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28 | March 22, 2018 | The lake forest leader SPORTS
LakeForestLeader.com
Boys basketball Player of the Year
Cunningham uses growth to achieve career dreams
Michael Wojtychiw
Contributing Sports Editor
For athletes, the hope
is to improve as they get
older, with more experience
and better skills en
route to hopefully earn an
opportunity to play at the
next level, collegiately.
That was the route that
Loyola senior Kevin Cunningham
took during his
four years at Loyola, one
that saw him finish his Rambler
career as 22nd Century
Media’s inaugural boys basketball
Player of the Year.
Cunningham said he
feels that every season has
been one he’s grown in.
“Freshman year was
tough for me because I
was hurt and didn’t play
the whole year,” he said.
“Sophomore year I got hurt
again and missed a couple
games, but since then I’ve
just improved my whole
game. I don’t think there’s
a part of my game that’s
gotten worse or stayed the
same. I think I got stronger,
more aggressive and
became an all-around better
player.”
After having players
like Ramar Evans and Julian
DeGuzman as last
year’s go-to players, Cunningham’s
role changed
this year as a senior. He
moved over to the point
guard position and became
Loyola’s Kevin Cunningham evades a steal attempt by
Notre Dame’s Troy D’Amico during the 2017-18 season.
22nd Century Media file photo
the squad’s primary leader.
“Ramar last year was
our big leader, well and
Julian too, but Ramar was
our captain, he really led
us when times got tough,”
Cunningham said. “That
really helped me because I
looked up to him last year
as a leader and he taught
me so much. He had a
great voice, through his
actions and how he played;
he never got rattled.”
Cunningham’s new role
on the team wasn’t an easy
change.
“I think there were some
difficulties adjusting,” he
said, “I had to go over the
plays and make sure I knew
every position, because I
didn’t really know that one
game I could be playing
point guard, the next at two
guard.”
For the fourth time in
coach Tom Livatino’s nine
years at the helm of Loyola
basketball, and second consecutive
year, the Ramblers
finished with 20 wins and a
regional title. The Ramblers
play in one of the tougher
conferences in the state and
were in one of the hardest
sectional this season.
“[Coach Tom] Livatino
has a great system,” Cunningham
said. “Anybody
who plays for Livatino has
to buy into his system or
else it’ll be hard to get many
minutes. Our team revolves
around defense, getting
good shots and not rushing
shots. It’s just buying into
the culture and I think every
guy in the past two years did
that. That leads to success.”
Girls basketball Player of the Year
Martinez earns award after historic season
Michael Wojtychiw
Contributing Sports Editor
For most basketball
teams, the point guard is
another coach on the court.
They’re the eyes and
ears of what’s happening
on the hardwood.
Loyola Academy’s point
guard, Julia Martinez, was
that and more for the Ramblers
this season. Thanks
to her efforts, the Loyola
star was named the inaugural
22nd Century Media
girls basketball Player of
the Year.
From a young age the
junior knew she wanted to
play basketball and it was
all thanks to family.
“I’ve kind of played
basketball my whole life,
but probably started when
I was around kindergarten,”
she said. “I have two
older sisters who played,
and both my parents were
coaches. Ever since I was
younger, I always knew I
wanted to play basketball
and would play against the
older kids.”
The 5-foot-10 junior
from the North Side of
Chicago averaged 9.9
points per game, 7.3 rebounds
per game, 6.7 assists
per game and 2.8
steals a contest, en route
to leading her team to a regional
title and a sectionaltitle
game appearance.
She came to Loyola and
earned a spot on the varsity
team right away, something
not easy to do at a
school like Loyola.
But that didn’t faze Martinez.
“I feel like when I was
younger, I was so confident
in my game, and I
love the game so much,”
she said. “I came in doing
what I normally do
and actually wasn’t that
nervous when coach (Jeremy)
Schoenecker said my
name for the first game my
freshman year.”
Point guards are usually
one of two kinds, ones that
are a true point guard, and
pass the ball to their teammates
before anything
else, or a scoring point
guard who isn’t afraid to
put up shot after shot.
“I’d probably say I’m a
pass-first mentality point
guard,” Martinez said.
“I look to find my teammates,
looking up court to
see who’s open, giving my
teammates the ball.”
Colleges have taken
notice of Martinez doing
her job and she’s racked
up 12 scholarship offers
from Division I schools.
Martinez announced her
commitment to Saint Louis
University on Friday,
March 16.
But before she gets
ready to head off to college,
she has one year to
help the Ramblers continue
to move further into
the playoffs, something
they’ve done three consecutive
seasons now.
The team made it to the
sectional final this year, after
losing in the sectional
semifinal last season and
the regional final the two
years prior.
Loyola has had a lot of
success during her tenure,
witnessed by Schoenecker
picking up his 200th career
victory this season and his
team winning at least 20
games in a season for the
eighth time in his 10 years
at the helm.
Julia Martinez drives to the basket in a game during the
2017-18 season. 22nd Century Media File photo
“During practice, we
work on a lot of different
aspects, we start off with a
ton of shooting, every single
spot on the floor,” Martinez
said. “We work on our
defense, then our offense.”
During the first half of
Loyola’s Jan. 30 contest
against De La Salle, Martinez
broke the school’s
career assist record, previously
set by Laura Sobieszczyk’s
in 1999 who
had 507. Martinez now
has over 540 career assists
with a year to go.
“I obviously have to
give my teammates a lot
of credit because they’re
the ones putting the ball
in the basket,” she said. “It
means a lot, it’s pretty exciting.”