Little 7 Conference - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Beginning

This conference was officially organized for the start of the 1921-22 school year. The seven founding members of the Little 7 Conference were:

High School	LSC Duration	Next Conference	Current Conference
Batavia High School	1921-1995	Suburban Prairie Conference Suburban Prairie Conference The Suburban Prairie Conference was an organization of nineteen high schools in northeastern Illinois, representing sixteen communities in Chicago's suburbs. These high schools are all members of the Illinois High School Association. The conference was subdivided into three divisions: North, East...	Upstate Eight Conference Upstate Eight Conference The Upstate Eight Conference is an organization of fourteen high schools in northeastern Illinois, representing ten communities in Chicago's suburbs. These high schools are all members of the Illinois High School Association.The high schools of the Upstate Eight Conference are located in Kane...
Dundee High School Dundee-Crown High School Dundee-Crown High School is a high school located in Carpentersville, Illinois, United States, a suburb of Chicago.Dundee-Crown High School was made from Dundee Community High School and Irving Crown High school consolidation in 1983. It is a AAA school for IHSA sports...	1921–1957	North Suburban Conference	Fox Valley Conference Fox Valley Conference The Fox Valley Conference is an IHSA recognized high school extracurricular conference including the following schools, generally located in the northern part of the Fox River basin in Illinois.-Valley Division:-Fox Division:-Changes:...
Geneva Community High School	1921-1995	Suburban Prairie Conference Suburban Prairie Conference The Suburban Prairie Conference was an organization of nineteen high schools in northeastern Illinois, representing sixteen communities in Chicago's suburbs. These high schools are all members of the Illinois High School Association. The conference was subdivided into three divisions: North, East...	Upstate Eight Conference Upstate Eight Conference The Upstate Eight Conference is an organization of fourteen high schools in northeastern Illinois, representing ten communities in Chicago's suburbs. These high schools are all members of the Illinois High School Association.The high schools of the Upstate Eight Conference are located in Kane...
Naperville High School Naperville Central High School Naperville Central High School is a public four-year comprehensive school ranked in the top 3% of high schools nationally by US News and World Report, covering grades nine through twelve in Naperville, Illinois, a suburb southwest of Chicago in the United States...	1921–1963	Upstate Eight Conference Upstate Eight Conference The Upstate Eight Conference is an organization of fourteen high schools in northeastern Illinois, representing ten communities in Chicago's suburbs. These high schools are all members of the Illinois High School Association.The high schools of the Upstate Eight Conference are located in Kane...	DuPage Valley Conference DuPage Valley Conference The DuPage Valley Conference is an organization of eight high schools in northeastern Illinois, representing seven communities in Chicago's suburbs. These high schools are all members of the Illinois High School Association. The Conference, organized in 1967, exists primarily for inter-school...
St. Charles High School St. Charles High School St. Charles High School is a public high school serving grades 9 through 12 in the city of St. Charles, Missouri, USA. The other high school in St. Charles, MO is St. Charles West High School.-History:...	1921–1963	Upstate Eight Conference Upstate Eight Conference The Upstate Eight Conference is an organization of fourteen high schools in northeastern Illinois, representing ten communities in Chicago's suburbs. These high schools are all members of the Illinois High School Association.The high schools of the Upstate Eight Conference are located in Kane...	Upstate Eight Conference Upstate Eight Conference The Upstate Eight Conference is an organization of fourteen high schools in northeastern Illinois, representing ten communities in Chicago's suburbs. These high schools are all members of the Illinois High School Association.The high schools of the Upstate Eight Conference are located in Kane...
Sycamore High School Sycamore High School (Sycamore, Illinois) Sycamore High School, or SHS, is a public four-year high school located in Sycamore, Illinois, in the United States. It is part of Sycamore Community Unit School District 427.-Academics:...	1921-1995	Suburban Prairie Conference Suburban Prairie Conference The Suburban Prairie Conference was an organization of nineteen high schools in northeastern Illinois, representing sixteen communities in Chicago's suburbs. These high schools are all members of the Illinois High School Association. The conference was subdivided into three divisions: North, East...	Northern Illinois Big 12 Conference Northern Illinois Big 12 Conference The Northern Illinois Big 12 Conference is a high-school athletic conference with twelve high schools in northern Illinois. The conference began competing during the 2010-2011 academic year. In many respects, including membership and organization, the NI-Big 12 is much like a reboot of the old...
Wheaton High School Wheaton High School Wheaton High School is an American four-year public high school in Montgomery County, Maryland. It is located in the unincorporated Wheaton/Glenmont section of Silver Spring, about 5 miles north of Washington, D.C.....	1921–1959	N/A	DuPage Valley Conference DuPage Valley Conference The DuPage Valley Conference is an organization of eight high schools in northeastern Illinois, representing seven communities in Chicago's suburbs. These high schools are all members of the Illinois High School Association. The Conference, organized in 1967, exists primarily for inter-school...

