Maine South shows no signs of cooling off

Updated: June 22, 2011 1:46PM

Tony Lavorato managed to reinvent Maine South last season, and the coach will need to do the same this winter.

After the Hawks won 28 games and a sectional championship in the 2009-2010 season, they graduated four starters. Maine South said goodbye to an additional three starters following its 21-win 2010-11 season.

So far, it’s looking good.

Maine South, which plays in Hinsdale South’s league, entered the week undefeated after capturing Buffalo Grove’s shootout last weekend.

“We’ve played some really good competition,” said Lavorato, whose father started the summer league at Hinsdale South in the late 1980s. “It’s one of the best summer leagues we’ve had in a while.”

Gone are leading scorer and rebounder Matt Palucki, Tony Albano and Casey Bruce. A four-year varsity veteran, Palucki, will play college ball at Washington University in St. Louis, while Albano’s leadership will be missed.

But the Hawks welcome back several veterans with varsity experience, including senior point guard Nick Calabrese, senior Matt Lahey, senior Andrew Vey, junior John Solari and junior Frank Duni. All have joined the Hawks this summer. Solari and Calabrese started several games last season, while the others contributed off the bench.

“We have a lot of room to improve, but we’ve been successful so far,” Lavorato said. “We are a little undersized, so we are learning how to rebound and defend against bigger teams.”

Lavorato believes the ball is in good hands with Calabrese, who played alongside Albano last season.

“After Christmas, we threw Nick into the fire,” Lavorato said. “Nick learned on his feet, and he learned how to manage the game. He had a great mentor in Tony. Nick’s our leader this year, and he our guys who’s been through it.”

One name of interest this summer is Andrew Palucki, the younger brother of Matt. The sophomore is being given an opportunity to prove himself with the varsity during the offseason.

“We will make a read on how he progresses,” Lavorato said of left-hander. “Matt was more of an inside presence, while Andrew is more on the perimeter. Right now, he’s trying to show us he belongs on varsity.”

Maine South picks it up during the final stretch of June. After scheduled league games this week, the Hawks head to Illinois Wesleyan this weekend for a two-day shootout. They then have four games early next week.

“We go hard until the end,” Lavorato said. “We are excited with where we are. Being undefeated doesn’t mean anything, but it’s teaching the kids they can win and win big. We are getting better every day.”

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