with this monster in the painted area. A relentless player, Chris is receiving Division I interest from several mid-major programs and hopes to have his mind made up with a college decision by the middle of the season.
My overall goal is to make it down state with this being my last year. I think we have the right ingredients with some good young players. It's just a matter of us coming together and working hard. Me personally, I just want to improve on what I did last year. Last year people weren't focusing on me and they didn't know me, but now my name is starting to get out a little bit. I'm trying to get Class A Player of the Year. I think that's about the only thing that I didn't accomplish in Class A last year individual-wise...and become more vocal.

Justin Shrake:
One of the state's best dead-eye shooters, Pana's Justin Shrake shot 45-percent from 3-point land last season. The 6'3" shooting guard needs less than 400 points to break the all-time scoring mark for his school in only two years of varsity action. Averaging 21 points per game last year, Shrake looks to lead his team back downstate this year where they the runner up for the state title.
Well, I think that we have the potential of getting back to state and winning it. Losing Jake [Sinclair; walk-on at Eastern Illinois, was red-shirted this year] was a big loss but I feel we will be more team oriented without him. As a team we will establish more of a press breaker and work as a cohesive unit rather than having him do the work. Second place won't be acceptable for us this year. We've already been there. Our only goal is winning it all. Now we are working on preparing for a two games a day workout because last year we ran out of gas. Coach Bowker is making sure that doesn't happen again.

Joe Cortez:
After leading Lisle to a 24-3 record one year ago, Joe Cortez returns along with the majority of his team to top last season's mark. At 6'3" he is his team's tallest player, but coach Mark D'Amico makes sure that everything is run through Cortez, as he is a fine passer with creative abilities. A Division One recruit, he averaged 18 points, six rebounds, four assists and two steals as a junior.
I think we look very good this year. This summer we played great AA competition that I think will help us out this year. We no we can play with and beat anyone if we play well. We have a couple of tests this season such as CPCI and Providence St. Mel that should get us ready for the post season. We're hoping to advance down state this year to fight for a state title.

Jordan Roth:
The stage is set for 6'7" Jordan Roth from Pleasant Plains, who will get his first opportunity to play without all-state player Dusty Bensko, who graduated and accepted a baseball scholarship to the University of Illinois. Roth is a slender, multi-skilled player that excels as much on the court as he does in the classroom, which is saying a lot with a 4.26 GPA on a 4.0 scale and 28 on the ACT. But don't think this book-worm is all brains and no skills, because despite his size he can easily maneuver his way through the defense with a capable handle and has adept passing abilities.
In the upcoming season, I hope that our team can get about 22-25 wins at least. I know we graduated a lot of talent, but we have a lot of players that never got a chance to prove how good they were last year or the year before. We face some good competition very early and a lot of good competition late. We play teams like Nokomis, Breese Mater-Dei, and others as the season winds down. There should be a lot of good tests for us out there. The expectations are again very high for us, even though we lost a lot. Coming out, we are the preseason #5 team in the state. The expectations for that alone are very lofty. Our regional, sectional and supersectional should be a lot of the same that it has been the past few years. Regionals shouldn't be too tough, sectionals we will have Pittsfield, A-C Central, Calvary and a few others. Supersetional will either be Lewistown or Macomb probably. It should be another great year of basketball for us. Some of my individual goals are to average 20 ppg and 10 rpg for my senior season. I would also like to earn a Division 1 scholarship somewhere. As for team goals, to get back to Peoria because everybody knows that once you get there, anything can happen.

Stan Gaines:
A swingman, Stan Gaines is a 6'7" do-everything type player from Providence St. Mel. Gaines advanced downstate with the Knights as a freshman, when they lost to the eventual champions, Rock Falls, in the quarterfinals. Gaines has signed on with the Minnesota Golden Gophers for post high school schooling and basketball.
I really just want to prepare for the Big 10. I need to get bigger and stronger, and improve my overall game. I hope to win the Class A Player of the Year. As a team, I basically want us to win a state title. I think that we'll really surprise some people this year. A lot of people think that we're garbage because we lost LeVar Seals (to graduation: at DePaul) and Shaun Pruitt (transferred to West Aurora), but I think we'll surprise people. I got a taste of downstate my freshman year and know I want more.

Mike McGraw:
Mike "Quick Draw" McGraw is a pure marksman for Litchfield. The 6'1" McGraw is a deceptive killer on the court with his sleight of build, but if you give him any breathing room, he will catch fire in the blink of an eye. Also, he had a 40-point break out game last season.
Litchfield should have a good year. We will be a senior-oriented team, as we have 6 seniors. We'll get a lot of help from a very athletic junior class and should be able to go 7-8 deep. We've all played together since junior high and that should help our team chemistry. With hard work and the right focus we have the ability to be a tough team. Our Litchfield Invitational will bring in some tough teams - Jerseyville, Columbia, and Nokomis, to name a few. During our regular season we'll face Pana twice - they will be tough. I have high expectations for our team and expect great things.

Cody Lewis:
Ridgeview's Cody Lewis is one of the state's most improved players. The 6'8" Lewis only started two games last season while averaging under 10 minutes of playing time a game, but a lot can happen in a year. One year later, with a tireless work ethic, adding a couple of inches and increasing his vertical (up by eight to 32 inches), Lewis is on pace to be one of the state's elite in Class A. Has gotten off to a quick start averaging 21 points, 13 rebounds, three blocks, three steals and two assists in his first two games of the year.
From a team stand point and I speak for everyone on the team when I say this, state is our highest expectations, and the only goal. Our team is hard working and we have a lot of talent so hopefully this goal can happen for us. I don't really know what else there is to say, we are goal oriented and our goal is to get to state. So, hopefully I'll see you there.

Giovanni Roldan:
Northridge Prep's Giovanni Roldan averaged 21 points and 11 rebounds last year for the Knights. Headed next year to Annapolis, Maryland, this 6'3" swingman has committed to the Naval Academy. Roldan is currently recovering over a broken metatarsal in his left foot from having "flat feet," and won't be back on the court until Wednesday (December 13).
As far as my team, I want to make it out of the regionals this year, and lead my team into the tournament. I can't wait to be back on the court so I could lead my team, and show my growth as a player since last season. This season, I want to leave no doubt about my game, and prepare for the next level at Navy. In order to do so, I'm going try be the best player on the floor every game. I'm grateful to be able to have the chance to play D-1 at Navy. I chose the Navy because I liked the coach (Don DeVoe), and the program. Just as importantly, my future afterwards is secure with a lot of options.