Many people go through their whole lives without having the kind of week Madison senior Nic DiLillo had last week.

First, the son of Christine and Tony DiLillo of Madison, realized a life-long dream of playing football at the collegiate level by signing a national letter of intent to play tight end at Ohio State on Wednesday. He even took a phone call from Buckeyes coach Jim Tressel welcoming him as a member into the Buckeyes’ prized 2008 recruiting class.

Then, on Friday night, he scored 20 points to pass the 1,000-career-point plateau in Madison’s 76-47 win over Chardon. Judging by the good streak he is currently riding, DiLillo was jokingly asked if had played the lottery any last week.

“No, I didn’t. Maybe I should’ve!” DiLillo said. “The last two weeks have just been crazy. I have to pinch myself to keep making sure that this is all happening. Day after day, things keep happening and happening. It’s all crazy in my mind, but it feels really good.”

Known more for his talents on the gridiron, DiLillo slowly but surely has been building his basketball resume since his freshman season. When he finally got close to 1,000 points at the midway point of the season, Madison coach Pat Moran gave him the heads up.

“Coach Moran told me I was close to a thousand and that it was doable for this season,” DiLillo said. “He also said he just wanted me to play basketball and not worry about it. He said if I just went out and played, I should be able to reach it at the end of the season or in the tournament games. Since then, I’ve been trying to step up to help the team.”

As he got better, the Blue Streaks got better. During his junior season, DiLillo helped Madison win a share of its first conference championship since the 1980s and reach the Division I district semifinals. This season, he hopes to repeat history by leading the Blue Streaks to a win over visiting Riverside tonight, which would give Madison a share of a second straight Premier Athletic Conference title.

DiLillo said it was nice getting the 1,000 points, but getting his team back atop the PAC is a more pressing issue.

“I was excited to get that 1,000th point, but it was right in the middle of the game and we weren’t winning by that much. I was more concerned with winning the game than getting that. But I was still grateful I got the opportunity to do that.”



PAC title on line

In a nutshell, here’s the scenario for tonight’s Riverside at Madison boys game. The Beavers (15-4, 9-0 PAC), which clinched at least as share of the PAC title with Friday’s win over South, win the outright conference title with a win. A Madison win gives the Blue Streaks a share of a second-straight crown.



Lakers, Pirates clinch

PV (17-1, 12-0 NAC) clinched its third straight Northeastern Athletic Conference title with its 94-64 win over Bloomfield and won its 37th straight NAC game in the process. Perry (15-3, 9-0 CVC) won the CVC Chagrin title outright on Friday when second-place Kenston was stunned 43-42 by Chagrin Falls and the Pirates beat West Geauga.



More rivalries?

SS. John and Paul’s boys made a strong case for future matchups with more Ashtabula County teams this week after playing in two thrilling games against Jefferson and Conneaut. Though the Heralds lost, 67-66, to Jefferson last Tuesday on Zak Graf’s putback of his own missed free throw with 4.2 seconds left, SJP rallied for a 55-50 win over Conneaut on Friday. Both games saw standing-room only crowds (and fat admission takes) at Mahoney Gymnasium and both went down to the wire, giving those crowds a treat. Was it food for thought for county athletic directors? Just ask Jefferson AD and boys coach Steve Locy.

“Games like this are always good for us,” he said. “You’ve got to give (SJP) credit. They played a whale of a game. I’d like to think that, with this, we will play them more. (SJP coach) Tom (Penna) is a good guy and he always has good kids. Hopefully, we can start playing them every year.”

Penna indicated the Heralds and Falcons would play each other twice next winter. It was previously reported here that Lakeside would like to invite two or three county teams to its Christmas tournament next year. SJP ends its regular season at Edgewood on Friday. Could more intra-county games be on the horizon?

“Jefferson’s a good team with a good NEC record,” Penna said. “We play them twice next year. Hopefully, we can keep playing them.”



Phenomenal Phelps

One player who seemed to relish SJP’s battles against county foes last week was junior point guard Jake Phelps. Averaging a respectable 9.1 points and 6.0 assists per game previously, Phelps exploded for a team-high 23 points, seven assists and five steals in the Jefferson game then followed that performance with 14 points and five assists in the win over Conneaut. Phelps drained five 3-pointers on the week and was 12-20 (60 percent) from the line in that span.



Also contributing

Phelps’ SJP teammate Keith Berrier also saved his best for the county rivals, combining to score 26 points, 27 rebounds and nine blocked shots for the week. He literally took over in the fourth period of Friday’s win over Conneaut, scoring nine of his 14 points and ripping down six of his game-high 18 rebounds in the final eight minutes. Fellow Herald Kevin Punkar was also solid on the week scoring 30 points, 15 rebounds and nine assists in two contests.