With the exception of Sycamore, the other six charter members were previously partners in the Bi-County Conference

Bi-County Conference

The Bi-County Conference was a high school conference in western central Illinois. The conference par in athletics and activities in the Illinois High School Association...

from 1917 thru 1919. However, the schools did not like the set-up for the league and went off their separate ways.

Two years later, the group of six would try again.

Naperville and Wheaton left the DuPage County League to join former Kane County Conference members Batavia, Dundee, Geneva and St. Charles to form a the new league. Sycamore entered the conference, but it’s unknown what league the Spartans left behind.

Wheaton changed its name to Wheaton Community High School in 1925 and dropped out of the league in 1930. The Tiger program returned a few years later, but the return date not officially known.

Batavia dropped its football program in 1934, but after three years, the Bulldogs returned to the gridiron.

After 13 school years in the West Suburban Conference

West Suburban Conference

The West Suburban Conference is an athletic conference in DuPage County and Cook County in the state of Illinois.The conference was founded in 1924.-Member schools:All of the schools are also members of the Illinois High School Association...

, West Chicago High School

West Chicago High School

Community High School, also known as West Chicago Community High School, WCCHS, or simply WE-GO, is a public four-year high school located in West Chicago, Illinois, a western suburb of Chicago, Illinois, in the United States...

departed to join up with the Little 7 in 1936. “WeGo” previously held conference rivalries before as part of the Bi-County Conference during World War I. The addition to league was the first in the conference’s history and it created an 8-team conference, yet at times in the 40’s, the Wildcats dropped their football program.

Throughout the life of the conference, the league fluctuated between seven and eight teams, but the name was never changed due to the fact when there were eight teams in the league, schools always had seven opponents.

Urban Sprawl and Change

Nearly, two decades of stability kept the Little 7 Conference motoring along. However that began to change in the mid 50’s. Suburban sprawl begin to push west from Chicago

Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

and with expressways making travel easier to downtown Chicago, more residents were beginning to move into LSC territory. The next two decades would see 13 different schools either joined or leave the conference.

Wheaton ended conference play in football and basketball in 1955. Match-ups continued but were considered non-conference affairs.

On October 9, 1956, Dundee High School

Dundee-Crown High School

Dundee-Crown High School is a high school located in Carpentersville, Illinois, United States, a suburb of Chicago.Dundee-Crown High School was made from Dundee Community High School and Irving Crown High school consolidation in 1983. It is a AAA school for IHSA sports...

submitted a request to leave the conference. The school would become the first charter member to leave the conference after the 1956-57 school year. Dundee became a charter member of the newly formed North Suburban Conference.

The conference filled the opening a year later with the admission of Mooseheart High School in 1958. The league returned to eight teams. But after much speculation, Wheaton officially departed the league in all sports in 1959.

Belvidere High School

Belvidere High School (Belvidere, Illinois)

Belvidere High School is located in at 1500 East Ave., Belvidere, Illinois, 61008 in Boone County.The school is perhaps most notable for the deaths of 13 students and staff on the afternoon of April 21, 1967 when an F4 tornado struck the school as part of a massive tornado outbreak in the Midwest...

jumped at the chance to get in the Little 7 in 1959. Applying for membership at least five years earlier, The Bucs were welcomed for a brief stint in the LSC.

