DePaul Prep Falls to Benet 64-51 in Regular Season Finale

The DePaul Prep Rams closed the regular season Friday evening against Benet Academy at home in the Tom Winiecki Gym. The Rams dropped the game 64-51 against the hot shooting Red Wings.

The Rams finish the 24-25 regular season as champions of the Chicago Catholic League with record of 26-4. The Rams had two bigs wins against out-of-town powerhouses, Mater Dei and Vashon and eight wins against ranked teams. Their losses coming only to ranked teams, Kenwood, Brother Rice, Homewood-Flossmoor and Benet.

The Rams open the IHSA 3A playoffs on Wednesday against the winner of Monday’s Lake View vs. North Chicago game.

It’s been an amazing season. I shot thirty games but it didn’t seem like that many. It went fast. On to the playoffs we go. Only twenty-one days until the state championship games.

IHSA Playoff Look Ahead

The IHSA boys basketball playoff brackets come out on Friday at 4:00 p.m. I have been looking at various brackets and prognosticating some scenarios for area schools.

3A

There are eight sectionals in 3A: Brother Rice, Washington, Little Village, Glenbard South, Antioch, Rochelle, Decatur and Marion. The Brother Rice Sectional has all southside or south suburban schools. Washington has Central Illinois teams. Little Village has Chicago and west suburban schools. Glenbard South also has Chicago and suburban schools. Antioch has Chicago and North suburban schools. Rochelle has northern Illinois and west suburban schools. Decatur and Marion have southern Illinois schools. The first four sectionals lead to one finalist (championship game participant) and the other four to the other finalist.

All the northside of Chicago 3A schools are in the Antioch Sectional: DePaul Prep, Lake View, Payton, Amundsen, Roosevelt, Northside and CICS/Northtown.

DePaul Prep

With respect to DePaul Prep, let’s look at the best teams in 3A. The top 3A teams in Illinois, in particular order, are Brother Rice, DePaul Prep, Morton, Kankakee, St. Lawrence, Centralia, Metamora, Kaneland, Mount Carmel, Kaneland, Fenwick and I added in St. Patrick for fun. It’s very possible that three of these four Chicago Catholic League teams, Brother Rice, St. Laurence, Mount Carmel, Fenwick and DePaul Prep could be 3A finalists in Champaign for the State Finals.

It is very possible to have three Chicago Catholic League as 3A finalists. DePaul Prep has beaten all of the top 3A teams it has played in the regular season except Brother Rice. Brother Rice could advance to one State Final spot (final four) while Fenwick, St. Patrick, St. Laurence or Mount Carmel could land a second the State Semi-final spot. DePaul Prep could be the third CCL State finalist.

Lake View

The Lake View Wildcats (13-11, 9-0) are in the DePaul Prep regional and would have to get through the Rams to advance into the Antioch Sectional.

Amundsen

The Amundsen Vikings (13-6, 8-1) open the playoffs on 2/24 at home against Northside. The winner of that game takes on #2 seed and #21 ranked Lake Forest in the Vernon Hills Regional on 2/26.

Payton

The Payton Grizzles (14-12, 7-4) host a regional and open on 2/25 against Noble/Muchin. The Grizzles could face either Elmwood Park or Noble Street Charter in the regional championship before advancing into the Little Village Sectional. The Little Village Sectional may well have Fenwick or St. Patrick standing in the Grizzlies’ way.

4A

4A is a tougher nut to crack. As one might imagine, the best teams are from the bigger schools. There are only seven 3A schools in the Sun-Times Super 25, those being four being the top Chicago Catholic League teams, DePaul Prep, #11 St. Laurence, #12 Mount Carmel and #13 Brother Rice. The others being #17 Kankakee, #21 Lake Forest and #25 Kaneland.

Lane Tech

The sectionals of note in 4A for our purposes are New Trier and Hinsdale Central. Lane Tech landed the #4 seed in the New Trier Sectional. Also in the New Trier sectional are #9 ranked Evanston with the #1 seed, Loyola Academy with the #2 seed and Niles North with the #3 seed.

The Lane Tech Champions (17-11) open against Maine East in the Maine South Regional and could face either #5 seed New Trier or Maine South in the regional final. A sectional championship would require also getting through either Loyola Academy or Niles North. Lance defeated Nile North in the Thanksgiving tournament. This is a doable path for the Champions to a sectional championship. But it is doable for the others as well, particularly the New Trier Trevians who have a history of doing it.

