Junior guard Neil Sitapara traveled several roads that led to Illinois Math and Science Academy.
The 6-foot Sitapara began in basketball as a youngster in Streamwood. He attended Elgin as a freshman, but his family has since moved to St. Charles, and he now plays for IMSA.
“I love the game,” Sitapara said. “I’ve been playing competitively since seventh grade.”
Being at IMSA, however, is a bit different athletically for Sitapara as the nonboundaried school draws students from across the state who are there primarily for academic pursuits.
IMSA has an 800-plus enrollment multiplied by the Illinois High School Association. The boys basketball program features dedicated players like Sitapara and coaches who give it their all.
That was obvious Thursday night when the host Titans hosted neighboring Aurora Central Catholic, which pulled away in the fourth quarter for a 60-49 nonconference victory in Aurora.
Senior forward Xander Albertson, who’s from Yorkville, said that has been the issue for IMSA.
“Fall apart right at the end,” Albertson said. “That’s been the story of the season for us.”
Sophomore forward Lota Onwuameze scored 17 points for IMSA (4-11). Junior guard Mofe Suleiman added 10 points and reserve sophomore guard Ben Dixon had nine.
Sophomore guard Nick Czerak scored 17 points and sophomore guard Ben Bohr chipped in with 10 points for Aurora Central Catholic (4-17). Freshman guard Luke Torrance added nine.
The Titans trailed the Chargers 10-8 after one quarter but Sitapara opened the second quarter by connecting for the first of his two 3-pointers in the game to give IMSA its first lead.
Halfway through the second quarter, Sitapara sank another 3-pointer, erasing a 17-15 deficit in a game that was close through three quarters before ACC made its inevitable push in the fourth.
Sitapara, who is planning a premed track course of study in college, said a lot of things contribute.
“To be honest, it starts with us,” he said. “We all come from different backgrounds, and that messes with the basketball schedule when it comes to breaks. Sometimes our campus is closed.
“We’re a good team offensively, so it’s kind of putting the pieces together. I don’t have any doubt that next year we’ll be a really solid team.”
With 10 of 12 players returning next season, Sitapara could be right. Albertson, meanwhile, is one of just two seniors on the roster for IMSA coach Brad Snead.
During the school’s school’s intersession between semesters from Jan. 6-17, Albertson spent 10 days on a school trip to Austria and Germany. Another player went with a group to Costa Rica.
With students disbursing for home following the end of the school year, Snead isn’t able to use IHSA-allowed summer contact days to work with his players in the offseason, either.
Albertson, who grew up playing a variety of sports in local recreation programs, attended a Montessori school through eighth grade and high school at Yorkville as a freshman.
“Basketball was always my favorite and competition there really helped me,” Albertson said. “I’ve been committed to it for a full three years here.”
Albertson, a future mechanical engineering major who likes to build things, said living at the school and being responsible for himself was his biggest adjustment. Playing basketball helps.
“Just the team environment is great,” he said. “It gives you a lot of structure to your time that you wouldn’t otherwise have.”
Injuries have also kept the Titans — who will play in the same sub-sectional of the Class 3A Rochelle Sectional as ACC — from enjoying the success Snead expected this season.
With the tallest and most athletic team he has coached in 13 years at the school, Snead thought this group could contend for the Little Ten Conference title.
Their four Little Ten losses are among five this season for IMSA by single digits.
“We’re getting there,” Sitapara said. “Every single night, one of us is capable of scoring 20 points in a game. It’s just a matter of us getting the chemistry right and trying to build that fluidity.”