With enrollment growing, Naperville sought a conference with similar numbers. In the spring of 1963, the Redskin program departed for the brand new Upstate Eight Conference

Upstate Eight Conference

The Upstate Eight Conference is an organization of fourteen high schools in northeastern Illinois, representing ten communities in Chicago's suburbs. These high schools are all members of the Illinois High School Association.The high schools of the Upstate Eight Conference are located in Kane...

. Belvidere would also leave the conference with Naperville.

In the fall of that year, two new additions to the Little 7 were Kaneland and Oswego. Kaneland High School

Kaneland High School

Kaneland High School, or KHS, is a public four-year high school located in Maple Park, Illinois, a western suburb of Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. It is part of Kaneland Community Unit School District 302.-History:...

, based in Maple Park, joined up from the smaller [Little 8 Conference] after just five school years and Oswego High School left the Fox Valley Conference

Fox Valley Conference

The Fox Valley Conference is an IHSA recognized high school extracurricular conference including the following schools, generally located in the northern part of the Fox River basin in Illinois.-Valley Division:-Fox Division:-Changes:...

to join the Little 7.

St. Charles was beginning to feel the added enrollment and was forced to find a conference that kept the Saints on a similar playing field. In the fall of 1965, St. Charles left their rivals to the south, Batavia and Geneva, behind and joined the Upstate Eight Conference

Upstate Eight Conference

after 44 seasons in the Little 7.

That fall, Plainfield High School filled the void left by St. Charles by joining the Little 7 from the Fox Valley Conference. Mooseheart departed after nine school years in the conference for the now-defunct Little 10 Conference.

In the fall of 1967, Cary-Grove High School

Cary-Grove High School

Cary-Grove High School is a high school in Cary, Illinois, USA; it is part of Community High School District 155. In 1995, it was the subject of much news attention after the Fox River Grove level crossing accident that killed seven students. In 2006, on the anniversary of the accident, another...

joined the Little 7 from the Tri-County Conference and participated for six school years before departing for the Northwest Suburban Conference

Northwest Suburban Conference

The Northwest Suburban Conference is an athletic conference for all northwest suburban high schools of Minneapolis, Minnesota.-Member schools by district:*Anoka-Hennepin School District 11**Andover High School — Andover...

.

With Morris Community High School joining the Little 7 Conference in the fall of 1973, intense football rivalries jumped a notch thanks to the historic Redskin program. It also, forced the dissolution of the Illinois Valley Conference.

In 1975, West Chicago bolted after 39 years for the newly-formed DuPage Valley Conference

DuPage Valley Conference

The DuPage Valley Conference is an organization of eight high schools in northeastern Illinois, representing seven communities in Chicago's suburbs. These high schools are all members of the Illinois High School Association. The Conference, organized in 1967, exists primarily for inter-school...

. The Wildcats won their only football state championship in their final season in the Little 7, but has struggled to keep up with the powerful DVC, only finishing above .500 once since 1982. Since 2000, “WeGo” officials have formally explored their way out of the league twice.

In the fall, the league added Waubonsie Valley High School

Waubonsie Valley High School

Waubonsie Valley High School, or WVHS, is a public four-year high school located at the corner of Ogden Avenue and Eola Road in Aurora, Illinois, a western suburb of Chicago, Illinois, in the United States...

. Waubonsie was a newly-built school in Aurora and it kept the league at eight teams. With the addition of the Warriors, the Little 7 would not have any movement for 16 years.

Waubonsie Valley began to dominate in most sports thanks to a massive surge in enrollment. It forced the Warrior program to leave the Little 7 for the Upstate Eight Conference

Upstate Eight Conference

in 1991. The school district would eventually split twice and now has 3 high schools in Aurora-Naperville based district.