A New Trier Sectional championship would put the Champions into a Super against the St. Charles East Sectional Championship. As 4A sectionals go, St. Charles East is not the toughest. The only ranked team is #19 Glenbard West (22-5). The #2 seed is Geneva (24-4). I have seen Geneva. They are good but the Champions can easily play right with them. So it is entirely possible that the Champions could be sectional champs. I dare not speculate further than this. 

Lincoln Park

#14 ranked Lincoln Park (22-5) draws the Hinsdale Central Sectional—the toughest sectional in all the IHSA playoffs. in addition to the Lions, Hinsdale Central has #1 Kenwood, #4 Hinsdale Central, #16 Simeon, #20 Whitney Young and previously ranked St. Ignatius.

The Lions open the playoffs against Morton (the Cicero Morton, not the Morton Morton) at Whitney Young on 2/26. After that would probably be Whitney Young at Whitney Young the following Friday. Lincoln Park defeated Whitney Young 74-71 at Whitney Young in December. Then possibly Curie again the sectional semi-final. And then, possibly Kenwood, Simeon or St. Ignatius. Tough indeed.

Lane Tech’s Zach Mazanowski ducks against Phillips in November.

DePaul Prep Dismantles Fenwick 52-22, Wins Chicago Catholic League

[Preview of my story in this week’s Inside—Booster.]

By Jack Lydon

The DePaul Prep Rams (26-3, 7-1) dismantled Fenwick 52-22 to win the Chicago Catholic League at DePaul Friday night. Absolute shutdown defense held the Friars to thirteen points into the fourth quarter. This is an exceptional Friars squad with that only had three losses in the Catholic League coming into the game. A Fenwick victory in this game was entirely impossible.

The Rams came into the game with a 6-1 record in the Chicago Catholic Leagues Blue Division tied with Brother Rice. A win for the Rams assured them of at least a share of the conference title. Shortly after the game ended word spread that Mount Carmel defeated Brother Rice making DePaul Prep outright CCL champs for the second year in a row.

The Rams hit a little rough patch at the end of January suffering back-to-back losses first to Brother Rice and then to Homewood-Flossmoor at the end of January—if you can call it a rough patch to lose consecutive games to the No. 8 team and the No. 3 team respectively when you have a 26-3 record. Let’s call it a little bump.

The Rams opened the game strong. Senior guard Rob Walls dropped a short jumper from the lane on DePaul’s opening possession. It was a good omen given the Rams first quarter struggles in the home loss to Brother Rice two weeks earlier. Then the defensive show started. Fenwick struggled to even shoot the ball. Drives into the lane quickly lead to passes out to the wing. The outlet passes lead to off-balance missed shots and DePaul Prep rebounds. Few if any offensive rebound for the Friars.

The Rams built their typical 15-6 first quarter lead spreading the ball around with buckets from all five starters and two each from junior guard Rykan Woo and senior point guard Makai Kvamme.

In the second quarter, the Rams held Fenwick to three points. They made just one basket, a three-pointer from senior Kamren Hogan. The Friars’ frustration was palpable with a halftime score of 29-9 DePaul.

“They couldn’t get by us. We made them take jump shots. We got every rebound. We can play,” DePaul Prep head coach Tom Kleinschmidt said of his Rams’ defensive effort.

“I think our switching bothers teams. Our guards really kept the ball in front of us. We were disciplined tonight. We made them take jump shots.”

Rams junior center Rashaun Porter put on a masterful defensive performance that stood out among masterful defensive performance. Porter was matched up against Fenwick standout forward Nathaniel Marshall. Marshall is one of the best football players in the state who has gained attention for his basketball skills in recent months.

“Shaun’s a big body. He’s long and he is strong. He didn’t bite on head fakes or pump fakes. He kept [Marshall] in front of him. He did a nice job,” Kleinschmidt said of Porter.

It didn’t get much better for Fenwick in the second half. The Friars managed only another four points in the third quarter falling behind 41-13. Even so, there was no quit in Fenwick, their own defensive effort made the Rams work for their points. Rykan Woo finished with sixteen points in a little more than three quarters. AJ Chambers had twelve. Makai Kvamme had eight. Rashaun Porter had seven.

The regular season is drawing to a close with one regular season game left, a home matchup against East Suburban Catholic Conference champion Benet Academy next Friday at DePaul’s Tom Winiecki Gym.

DePaul Prep landed the #1 seed in the IHSA 3A Antioch Sectional. The Rams will host the winner of Lake View v. North Chicago on February 26th to open the playoffs. The Rams look to “threepeat” as state champions. Two years ago the Rams won the 2A state championship and won the 3A state championship last year with win over Chicago Catholic League rival Mount Carmel in the championship game.

