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wilmettebeacon.com sports
the wilmette beacon | March 22, 2018 | 49
Boys basketball Player of the Year
Cunningham uses growth
to achieve his dreams
Michael Wojtychiw
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, not
only moving over to the
point guard position, but
also becoming the squad’s
primary leader.
“Ramar last year was
our big leader, well and
Julian too, but Ramar was
our captain, really led us
when times got tough,”
Cunningham said. “That
really helped me because I
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
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; he
was just always on top of
his game.”
The change wasn’t always
easy for Cunningham.
“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. The
difficulty was being comfortable
with it because I
didn’t play any point guard
last year.”
For the fourth time in
coach Tom Livatino’s nine
years at the Loyola helm,
and second consecutive,
the Ramblers finished with
20 wins and a regional title.
Both of those are hard
to achieve in general, but
the Ramblers play in one
of the tougher conferences
in the state and were in
one of the hardest, if not
the hardest, sectionals 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. It’s just
the culture he’s built. 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.
“One common misconception
is that Loyola
likes to hold the ball and
keep it low-scoring. If
we have open shots, we
want to take them, but we
want to make sure they’re
good shots. Sometimes,
the ball’s just not falling.
Then on defense, we want
to hold teams in the 30s,
wear them down. If we
can’t get a quick shot in
transition on offense, then
we want to wear a team
Please see b-ball, 46
Girls basketball Player of the Year
Martinez earns inaugural
award after historic season
Michael Wojtychiw
Sports Editor
For most basketball
teams, the point guard is
another coach on the court.
They’re the ears and
eyes of what’s going 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.
Martinez knew from a
young age 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.
Loyola’s Julia Martinez
drives to the basket
against Maine West this
season. 22nd Century
Media File photo
“I came in doing what I
normally do and actually
wasn’t that nervous when
coach Schoenecker said
my name for the first game
my freshman year. I was
more excited than nervous,
I’ve always loved playing
against the big, older kids
because it’s more competition
and I’m very competitive.
I was very thankful
for the opportunity.”
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 upcourt
to see who’s open, giving
my teammates the ball.
My teammates do a really
great job of finding an
open shot and being ready
to shot or attack once I get
them the ball and do my
job.”
Colleges have taken notice
of Martinez doing her
job and she’s racked up 12
scholarship offers from
Division I schools, and on
Friday, March 14, committed
to play at Saint Louis
University starting in the
fall of 2019.
“I don’t want to go too
far from home,” Martinez
said. “I really need to
feel good with my coach.
I’m a point guard, so I’m
an extended coach on the
court so I feel it’s really
important to have a good
relationship with your
coaches.
“The biggest aspect is
for me to feel comfortable,
where I see myself, where
I can see myself walking
from class to class to practice
and to the gym. Being
able to feel comfortable
there and where I can be
who I am and not someone
somebody else wants me to
be.”
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
Please see girls POTY, 45