In the fall of that year, two teams were added to help fill the void left behind by the Warriors. Minooka High School

Minooka High School

Minooka Community High School, or MCHS, is a public four-year high school located in Minooka, Illinois, a southwest suburb of Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. It is part of Minooka Community High School District 111.-History:...

bolted the now-defunct Northeast Conference

Northeast Conference

The Northeast Conference is a college athletic conference whose schools are members of the NCAA. The NCAA designates the Northeast Conference to the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision for Division I Men's Football and to Division I Sports for all other sports.Founded in 1981 as the ECAC-Metro...

to help deal with a local population surge and to pair up with natural rivalries with Morris, Oswego and Plainfield. Yorkville High School

Yorkville High School

Yorkville High School, or YHS, is a public four-year high school located in Yorkville, Illinois, a western suburb of Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. It is part of Yorkville Community Unit School District 115.-History:...

, feeling its own enrollment growth, joined the LSC from the Interstate Eight Conference

Interstate Eight Conference

The Interstate Eight Conference has 12 schools in Illinois that are members of the conference. The Interstate Eight originally had 8 schools—Coal City, Dwight, Lisle, Plano, Reed-Custer, Sandwich, Seneca and Wilmington. In 2006 Herscher, Manteno, Peotone and Westmont joined the conference. This...

End of an era

The final alignment of the league is shown below with only Batavia, Geneva, and Sycamore as members for the entire history of the conference.