St. Ignatius Defeats Fenwick 55-54 in OT

The St. Ignatius Wolfpack defeated Fenwick 55-54 in overtime on Tuesday (Feb. 11, 2025). As the season draws to a close, the Wolfpack improves their record to 23-5 and 3-3 in the Chicago Catholic League Blue conference. Fenwick falls to 19-10 and 4-3 in the CCL Blue.

Full Gallery of Photos from DePaul Prep v. St. Ignatius

These are my photos from Friday night’s DePaul Prep Rams 60-58 overtime win over St. Ignatius. I took an unusually large number of photos and published more that I usually do. It was a big game so I gave it a little special treatment.

DePaul Prep Beats St. Ignatius 60-58 in OT

[Preview of this week’s item in Inside—Booster.]

[Full photo gallery to follow.]

By Jack Lydon

I got there over an hour early and the parking lot was already totally full. Friday’s DePaul Prep v. St. Ignatius game at DePaul Prep’s Tom Winiecki Gym would be different. Well not so much different as amplified. Bigger, stronger, faster.

And so it was. The DePaul Prep Rams (24-3, 5-1) defeated the St. Ignatius Wolfpack 60-58 in overtime to advance toward another Chicago Catholic League title and prove they can come from behind and win when it matters.

This was a high-level high school basketball game played by very talented players and coaches on both sides. Few turnovers, multiple dunks and three-pointers, defense and offence. The largest lead of the game by either team was a six-points.

The Tom Kleinschmidt formula win goes like this: an early lead, a dominant third quarter that builds a 15 to 20 point lead and then kill the clock in the fourth. That wasn’t happening in this game. St. Ignatius’ coach Matt Monroe knows that scenario. The Wolfpack didn’t get far behind and flipped the script by outscoring the Rams and taking a lead in the third quarter.

“They're obviously one of the best defensive programs around. They're switching defense causes teams fits. So we were hoping to put them in more scramble situations. We are hoping to do a few of our attacking switch techniques, like slipping with a couple of things we call twist and turn,” said St. Ignatius coach Matt Monroe.

Monroe’s plan worked. It didn’t look good for the Rams at the 5:48 mark in the fourth when Phoenix Gill, St. Ignatius’ senior point guard, Northwestern commit and son of a former NBA player, Kendall Gill, drained a three to give the Wolfpack a 48-42 lead.

After a time out, the Rams chipped away and chipped away. A couple buckets from Rykan Woo and AJ Chambers but the relentless defense lead by Rob Walls and Makai Kvamme led to turnovers which turned into clutch layups by Kvamme to tie the game.

St. Ignatius had a chance to win at the end of regulation. After a time out and with a few seconds left on the clock, Phoenix Gill took the inbounds pass. With DePaul Prep’s Rob Walls guarding him at the top of the key, Gill worked the ball to the right but had dish the ball off to junior guard Napolean Harris IV, who put up a three-pointer that missed.

Overtime. DePaul’s junior center Rashaun Porter dropped a bucket. Junior guard Rykan Woo added a free throw. St. Ignatius senior guard Ryan Cavanagh drained a three to tie the game with 46.9 left in OT.

The Rams had the ball with time winding down. Porter drove to the hoop and was fouled. He drained two free throws with three seconds left to give the Rams a 60-58 lead and the victory.  

“We’ve got grit. We showed some toughness. [If something bad happens, it’s] on to the next play. A lot of teams or individuals would have hung their heads and quit. We didn’t. We believe in each other. We came out and made some plays,” said DePaul Prep head coach Tom Kleinschmidt of his Rams.

Porter was jubilant after the game, “This is the Catholic league, and this is a really tough league, one of the best leagues in the Midwest. And we want to win it. . . . Our goal is to win the Catholic League. . . . So we really wanted this one.”

Kleinschmidt mentioned rivalry after the game, “It's a rivalry. It’s only a rivalry if both teams win. We won a couple in a row now, but for a while there, they won a couple in a row.” Kleinschmidt is 8-5 against St. Ignatius in his last eleven seasons as DePaul Prep and Gordon Tech head coach, including a particularly heartbreaking loss at the buzzer in a sectional final game in 2020, two days before the whole world shut down with the COVID pandemic.

Conference play is not quite over. DePaul Prep is tied with Brother Rice each having one loss. The Rams have two conference games left: DeLaSalle and Fenwick. Brother Rice has Mount Carmel left. The Rams control their own fate. If both DePaul Prep and Fenwick win out, they share the CCL title. If the Rams win and the Crusaders lose, the Rams win it out right—Chicago Catholic League champions for the second year in a row.

