McHenry coach Corky Card's unique philosophy: Everyone on the team plays meaningful minutes

Late in the first quarter of McHenry’s 66-56 win against visiting Jacobs on Wednesday, it became apparent that something unique was happening.

The Warriors were playing the whole team. All 12 players were rotating into the game. Some were significantly shorter than the average high-school basketball player. Not everyone had the traditional basketball player’s frame. But everyone received meaningful minutes.

And that kept up all the way until the final few minutes of the game when McHenry coach Corky Card stuck with his top guys to see out the win.

Card’s style is unheard of in big-time Class 4A basketball. McHenry (11-5, 4-1 Fox Valley) is one of the best teams in its conference and has a potential Division I signee in senior Adam Anwar.

“My goal is to take me out of the game,” Card said. “Take coaching out of the game. I don’t want this to be about me matching wits with someone. Let’s see if we can fly around and play. Sometimes it works well for us and sometimes it doesn’t.”

It worked well on Wednesday. Eleven of the 12 players contributed at least one assist, rebound, steal or point.

“We play very hard,” McHenry senior Dayton Warren said. “We play short bursts of time and put everything on the line when we are out there. We do it for coach Card. It’s a really fun way to play.”

Card acknowledges that several of his players have significant weaknesses.

“A lot of them can’t do a lot of things,” Card said. “But they can all play hard and give you a few minutes.”

Nate Ottaway, a 6-6 junior, led the Warriors with 26 points and seven rebounds. Anwar scored 14 and Blake Renfro added 13 points and nine rebounds.

Anwar, the team’s star player, is on board with Card’s philosophy.

“All the scouting reports we see on teams say they are going to play six or seven guys,” Anwar said. “We are gonna play everyone because everyone works hard in practice and deserves the minutes. When you get on the floor for a minute and do one positive thing and the crowd is going crazy, you are just up from that and everything is different. It helps all of us and boosts the morale of the team.”

Card coached for 16 years at Prairie Ridge. This is his second season at McHenry. He started playing everyone last year.

“It is good because people know they will get a chance,” Card said. “But then some kids think they should be getting more minutes and someone else is taking them away. You really have to sell it as being what is best for us.

“The hardest thing to do is score five on five. So, you need to pressure people and if you do that you need to play with a lot of kids. Our kids that score still get points because of the style; we go up and down. The shot clock is coming, and it will help us. And who wants to come out and watch us take 10 passes?”

McHenry took control with an 11-0 run to end the third quarter with a 56-38 lead. Jacobs (8-6, 2-3) cut the lead to 10 a few times in the fourth quarter.

Senior Jack Magee scored 14 for the Golden Eagles. Carson Goehring added 12 points and promising freshman point guard Malachi Bell scored 11.

“[Bell] has the vision and feel,” Jacobs coach Jimmy Roberts said. “He’s had some ups and downs. He scored 30 in the first week and then he’s gone scoreless. But that is part of learning and growing and being a freshman. He’s super coachable and super gifted.”