Super Savel

PV senior forward Steve Savel made history twice in Friday’s 94-64 win over Bloomfield. His 30 points pushed him past former PV great Sean Freeman to become the all-time leading scorer in Laker boys basketball history with 1,312 career points. Savel’s career total also vaulted him into fifth place all-time in Ashtabula County.



Sectional approaching

Believe it or not, the boys postseason begins in six days with a bevy of first-round Division I, II and IV sectional contests slated for Monday. Here is the complete schedule for next week’s tournament games involving area squads:

Monday

n Division I sectional semifinal at Euclid — (4) Riverside vs. (9) Chardon (7).

n Division II sectional semifinal at Mentor — (5) University School vs. (13) Cleveland East (6); (6) Jefferson vs. (8) Geneva (7:30).

n Division IV sectional semifinal at Warren Harding — (9) Newbury vs. (10) Cornerstone Christian (7).

Tuesday

n Division I sectional semifinals at Euclid — (1) Glenville vs. (11) Shaw (6:15); (2) Mentor vs. (13) North (7:30).

n Division II sectional semifinals at Mentor — (7) Edgewood vs. (9) Orange (6); (11) Conneaut vs. (10) NDCL (7:30).

n Division III sectional semifinals at Howland — (6) Mineral Ridge vs. (7) Mathews (6:15); (8) Girard vs. (10) Brookfield (8)

n Division IV sectional semifinals at Warren Harding — (7) Bloomfield vs. (12) Mogadore (6); (11) Bristol vs. (13) Ledgemont (7:30)

Wednesday

n Division I sectional semifinals at Euclid — (3) St. Ignatius vs. (12) Mayfield (6:15); (10) Lakeside vs. (6) Brush (7:30)

n Division II sectional semifinal at Mentor — (2) Harvey vs. (12) West Geauga (7:30)

n Division III sectional semifinal at Howland — (3) Champion vs. (9) LaBrae (8)

n Division IV sectional semifinals at Warren Harding — (3) Fairport vs. (8) Badger (6); (5) SS. John and Paul vs. (6) Lordstown (7:30)

Friday

n Division I sectional championships at Euclid — (5) Madison vs. (4) Riverside-(9) Chardon winner (6); (8) South vs. (1) Glenville-(11) Shaw winner (7:30)

n Division II sectional championships at Mentor — (3) Lake Catholic vs. (5) University-(13) Cle. East winner (6); (1) Perry vs. (6) Jefferson-(8) Geneva winner (7:30)

n Division III sectional championships at Howland — (4) Garfield vs. (6) Mineral Ridge-(7) Mathews winner (6:15); (1) Pymatuning Valley vs. (8) Girard-(10) Brookfield winner (8)

n Division IV sectional championships at Warren Harding — (1) Windham vs. (11) Bristol-(13) Ledgemont winner (6); (4) Warren JFK vs. (9) Newbury-(10) Cornerstone winner (7:30)

Saturday

n Division I sectional championships at Euclid — (7) Collinwood vs. (2) Mentor-(13) North winner (6:15); (6) Brush-(10) Lakeside winner vs. (3) St. Ignatius-(12) Mayfield winner (7:30)

n Division II sectional championships at Mentor — (4) East Tech vs. (7) Edgewood-(9) Orange winner (6); (2) Harvey-(12) West Geauga winner vs. (11) Conneaut-(10) NDCL winner (7:30)

n Division III sectional championships at Howland — (11) Grand Valley vs. (2) Newton Falls (6:15); (5) Maplewood vs. (4) Champion-(9) LaBrae winner (8)

n Division IV sectional championships at Warren Harding — (5) SJP-(6) Lordstown winner vs. (3) Fairport-(8) Badger winner (6); (2) Southington vs. (7) Bloomfield-(12) Mogadore winner (7:30)



The dreaded list...

The following schools failed to report statistics this week:Perry and SS. John and Paul.



Statistics, please

Coaches can phone in their season statistics to 800-554-6768, ext. 244, 280, 268 or 247, or 998-2323, ext. 224, 280, 268 or 247 after 4 p.m on Mondays until the end of their respective seasons. Statistics can also be faxed to 998-7938 or emailed to donmac@suite224.net. Statistics will run in the Tuesday sports section. Any stats received after 9 p.m. will NOT run.



Johnson is the boys basketball beat writer for the Star Beacon. Reach him at jjohnson@starbeacon.com or at 998-2323, ext. 268.