DePaul Prep’s senior point guard Makai Kvamme after a dunk in the first quarter against St. Ignatius

Lane Tech Handled Ag Science 63-45 Thursday and Will Face Kenwood on Saturday

I didn’t know what to expect on my first trip out to the Chicago High School for Agricultural Sciences or CHSAS or, as I call it, Ag Science. It’s located on the far southwestern border of Chicago at 111th and Pulaski. I had never seen Ag Science play nor had I ever been out to their gym. I had heard of Ag Science though because of its curious focus in the nation’s third largest city.

I have seen the Lane Tech Champions (17-10, 7-4) quite a few times this season so I know how good they are even if their record doesn’t show it. They put together a brutally tough schedule directly for the purpose of preparing for the City tournament and the IHSA playoffs.

Interestingly, the Cyclones drew the #8 seed in the Red Division tournament because of their fourth place finish in the Red-Star division. While Lane drew the #9 seed because of their #5 seed in the higher Red-Shield division.

The Champion’s length pretty much overwhelmed the Cyclones from the start ultimately winning 63-45. Lane jumped out to an early lead and shut down Ag Science from scoring inside. Their outside shot were all opposed and were not falling either. The Champions scored at will in the paint. I don’t know know that I have seen so many dunks in a high school game. Of Dalton Scantlebury’s fifteen points a majority had to be scored on dunks.

The Champions move on to face #1 ranked Kenwood on Saturday at 4:00 p.m., at Curie High School. The CPL has gone to a neutral site format for the quarter and semi-finals. The Champions look to rebound from an early season 82-75 loss to Kenwood at Lane in December. Lane looks to put together a revenge tour through the tournament with wins against previous victors or some combination thereof, Kenwood, Whitney Young, Simeon and Lincoln Park.

DePaul Prep Handles Leo 59-27

The DePaul Prep Rams (22-3, 4-1) traveled to Leo (14-9, 1-4) on Friday evening and defeated the Lions 59-27.

Kenwood Defeats Lincoln Park 70-61 to Win Red-Shield

[A preview of my article this week in the Inside—Booster.]

By Jack Lydon

Lincoln Park battled Kenwood Thursday for the top of the CPL’s Red—Shield division. Kenwood is just too good. The Lions (21-4, 9-2) battled the Broncos (32-1, 11-0) but in the end Kenwood defeated the Lions 70-61 by breaking Lincoln Park’s press, scoring in transition and making free throws. The Lions just could out score Kenwood in the closing minutes.

“They are the number one team in the state for a reason. They are battle tested. That’s a good team,” Lincoln Park head coach Joshua Anderson said of Kenwood. This really was one of those games where both teams played well enough to win and one team was just a little bit better and won at the end.

It was a two-point game at the half with Kenwood ahead 28-26. But in the third quarter, Kenwood’s sophomore guard and top ranked sophomore in the state, Devin Cleveland, took over with three straight buckets, seniors “tj” Seals, Alex Alston and Amari Edwards each added a bucket. The Broncos two-point lead became ten points. 

The energy in Lincoln Park tiny little gym was off the scale. The cheering was deafening. In places, the feet of the fans sitting in the front row are literally on the court. The environment would be tough for even the finest teams.

Kenwood was not phased by the atmosphere. Every game they play is a tough game. They regained the number one ranking two weeks ago after close victories, but still victories over Whitney Young, Cure and Chaminade.

There was a long stoppage of play midway through the third quarter with the Lions behind by nine. The cause of the stoppage related to a disturbance at the scorer’s table and was not immediately evident. One report suggested an argument between the couches. It soon involved fans from the opposing teams arguing back and forth. One supporter of Lincoln Park was escorted from the gym. Ultimately, technical fouls were assessed against both head coaches forcing them to sit on their respective benches for the rest of the game.

Strangely, the stoppage helped Lincoln Park. They rallied.

“[My team] got a little motivated off after that little scuffle, whatever happening. [The refs] made me sit down. When I am up, I am the energy. At that time, they saw that I couldn't be with them. They rallied together and said . . . we're gonna find the energy ourselves with each other,” Anderson said.

The Lions dialed up the energy and chipped away at Kenwood’s lead. Lincoln Park’s junior forward Larry Harris led the way for the Lions with ten-points to get the Lions.

With 2:20 to play, the game was even at 60. Lincoln Park continued its full court press. Kenwood’s senior point guard Amari Edwards took control. With Lincoln Park in its high pressure full court press, Edwards calming and deliberately brought the ball up court with crisp passes and few dribbles.