1994-95 Final alignment	Joined	Next Conference	Current Conference
Batavia High School	1921	Suburban Prairie Conference Suburban Prairie Conference The Suburban Prairie Conference was an organization of nineteen high schools in northeastern Illinois, representing sixteen communities in Chicago's suburbs. These high schools are all members of the Illinois High School Association. The conference was subdivided into three divisions: North, East...	Upstate Eight Conference Upstate Eight Conference The Upstate Eight Conference is an organization of fourteen high schools in northeastern Illinois, representing ten communities in Chicago's suburbs. These high schools are all members of the Illinois High School Association.The high schools of the Upstate Eight Conference are located in Kane...
Geneva Community High School	1921	Suburban Prairie Conference Suburban Prairie Conference The Suburban Prairie Conference was an organization of nineteen high schools in northeastern Illinois, representing sixteen communities in Chicago's suburbs. These high schools are all members of the Illinois High School Association. The conference was subdivided into three divisions: North, East...	Upstate Eight Conference Upstate Eight Conference The Upstate Eight Conference is an organization of fourteen high schools in northeastern Illinois, representing ten communities in Chicago's suburbs. These high schools are all members of the Illinois High School Association.The high schools of the Upstate Eight Conference are located in Kane...
Kaneland High School Kaneland High School Kaneland High School, or KHS, is a public four-year high school located in Maple Park, Illinois, a western suburb of Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. It is part of Kaneland Community Unit School District 302.-History:...	1963	Suburban Prairie Conference Suburban Prairie Conference The Suburban Prairie Conference was an organization of nineteen high schools in northeastern Illinois, representing sixteen communities in Chicago's suburbs. These high schools are all members of the Illinois High School Association. The conference was subdivided into three divisions: North, East...	Northern Illinois Big 12 Conference Northern Illinois Big 12 Conference The Northern Illinois Big 12 Conference is a high-school athletic conference with twelve high schools in northern Illinois. The conference began competing during the 2010-2011 academic year. In many respects, including membership and organization, the NI-Big 12 is much like a reboot of the old...
Minooka High School Minooka High School Minooka Community High School, or MCHS, is a public four-year high school located in Minooka, Illinois, a southwest suburb of Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. It is part of Minooka Community High School District 111.-History:...	1991	Suburban Prairie Conference Suburban Prairie Conference The Suburban Prairie Conference was an organization of nineteen high schools in northeastern Illinois, representing sixteen communities in Chicago's suburbs. These high schools are all members of the Illinois High School Association. The conference was subdivided into three divisions: North, East...	Southwest Prairie Conference Southwest Prairie Conference The Southwest Prairie Conference is an organization of eight high schools in northern Illinois, representing five communities in that part of the state. These high schools are all members of the Illinois High School Association. The conference began competing during the 2006-2007 academic year...
Morris Community High School	1973	Suburban Prairie Conference Suburban Prairie Conference The Suburban Prairie Conference was an organization of nineteen high schools in northeastern Illinois, representing sixteen communities in Chicago's suburbs. These high schools are all members of the Illinois High School Association. The conference was subdivided into three divisions: North, East...	Northern Illinois Big 12 Conference Northern Illinois Big 12 Conference The Northern Illinois Big 12 Conference is a high-school athletic conference with twelve high schools in northern Illinois. The conference began competing during the 2010-2011 academic year. In many respects, including membership and organization, the NI-Big 12 is much like a reboot of the old...
Oswego High School	1963	Suburban Prairie Conference Suburban Prairie Conference The Suburban Prairie Conference was an organization of nineteen high schools in northeastern Illinois, representing sixteen communities in Chicago's suburbs. These high schools are all members of the Illinois High School Association. The conference was subdivided into three divisions: North, East...	Southwest Prairie Conference Southwest Prairie Conference The Southwest Prairie Conference is an organization of eight high schools in northern Illinois, representing five communities in that part of the state. These high schools are all members of the Illinois High School Association. The conference began competing during the 2006-2007 academic year...
Plainfield High School	1965	Suburban Prairie Conference Suburban Prairie Conference The Suburban Prairie Conference was an organization of nineteen high schools in northeastern Illinois, representing sixteen communities in Chicago's suburbs. These high schools are all members of the Illinois High School Association. The conference was subdivided into three divisions: North, East...	Southwest Prairie Conference Southwest Prairie Conference The Southwest Prairie Conference is an organization of eight high schools in northern Illinois, representing five communities in that part of the state. These high schools are all members of the Illinois High School Association. The conference began competing during the 2006-2007 academic year...
Sycamore High School Sycamore High School (Sycamore, Illinois) Sycamore High School, or SHS, is a public four-year high school located in Sycamore, Illinois, in the United States. It is part of Sycamore Community Unit School District 427.-Academics:...	1921	Suburban Prairie Conference Suburban Prairie Conference The Suburban Prairie Conference was an organization of nineteen high schools in northeastern Illinois, representing sixteen communities in Chicago's suburbs. These high schools are all members of the Illinois High School Association. The conference was subdivided into three divisions: North, East...	Northern Illinois Big 12 Conference Northern Illinois Big 12 Conference The Northern Illinois Big 12 Conference is a high-school athletic conference with twelve high schools in northern Illinois. The conference began competing during the 2010-2011 academic year. In many respects, including membership and organization, the NI-Big 12 is much like a reboot of the old...
Yorkville High School Yorkville High School Yorkville High School, or YHS, is a public four-year high school located in Yorkville, Illinois, a western suburb of Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. It is part of Yorkville Community Unit School District 115.-History:...	1991	Suburban Prairie Conference Suburban Prairie Conference The Suburban Prairie Conference was an organization of nineteen high schools in northeastern Illinois, representing sixteen communities in Chicago's suburbs. These high schools are all members of the Illinois High School Association. The conference was subdivided into three divisions: North, East...	Northern Illinois Big 12 Conference Northern Illinois Big 12 Conference The Northern Illinois Big 12 Conference is a high-school athletic conference with twelve high schools in northern Illinois. The conference began competing during the 2010-2011 academic year. In many respects, including membership and organization, the NI-Big 12 is much like a reboot of the old...

As the schools searched for ways to stay together and hold onto long-time rivalries, it was evident to all parties that the enrollment disparity between the nine schools would be problematic. The solution was to expand and split divisions, ending the tradition of the Little 7 Conference.

In 1995, the members of the Southwest Suburban Conference

Southwest Suburban Conference

The Southwest Suburban Conference is an athletic and competitive activity conference consisting of public secondary schools located in the south and southwest suburbs of Chicago, Illinois....

