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Lots of changes for Huskies basketball programs
SUBMITTED PHOTO The Journal
Luke Tassoni, an assistant under Winters for all six seasons, took over as head coach. The Huskies open their season on Nov. 20 with Johnsburg, followed by Crystal Lake Central on Nov. 21 and Huntley on Nov. 22.
Basketball season tips off this week and Harlem fans will have to get used to a lot of new leading players.
The girls team started first with a game at Dixon on Monday.
Last season, Harlem went 23-11, winning the most games since the 1999-2000 season and the first regional title since the 2012-2013 season.
Two of the top players who powered the team are playing college basketball this season. Grace Vyborny is at Rockford University, while Nikki Harrison is at Cloud County Community College in Concordia, Kansas.
The girls team at least has continuity in the coaching staff. Beth Meyer is back for her ninth season.
The Huskies have won 20 games three times during her tenure and had winning records in six of her nine seasons.
The cupboard is not bare. Harlem returns two talented inside players in Taelor Paulson and Paige Stovall. Paulson was second on the team in scoring to Vyborny with 336 points and Stovall scored 214.
During Thanksgiving week, the Huskies play DeKalb at home on Nov. 20 and then travel to Marian Central Catholic on Nov. 21 before opening NIC-10 play at Hononegah on Nov. 28.
The boys team doesn’t tip off until November 20 when they go to the Johnsburg Thanksgiving tournament. Harlem was 13-19 last season under coach Mike Winters.
The boys team, though, faces even bigger adjustments. Not only did the boys team graduate its top two scorers in Dane Dailing and DeAndre Young, Winters resigned the position after the season.
Winters went 77-92 in six years. His 2018-2019 team went 20-12, becoming the first Harlem boys team to win 20 games since the 1993-1994 season and the first to win a regional title since the 2001-2002 season.
His 2021 team during the COVID season may have surpassed that team, but it didn’t get a chance, going 10-4 in an abbreviated year.
Harlem’s new coach, though, isn’t a complete unknown. Luke Tassoni, an assistant under Winters for all six seasons, took over as head coach.
He’ll field a team with some shooters coming back and at least one solid rebounder. Guard Bo Beehler scored 230 points for Harlem last season, making 44 3-point shots. Forward Mason Walsh had 107 points with 23 3-pointers. Boris Jancic grabbed 82 rebounds off the bench.
Tassoni said he’s going to look to Beehler, Walsh and Jancic for leadership, but he’s also excited about three sophomores who will be starting their varsity careers.
“Ryan Miller is going to be a key piece for us off the bench with his physicality. Mateo Perera can get hot from outside but also has a shifty ability to create shots at the rim. Julius Roundtree is a guard that likes to play defense for the entirety of the court.”
The Huskies open their season on Nov. 20 with Johnsburg, followed by Crystal Lake Central on Nov. 21 and Huntley on Nov. 22.