“I think Amari Edwards, he's a really good player. He's a really good floor general for sure. He picked us apart at the end and he kind of took control of the game,” Anderson said of Edwards.

In crunch time with the game on the line, Edwards broke the press and the Broncos were able to get points in transition. He also added some key free throws to seal the victory.

This might not be the last time that the Lions and the Broncos meet this year. They are the top two Chicago Public League teams and could easily meet in the upcoming City Championship tournament.

And then, both teams are assigned to the toughest sectional of any in the IHSA boys basketball playoffs—Hinsdale Central. That sectional has #1 Kenwood, #6 Hinsdale Central, #8 Lincoln Park, #15 Curie, #17 Simeon, #24 St. Ignatius, and previously ranked and always dangerous, Whitney Young. No other sectional in state comes close to have that many good teams.

DePaul Prep Falls to Brother Rice 53-52

Lake View's Daniel Loza Scores 1000 Points

[Preview of my Inside-Booster story for this week.]

By Jack Lydon

It was a very good night at Lake View High School Thursday. The Wildcats defeated neighborhood rival Amundsen Vikings 74-66 to take the lead in the Chicago Public League’s White-North division on a night when the Wildcats and the Lake View school community celebrated senior guard Daniel Loza’s reaching 1000 points in his high school career. Daniel is likely to become the school’s points leading by the end of the season.

The moment wasn’t lost on Daniel, “DLo” as he is known. He wasn’t distracted by the celebration in his honor planned for after the game. He was focused on beating Amundsen. Focused on winning the school’s first conference championship in basketball.

DLo led his Wildcats scoring a career high of 32 points Thursday which included a remarkable eight three-point shots made. DLo is now the second highest point scorer in the history of Lake View High School which was established in 1874, making it the oldest public high school in the state of Illinois. The school existed before Lake View as part of the City of Chicago. 

“[Daniel Loza] is the model. When he leaves there will be a Daniel Loza Award because he has set the pace for how to do work,” said Lake View’s fourth year head coach Todd Patterson.

“He's really been working if I can say this on being a three-level scorer. That's what you saw today, him trying to score it all from the three levels. He hits the big threes, but he opens up the game up with [scoring inside and at the free throw line.]”

The school and the Friends of Lake View had arranged a celebration for Daniel’s achievement to be held after the game but there was a game to play first. The Wildcats faced off against neighboring Amundsen High School which is located just two miles north at Foster and Damen.

The Wildcats came into the game with a 9-8 record overall and a 7-0 record in the CPL White-North conference. The schedule that Lake View’s head coach Todd Patterson put together this year is tough with games against Lakes, Jacobs, Notre Dame, St. Viator, West Chicago and Highland Park. These tough games got them ready for tough conference games like this one against Amundsen. A win against Amundsen would put them in a position where they are undefeated in the conference and would be promoted into the CPL’s Red Division next season.

But first the Wildcats had to deal with a very talented Amundsen squad that came into the game 11-2, and 7-0 in the conference.

The Vikings jumped out to an early eight point lead late in the first quarter. But the Wildcats hung around until midway through the second quarter when DLo asserted himself. Hard screens and quick jumpers by DLo lead to four three-point bucket by DLo erasing the Amundsen lead. That second quarter 14-3 run by the Wildcats flipped the script and launch the Cats toward the school’s first ever conference championship in basketball in the schools 150 years.

The leading scorer in school history at the moment is Octavius Parker, a 1999 graduate. Imariz Duran, a 2024 Lake View graduate leads all girls scoring, with over 1000 points. Loza is expected to pass Parker’s scoring total by the end of the year and be the leading scorer in school history.

Coach Patterson said after the game, “Daniel’s father passed away about five years ago. Daniel’s dad is alumni. His Mom is alumni. We’ve got a lot of motivation to get this done.”

The moment was not lost on DLo. Showing a maturity beyond his tender years, Daniel reflected on his years at and family connection with Lake View.

“It’s kind of crazy because when I came to Lake View, my mom had told me that a lot of my family members have went to Lake View, but I wasn't thinking it was a basketball school. I [thought] I needed to go to a school where there's gonna be basketball. When I first came here, there was no actual basketball coach. I told my mom that I might have to transfer. So I'll wait for him to come and then it was Coach Patterson. I had a good connection with him so I stayed.”

Now Daniel is the second leading scorer in school history.

Kenwood Rallies to Beat New Trier 69-66

I went up to New Trier to see Kenwood take on the Trevians on Martin Luther King Day.