– Elmwood Park, Evergreen Park, Lemont

Lemont High School

Lemont High School, or LHS, is a public four-year high school located in Lemont, Illinois, a south-western suburb of Chicago, Illinois, in the United States...

, Ridgewood

Ridgewood High School (Illinois)

Ridgewood High School, or RHS, is a public four-year high school located in Norridge, Illinois, a western suburb of Chicago, Illinois, in the United States...

, Riverside-Brookfield and Westmont

Westmont High School (Westmont, Illinois)

Westmont High School, or WHS, is a public four-year high school located in Westmont, a western suburb of Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. It is part of Westmont Community Unit School District 201...

– and Fenton joined up with the Little 7 Conference to form the eventual 17-team super league, the Suburban Prairie Conference

Suburban Prairie Conference

The Suburban Prairie Conference was an organization of nineteen high schools in northeastern Illinois, representing sixteen communities in Chicago's suburbs. These high schools are all members of the Illinois High School Association. The conference was subdivided into three divisions: North, East...

(Glenbard South would leave the DVC for the SPC in 1996).

The conference ultimately failed. In May 1995, Kaneland junior Josh Faber expressed some doubts to the Chicago Tribune

Chicago Tribune

The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...

.

"I don't know what to expect. Some of the teams I've never even heard of. I wished we kept the Little Seven or (go)…where other small schools like Burlington Central are. The distance is going to be a pain. I'm not looking forward to hour bus rides."

With divisions based on enrollment and not geography, the camaraderie that the Little 7 enjoyed struggled to take hold in the new SPC. Travel from Sycamore to Riverside-Brookfield was an example of why the league didn’t work. A trip from one end to the other of the conference for a weekday afternoon contest was difficult. As the league struggled to return to a geographic based set up, conference officials found an old problem.

The years following the disbandment of the Little 7, Plainfield would split into four different high schools. Oswego would split and add Oswego East. Minooka’s enrollment soared, while Morris’s shrank. Geneva and Batavia would experience growth, but Yorkville and Kaneland did not get the expected bump in enrollment. In 2005, the SPC would split into 3 different leagues.

Little 7 Rivalries

Many of the conference rivalries developed on the football gridiron during the 74 years of the league.

One of the oldest rivalries in the state of Illinois is between Batavia and Geneva. The two neighboring schools separated by five miles played each other 68 times in Little 7 play. Geneva won the LSC stretch of the rivalry going 43-23-5 against the Bulldogs, including a 19-game winning streak that stretched from 1967-1986. Following the departure of legendary Viking coach Jerry Auchstetter, the Bulldogs snapped the streak with a 13-6 victory in 1986.

Their rivalry continues in the Upstate Eight Conference.

There were many fierce battles in the late 70’s and early ‘80’s battles between Morris and Geneva. The two programs battled for the league’s coveted playoff berth year in and year out prior to the IHSA admitting at-large entrants. Morris, under the direction of Dan Darlington, made five title game appearances while in the LSC, winning titles in 1980 and 1984 while Geneva was eliminated in the semifinal round on three occasions and fell in one title contest in 1975.

Morris collected 12 LSC titles and made it to the state title game in the leagues final season. Geneva made the playoffs in 1992 falling in the 2nd round to conference-rival Oswego while the Panthers were on their way to the schools first state championship.

The two briefly resurrected the rivalry in 2005-06, with the Redskins dominating two games (including a playoff game) en route to a 2005 state championship. The Vikings would blast Morris to open the following season, but fell in the semifinals at home to Batavia in those schools only playoff meeting. Geneva and Morris have not played since.

Around that time in the late 80’s with Geneva’s program slipping to the middle of the pack, Oswego emerged as the Redskins chief rival. Morris and Oswego tuned up for the playoffs in the final years of the conference with low scoring battles in the final week of the season, typically with the LSC title on the line. In the league’s final season, the two shared the conference crown.

