This kid plays basketball, right? He's good at tennis too.

Boiler signee Adam Liddell was named the All-Area Prep of the Year for his accomplishments on the tennis court by a group of northeastern Indiana newspapers. Liddell now has three tennis sectional crowns in his four years of high school play.

Dekalb coach Rod Cone told the Dekalb Evening Star, "He was our leader, not only when we went out to try to win matches, but in practice, with how hard he competed. He may be the most competitive person I’ve had the opportunity to coach. He’ll be one of the ones I’ll talk about in the years I coach tennis. I’ll be using him as an example, with his leadership and his dedication to the program."

The Dekalb boys basketball team tipped off the 2002-03 season last Wednesday by beating Fort Wayne Northrop, 66-49. Dekalb, ranked No. 4 in Class 4A, was led by Liddell with 20 points, eight rebounds and six assists.

DeAaron Williams beats Livingston to MVP honor

Junior wing DeAaron Williams of Limestone HS (IL) (3-0) took the Decatur Turkey Tournament MVP with a 21 point, nine rebound performance against Peoria Central (2-1) and Shaun Livingston. Livingston finished with nine points and one rebound in what has been an average three-game start to the 2002-03 season for him.

Williams, on the other hand, is on fire. He came to the championship game after beating the state's No. 5 team Springfield Lanphier, featuring Illinois signee Richard McBride. Williams hit for 28 points, plus added four rebounds, four assists and four steals. Williams and McBride were matched up for most of the evening, and neither could manage to shut the other down. McBride had a game-high 33 points. It took Limestone an overtime period to polish off Lanphier.

Williams is getting a lot of attention at the moment, and has said he is seeing the most interest from Illinois, Marquette, Purdue, UNLV, Northwestern, Michigan State and Bradley.

Zeller debuts, Washington retains Lucky Horseshoe trophy

In the season opener, Washington defeated Barr-Reeve 56-52 to keep possession of the Herald Lucky Horseshoe trophy. Barr-Reeve's strategy for the game was not to challenge the sophomore Zeller, and keep the game out of the post. This was especially evident in the first half, where 24 of Barr-Reeve's 25 points came from perimeter shots.

Zeller led Washington with 17 points.

Scoreboard

Carmel (IN) is off to an 0-2 season, after falling 57-51 to Hamilton SE. Josh McRoberts again led Carmel with 16 points.

Sophomore point guard Dominic James of Richmond (IN) (1-1) scored a game-high 25 points in a 72-62 win over Centerville. James shot 9-of-16 from the field, 6-of-8 from the line and 1-of-4 from the perimeter.

West Aurora (IL) junior power forward Shaun Pruitt, is out until at least Christmas with a leg injury. Meanwhile, West Aurora is 3-0 and still ranked No. 1 after winning the Galesburg Holiday Tournament.