The Trevians were shooting lights out. The Irish pair, Christopher Kilpatrick (26 points) and Danny Houlihan (25 points), were a revelation. I had seen New Trier a couple times this year but always in passing like in Pontiac and somewhere else I don’t even remember. I never got a chance to stop and watch. I wish I had. The Trevians can shoot the ball.

In the second half, Kenwood went to a zone defense to stop the Trevians. It largely worked. New Trier was getting one shot. On misses, the Broncos got the ball out running and get some layup. They pulled even midway through the fourth quarter. After that it was anybody’s game, back and forth.

With ten seconds on the clock and the Broncos down 66-64, Kenwood’s Chris Watkins hit a three from the corner on a pass from Aleks Alston. The play was not designed for Watkins but Alston trusted his senior captain the put the ball up. Watkins drained the three giving the Broncos a 67-66. They would close it out with a 69-66 win.

DePaul Prep Defeats Vashon 68-54 at H-F MLK Shootout

The DePaul Prep Rams (19-1, 3-0) defeated the Vashon Wolverines 68-54 this afternoon at the Homewood-Flossmoor MLK Day Shootout. Vashon, a public high school in St. Louis, (12-2) has been Missouri state champions for the last four years. They came into the game with DePaul Prep 11-1. I guess I didn’t know what to expect. As with the first game this year playing an out-of-state team, Mater Dei from Los Angeles at the Chicago Elite Classic, I was just hoping the Rams would play well and not get blown out.

I underestimated the Rams then. I ought to have known better today.

Vashon looked, to me at least, like the best team that the Rams had played all season. The Wolverines were big. They had a size advantage on the Rams on every position except for center where Lashaun Porter had an advantage on Terron Garrett who was listed in the program as a wing.

When the game started, the Wolverines were shooting well, defending furiously and rebounding on both ends.

Midway through the first quarter, the Rams had a nine point lead that Vashon cut to four by the end of the first. They Rams were playing well on defense and dealing with the pressure defense of Vashon about as well has a team could. The Rams were playing about as well as I have seen them play, especially on defense. It was two good teams battling it out. Rykan Woo had nine points in the first. The Rams held a 22-18 lead at the end of the first quarter and maintained that four point advantage at the half, 33-29.

The Rams shined in the third quarter outscoring the Wolverines 15-4. And they never looked back. The full court press that Vashon jumped into only made things worse. The Rams broke the press and ended in layups and back door dunks.

It was as impressive of a game as I have have seen the Rams play. Just so much toughness. Toughness demostrated in no small measure by the elbow inflicted gash that AJ Chambers suffered late in the second quarter. There was an extended time stoppage while the Homewood-Flossmoor janitorial staff mopped the blood off the court. Chambers wasn’t out of the game long. They quickly patched him up and he was back in the game wearing the number 21 jersey at that point.

Junior guard Rykan Woo had 18 points. Junior center Rashaun Porter had 16 points and the player of the game trophy. Senior point guard Makai Kvamme had 15 points. Let’s not forget the 4 points added by Rob Walls whose defense is worth three time as many points as he scores. Jonas Johnson came off the bench and added 7 points. AJ Chamber added 6 points, at least I think he did when I add up the scores of numbers 3 and 21. Gus Donohue added a bucket.

Maybe I am too close seeing too many DePaul Prep games. I can’t really judge how good they are. Let’s just say they are No. 1 and only getting better. IC Prep away on Tuesday and then Brother Rice at home on Friday night.

DePaul Prep Survives Mount Carmel 66-63

[Preview of this week’s article in the Inside—Booster]

By Jack Lydon

“We don’t have any rivals.”

Not sure that he meant it the way it came across, but that’s what DePaul Prep’s Rykan Woo said when asked about Mount Carmel after his new team, the DePaul Prep Rams (18-1, 3-0) survived a late challenge to defeat the Caravan 66-63 at Mount Carmel Friday evening.

Woo may not appreciate the rivalry, this being his first year on the Rams, but DePaul Prep’s rivalry with Mount Carmel is very real. The DePaul Prep has played and defeated Mount Carmel three times in the last twelve months. The Rams defeated the Caravan last February 41-38 to win the Chicago Catholic League and then again a month later to win the 3A state championship over Mount Carmel 49-41. There is also the looming possibility of a fourth meeting in this year’s 3A playoffs. The way the sectional assignments line up, if both teams advance they could meet again in March in a state final or semi-final.

“It’s extremely frustrating,” said Mount Carmel head coach Phil Segroves when asked about losing three times to DePaul Prep in the last year.