Their rivalry continued until 2008, when Morris bolted the Southwest Prairie Conference

Southwest Prairie Conference

The Southwest Prairie Conference is an organization of eight high schools in northern Illinois, representing five communities in that part of the state. These high schools are all members of the Illinois High School Association. The conference began competing during the 2006-2007 academic year...

for the smaller North Central Illinois Conference

North Central Illinois Conference

The North Central Illinois Conference, far better known as the NCIC, was an IHSA recognized high school extra-curricular conference. It location, as the name would indicate, was in the north-central part of the state...

(NCIC). However, the two schools held a season opening match-up in 2010.

Other rivalries included, Sycamore and Kaneland, Naperville and Wheaton, and briefly Minooka and Morris. St. Charles enjoyed conference rivalries with both Batavia and Geneva. In fact, St. Charles original building was just blocks from Geneva’s original school until the late 70’s. With the Saints departure to the Upstate Eight in 1965, those rivalries subsided a bit while Geneva and Batavia flourished.

The rivalries returned when Batavia and Geneva joined the now named St. Charles East (split with St. Charles North in 2001) in the Upstate Eight in 2010.

Little 7 Boys Basketball

Rivalries have extended to other sports as well. Waubonsie Valley and Batavia battled for the basketball title in the late 80’s and early 90’s. Both were led by the greatest players its school has ever seen. Lance Broderson left as Waubonsie’s all-time leading scorer and the high flying Warriors posted 94 points on Batavia in a meeting in 1989. It remains the school record for most in a single game. Meanwhile, the Bulldogs were led by Corey Williams

Corey Williams

Corey Williams is the name of:*Corey Williams , American football defensive tackle for the Detroit Lions*Corey Williams , retired basketball player...

, who eventually led the University of Arizona

University of Arizona

The University of Arizona is a land-grant and space-grant public institution of higher education and research located in Tucson, Arizona, United States. The University of Arizona was the first university in the state of Arizona, founded in 1885...

to a Final Four

Final four

Final Four isa sports term that is commonly applied to the last four teams remaining in a playoff tournament, most notably NCAA Division I college basketball tournaments. The term usually refers to the four teams who compete in the two games of a single-elimination tournament's semi-final round...

in 1994.

Williams on the rivalry during his jersey-retirement ceremony in February 2010: "The games I remember getting butterflies were the Waubonsie games. By sixth or seventh period at school you are ready to play. Cars parked all around the block. I remember those days."

The rivalry peaked in 1991 with both Batavia (27-2) and Waubonsie Valley (26-3) netted sectional titles. The Bulldogs used a roster with multiple Division-I prospects to reach the state quarterfinals, falling to Marshall, a team featured in the documentary Hoop Dreams

Hoop Dreams

Hoop Dreams is a 1994 documentary film directed by Steve James, with Kartemquin Films. It follows the story of two African-American high school students in Chicago and their dream of becoming professional basketball players....

. For Waubonsie, it remains the school’s only sectional championship.

Dundee enjoyed a plethora of success in the late 30’s and early 40’s. The run peaked with a 34-1 season and a state championship in 1938 after a school-record 39-win season the previous year. After the title, Dundee returned downstate in 1940, 1946, and 1947. Eugene de Lacey compiled a record of 691-172 in 31 seasons at Dundee. The [IHSA] only acknowledges 675 wins, good enough for 16th all-time in Illinois history.

Don Blanken was the star of that Dundee title squad. Blanken continued on to Purdue and eventually the Dayton Metropolitans of the now-defunct NBL

National Basketball League (United States)

Founded in 1937, the National Basketball League, often abbreviated to NBL, was a professional men's basketball league in the United States. The league would later merge with the Basketball Association of America to form the National Basketball Association in 1949.- League history :The...

. He died in October 2009 at the age of 89.

There were plenty of trips to Champaign during the 74-year league. Wheaton made it downstate in 1929, Geneva went in 1963 and Oswego in 1974. Kaneland came up short in the title game in 1973, returning to Assembly Hall

Assembly Hall

An assembly hall is traditionally a building used for the purposes of holding deliberative assemblies. An example is the Assembly Hall where the general assembly of the state of Mississippi was held. Some Christian denominations call their meeting places or places of worship, assembly halls, such...

in 1982.

