40 | March 22, 2018 | The winnetka Current sports winnetkacurrent.com Boys basketball Player of the Year Cunningham uses growth to achieve 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 down through our motion and try to get easy shots like layups. We don’t think a forced shot is going to be a good shot for us, so if we can get out in transition we will. If we can find an open shot, we’ll shoot it, the scores are low but they got the job done.” Next year, Cunningham will take his talents to the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota. “I’m a big fan of coach Tauer,” Cunningham said. “Their players I really liked them and they’re good guys. The school is the perfect size for me and I felt like it was the right place.” 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 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 sectional-title 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. “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 Schoenecker said Loyola’s Julia Martinez drives to the basket against Maine West this season. 22nd Century Media File photo 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 either 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 March 16, Martinez committed to Saint Louis University. “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.” 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. 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. “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. It’s also very important to know about the mental aspect of the game.” During the first half of Loyola’s Jan. 30 contest against De La Salle, Martinez broke the school’s career assist record, breaking Laura Sobieszczyk’s record of 507, set in 1999. Martinez now has over 540 assists with a year to go. With one more year, who knows where Martinez and the Ramblers will be next season.
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