“We feel we’ve got something pretty special here and we know they do too. We’re gonna just keep knocking on the door.”

The game opened with the DePaul’s defense taking Mount Carmel out of what they wanted to do. The defensive engine for the Rams runs on senior guard and defensive specialist Rob Walls. Walls took a large hand in shutting down Mount Carmel’s star point guard Noah Mister Friday night. In one sequence midway through the second quarter, Walls tied up Mister and stole the ball. A quick pass by Walls to Rams’ point guard Makai Kvamme lead to a layup and the Rams opened an eight point lead.

“Usually, you’ll see me take a charge out there and all the sudden you’ll see all of us getting excited. That just gets us going. It’s fun being out there. Playing with competitors, it’s fun,” said Walls.

The Rams defense set the tone, but junior guard and Whitney Young transfer Rykan Woo and junior center Rashaun Porter scored the points. Woo lead the Rams with 28 points, including three three-pointers and thirteen free throws.

“We know that Rykan Woo is a very good player. Even though Makai Kvamme runs the show at point, [DePaul’s] offense goes through Woo,” Segroves said.

“He’s their scorer. We knew that. We did our very best to defend him. He still came out on top. Sometimes you have to tip your cap.”

 “I think it’s just repetition and practice. Just trying to not let my mind mess around with me,” Woo said of his hitting 10 of 12 free throws in the game.

“My teammates do a great job setting me up all the time. I give them a lot of the credit.”

In addition to Woo’s twenty-five points, Ram’s junior center Rashaun Porter had sixteen points including two big free throws in the closing seconds to seal the victory.

Despite the defensive efforts of Walls and the scoring efficiency of Woo and Porter, the Caravan came roaring back in the closing minutes. Let by senior guard Grant Best with twenty-three points, Mount Carmel came back from a thirteen-point Rams lead early in the third quarter to make it a one possession game in the closing seconds.

The Rams improve their record to 18-1 with their only loss coming in the fourth game of the season to then #1 ranked Kenwood and then only by two-points on the last possession of the game.

The Catholic League is also coming into focus. Mount Carmel now has two losses, one earlier in the year to Fenwick and one tonight to DePaul Prep. Brother Rice suffered a Catholic League loss on Friday to St. Ignatius. Only DePaul Prep and Fenwick are undefeated in the Chicago Catholic League’s Blue division. The Rams will face the Friars on February 14th but there are plenty of league games for both teams between then and now. Still a lot of basketball yet to play.

For now at least, the DePaul Prep Rams are likely to retain their number #1 ranking this week and sit atop the Chicago Catholic League just short of two-thirds of the way through the season.

DePaul Prep Upsets Mother McAuley 56-48

The DePaul Prep Rams (18-8, 3-3) defeated the Mother McAuley Mighty Macs (13-8, 2-3) 56-48 Thursday evening at DePaul Prep.

Some photos from the game.

DePaul Prep Defeats St. Francis de Sales 66-37

DePaul Prep Rams (17-1, 2-0) defeated St. Francis de Sales (5-10, 2-1) 66-37 at DePaul’s Tom Winiecki Gym on Tuesday. Rams face Mount Carmel at Mount Carmel on Friday in big Chicago Catholic League Blue matchup.

These are some photos from tonight’s game.

DePaul Prep Survives Loyola 43-35

The DePaul Prep Rams (15-1, 3-0) defeated the Loyola Academy Ramblers (15-5, 1-2) 43-35 on Friday evening at Loyola. I have to hand it to Loyola. Tom Livatino had the Rams playing his game. Slow the tempo way down, play very physical and hope to edge teams at the end.

It was working in the first half with the assistance of the referees. I don’t like to criticize referees. They are usually very good. In first half of this game, the referees were let them play. Meaning they weren’t calling any fouls. This hurt the Rams. Their shots were not falling.

The Ramblers were hitting shots at least enough to stay close to the Rams. Loyola’s center Brandon Loftus was impressive in the paint and hitting outside shots.

The second half was different for the Rams. The refs started calling fouls and the Rams were able to score like they usually do.

The Rams gained a lead and were able to build it with some remarkable free throw shooting to seal the victory. Junior Rykan Woo was 8 for 8 in the game and 6 for 6 in the last 1:05 of the game.

The Rams improve to 15-1 overall and 3-0 in the Chicago Catholic League Blue and probably retain their #1 ranking.

A little past the midway point of the season 16 games into the 30-game season, the Rams are the No. 1 ranked team in the Sun-Times Super 25. They got that spot after winning their inaugural appearance in the Pontiac Holiday Tournament. It was another achievement for the DePaul College Prep basketball team that has now become a “program.”