Extra Facts

Red Grange
Red Grange
Harold Edward "Red" Grange, nicknamed "The Galloping Ghost", was a college and professional American football halfback for the University of Illinois, the Chicago Bears, and for the short-lived New York Yankees. His signing with the Bears helped legitimize the National Football League...

was still in high school at Wheaton when the Little 7 Conference was being organized.
Kaneland never won a football conference championship or qualified for the playoffs in LSC play. However, the Knights won the Little 8 crown the season prior to moving to the Little 7, and after disbandment, won back-to-back state championships in 1997-98.
Sycamore won 33 straight football games in the 60’s

Conference sports mentioned in the records examined included football, basketball, track, and baseball, and (beginning perhaps in 1958-59) wrestling and golf. The introduction of wrestling as a conference sport was discussed as early as March 1956, but no action was taken at that time. In addition, schools may have participated in other sports that were not official conference sports. For example, some participated in wrestling much earlier than 1958.

Notable Athletes

Ken Anderson - Batavia (1962–66), Cincinnati Bengals - All-NFL QB

Don Beebe

Don Beebe

Don Lee Beebe is a former American football wide receiver who played for the Buffalo Bills , Carolina Panthers and the Green Bay Packers of the NFL....

- Kaneland (1979–83), Six-time Super Bowl Participant

Scott Dierking

Scott Dierking

Scott Dierking was a running back in the NFL. He played for the New York Jets from 1977-1983. Before his NFL career, he played for Purdue University....

- West Chicago (1970–74), New York Jets RB

Kelly Dransfeldt

Kelly Dransfeldt

Kelly Daniel Dransfeldt is a former Major League Baseball shortstop for the Texas Rangers and Chicago White Sox. He is a graduate of Morris Community High School in Morris, Illinois, as an excellent shortstop and infielder...

- Morris (1989–93), Chicago White Sox - Infielder

Mike Fisher

Mike Fisher (soccer)

Mike Fisher is a former U.S. collegiate soccer midfielder. After graduating from the University of Virginia, Fisher chose to pursue a medical rather than soccer career....

- Batavia (1989–93), Virginia Cavaliers - All-American, two-time National Soccer Player of the Year

Red Grange

Red Grange

Harold Edward "Red" Grange, nicknamed "The Galloping Ghost", was a college and professional American football halfback for the University of Illinois, the Chicago Bears, and for the short-lived New York Yankees. His signing with the Bears helped legitimize the National Football League...

- Wheaton (1918–22), Illinois Fighting Illini - All-American Football Player, Chicago Bears - Pro Football Hall of Fame Player

Dan Issel

Dan Issel

Daniel Paul Issel is a retired American Hall of Fame professional basketball player and coach.-Collegiate playing career:...

- Batavia (1962–66), Kentucky Colonels (ABA), Denver Nuggets (ABA/NBA) - Basketball Hall of Fame Player/Coach

Gail Olson - Sycamore (1975–79), National Indoor High Jump Record Holder for 26 years (7'5" - 1978)

Craig Sager

Craig Sager

Craig Sager , is currently a sportscaster for TNT and TBS. Sager is a graduate of Northwestern University. He has previously covered sports for CBS and CNN. His nickname is "America's Sideline Reporter"....

- Batavia (1963–67), Northwestern Wildcats - Walk-On, TNT Sideline Reporter

Todd Schulz - Morris (1990–94), Michigan State - Quarterback

Scott Spezio - Morris (1987–91), 12-year MLB Player, member of Anaheim Angels - 2002 World Series Champions

Hack Tison - Geneva (1957–61), Duke University - All-ACC Basketball Player and 1964 National Runner-Up

Corey Williams - Batavia (1988–92), Arizona Wildcats - 1994 Final Four, 12-year International Pro-Basketball Player

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.