After hitting his head, David Vargas returns with a vengeance for Sandburg. ‘Gotta be one of the top shooters.’

Good things have happened to Sandburg’s David Vargas after a cranium collision.

The senior guard suffered a gash near his left eye in a Feb. 7 game against Tinley Park. He left the gym in the first quarter to receive five stitches and was lucky the injury didn’t do any damage.

“We were running our press break and I got put into a corner,” Vargas said of the play. “I got trapped and I kind of moved my head around, and we had head-to-head contact.

“I busted my forehead open. There was a decent amount of blood but not a ton.”

Two days later, Vargas was back on the court sporting a big bandage. He finished with 19 points in 65-52 loss to host Lincoln-Way East, highlighted by scoring his 1,000th career point in that game.

Then, Vargas struck for 38 points and set a program record with nine 3-pointers to close out the regular season Feb. 13 in an 80-76 SouthWest Suburban Blue victory at Lockport.

“There are nights where things go cold or they go hot,” Vargas said. “That night I had a lot of confidence in myself. The first half was kind of slumpy and we were down 20.

“But I kept shooting the ball and they were going in. I have to thank my teammates for getting me the ball.”

Sandburg coach John Daniels, a former longtime coach at Stagg, has enjoyed watching Vargas’s progress in the past three years.

“He’s gotta be one of the top shooters, if not the top shooter, I’ve ever had as a coach,” Daniels said. “When you’ve looked at the players I’ve coached from (Max) Strus to (Darius) Draper to (Sean) Dwyer … I mean, I’ve had some tremendous shooters over the years.”

The 6-foot-1 Vargas is receiving notice from NCAA Division III schools including North Central College, which is coached by former Sandburg sharpshooter Vince Kmiec.

Vargas, who’s looking to major in nursing, hopes to be able to play basketball in college.

He did miss out on an opportunity while he was getting stitched up to talk shop with doctors and nurses because his mind was elsewhere.

“I was focused on whether we are going to win the game or not,” Vargas said. “I was texting my coaches. But I didn’t find out we won until after the game.”

Charged up over conference title

The SouthWest Suburban Red was shared by two schools winning first conference titles in program history.

Lincoln-Way West and Stagg finished with 5-3 records to tie for the championship. For Stagg, which opened in 1966, it has been a long wait.

The Chargers needed to beat Bradley-Bourbonnais on the road, winning 50-45 on Feb. 13 for a share. It was quite a contrast to Stagg’s 90-64 win over the Boilermakers on Jan. 27 in Palos Hills.

“Going down to Bradley is always a tough place to play,” Stagg coach Marty Strus said. “We had beaten Bradley a couple of weeks ago when we scored 90 points, and we knew that we would have to find a different way to win at their place.

“We certainly did that by holding them to 45 points.”

Scoring surge

Junior guard Matas Gaidukevicius erupted for 38 points Thursday in Lemont’s 84-70 win over Hinsdale South, and for those wondering where that came from, coach Rick Runaas has been waiting for it for a while.

“We knew he can shoot and score,” Runaas said. “But he started the season injured and has been working his way back.”

“In 30 years of coaching, he’s one of the few players I’ve had who I have to tell to shoot more.”

Jeff Vorva is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.