Lituanica is home to the Lituanica Basketball Academy (LBA). Since 1995 we have been teaching the game of basketball to athletes of all ages. Our goal is to prepare our student athletes for competitive basketball at all levels.
Sarunas Marciulionis at the Lituanica Basketball Academy
Sarunas Marciulionis, former NBA player, visited Lituanica Basketball Academy for the second time on 03/8/2013. Marciulionis was drafted by the Golden State Warriors in the 6th round of the 1987 NBA Draft. He moved to the US in 1989 and played four years with the Warriors. Marciulionis became one of the first Europeans to get significant playing time in the NBA, helping to lead the way for the internationalization of the league in the late 1990s. After missing a year and a half with a leg injury, he was traded to the Seattle SuperSonics in 1994, then traded to the Sacramento Kings in 1995, and he finished his NBA career with the Denver Nuggets in the 1996-97 season. He led the Lituanica club practice, gave a lot of useful and practical advices, chatted with the students and parents, and of course autographed pictures, t-shirts, gym shoes, etc.! We are very thankful to Sarunas for coming out for a second visit and hope that he will come to visit us again in the nearest future! Please enjoy some pictures of Sarunas running Lituanica’s basketball practice.
Congratulations to our 5th grade team (Coach Mike Gedville & Assistant Coach Bob Gedville) and 8th grade team (Coach Stepas Zilys) for their 1st place finish in the Lemont Park District Hoops League.
The 5th grade team (bottom row: Aidan Gedville, Robert Mimms, Everett Vivian, Steve Russell; back row: Aleks Timotijevic, Lael Lake, Kyrell Daniel, Niko Ivosevic, Anthony Fornero) won the Lemont championship game 36-12 against TAW. They also won the regular season with a record of 8-2. The 5th grade team also participated in the Chicago Ridge Park District Boys Basketball League. They won the Chicago Ridge championship game 32-30 against LAC team. The championship game was won on a buzzer-beater by Anthony Fornero (he stole the ball and dribbled down the court and hit a 17ft jump shot! The 5th grade winter season league record for both leagues, including playoffs, was 20-6.
The 8th grade team (Tomas Misiunas, Matt Smietanski, Martinas Stanys, Matas Rasikas, Matas Maleiska, TJ Clifford, Matt Dvorak, Ryan Zydek, Christopher Paulius, and Charlie Walsh) won the Lemont championship game 38-31 against Wolfpack team.
Congratulations to all players, coaches and parents to this achievement!
Lemont High School Varsity team: Juozas Balciunas, Martynas Einikis, Edvinas Masilionis and assistant coach Stepas Zilys
Three Lituanica Basketball Academy players (Juozas Balciunas, Martynas Einikis, Edvinas Masilionis) and Lituanica Head coach Stepas Zilys were part of the 2012-2013 Lemont High School (LHS) varsity team. They were all great contributors to this team’s success.
LHS had a great basketball season. They played for the conference championship title versus Hillcrest. They lost 60-70 in a very competitive and tight game. Senior point guard Juozas Balciunas led LHS with 21 points, eight rebounds, and five assists. Martynas Einikis added 16 points. They also played a Class A Batavia Regional semifinal game against Bolingbrook. Lemont led by as many as eight points in the second period before Bolingbrook came back to tie the game at 38-38 by halftime. Lemont was able to cut the deficit to 54-60 after a Martynas Einikis three-point play with 5:45 remaining in the game, but could not keep up offensively and lost 63-71. Balciunas and Einikis each scored 17 points.
We are proud of the great achievements of our players and coach. We hope that all three Lituanica players will continue playing basketball at a higher level, and wish them many great basketball seasons! (Edvinas Masilionis, Juozas Balciunas, Martynas Einikis, and coach Stepas Zilys)