At the R-B tournament in the summer of 2023, I was talking to Mike Mullin of the Illinois Wolves. He was the first person that I heard use the term “program” in conjunction with DePaul Prep. After just one 2A State Championship, some might argue that the “program” moniker might be a little premature. Not anymore. Since 2019, the DePaul Prep Rams have achieved a third place in 3A, a No. 1 ranking in the 2020, the COVID year, a 2A state championship, victory in Hinsdale Central Holiday Classic, a 3A state champion and a Pontiac title. Combine that unprecedented success with the same coach in the program for 10 years, a coach with over 300 career wins, and you are pretty much talking “program.”

That’s all fine but there are games to play. This season has seen the return of proven producers Makai Kvamme, Rob Walls, Rashaun Porter, AJ Chambers and Jonas Johnson. But it’s the emergence of Rykan Woo that have brought the Rams, admittedly a 3A team, to that top tier.

Woo, a transfer from Whitney Young, is averaging 17 points a game. His eye popping 24 points and 6 of 7 three pointers against Warren has him being talked about as the best player in the whole junior class. I first saw him play at the R-B tournament this past summer. But it was at the Ridgewood summer event that he turned heads. A longtime DePaul Prep observer told me that this 24-25 team would be better than the last two state championship teams. We will see about that but the addition of Rykan is making a believer out of me.

The Rams schedule has been rough. At the start of the season, Tom Kleinschmidt told me, “We are going to lose some games this year.”

Not true so far. Only one loss. And then to the No. 1 team at the time, Kenwood. And then only by two points in the last ten seconds of a weekend shootout game. Add in some signature wins over Niles North, Lane, Rich Township, Mater Dei (a California powerhouse program), Curie, Benet and Warren.

I would say the first half went well for the Rams. The bulk of the Chicago Catholic League games will be played in the second half, namely Mount Carmel, Brother Rice, St. Ignatius, DeLaSalle and Fenwick. Who cares about Pontiac and state championship if you don’t win the Chicago Catholic League Blue? We will see about the second half.

Lincoln Park Handles Lane Tech 62-46

[Preview of this week’s story in the Inside—Booster.]

By Jack Lydon

Lincoln Park hosted Lane Tech (9-9, 4-3) Thursday for a key game in the Chicago Public League’s Red Shield conference. Basically, the championship of the Northside. The Lions (15-1, 6-1) handled the Champions winning 62-46.

Some might have thought that with Lincoln Park ranked #11 and having a gaudy win/loss record, it would be all Lions. But Lane Tech has played have played top competition this season. Very top competition: #1 DePaul Prep, #2 Kenwood, #6 Brother Rice, #12 Curie, #13 Niles North—twice, formerly ranked St. Ignatius as well as top out-of-state competition at a Washington DC shootout. And the Champions just knocked off #19 Whitney Young on Tuesday. The Champions are much, much better than their record indicates.

With the size and length that the Champions possess, their ability in recent games to hit three-pointers and playing on Lincoln Park’s small home court, this thing could have gone either way.

It went Lincoln Park’s way, and it started early. The Lions jumped out to an 8-0 first quarter lead. The Lions were amped up and playing tough inside and out. Hitting shots and grabbing boards on both ends.

“[Our] guys they came in with a lot of fight,” Lincoln Park head coach Joshua Anderson said of his Lions.

“They executed. They were mentally locked in. They played harder. They played tougher. They played technique. They boxed out. They did exactly what I told them to do. I told them the shots what would be open. That’s just all from our execution.”

Lane rallied and made it game. Lane’s Zach Mazanowski quickly added five points late in the first quarter bringing them right back. Even so, the Lions would maintain a six to ten-point lead throughout most of the rest of the game.

The Lions gave no quarter to the size and length possessed by the Champions. Lions’ center Keyshawn Barfield battled the Champions’ division one prospect center Dalton Scantlebury the whole game.

The Lions turned off Lane’s usually productive three-point shooter. The Champions managed only one three-point field goal in the gameThe Lincoln Park gym is a unique place for top-level high school basketball game. It’s small. Very small. Three rows of seats on each side and none along the baselines. The staff at Lincoln Park are careful only to all proper number of people in the gym. It couldn’t be more than a couple hundred. But it was enough to make it load and provide a distinct home court advantage for the Lions with their students and fans quite literally on the edge of the court.

“I think the atmosphere was great. I love it. It was like a north side battle. You’ve got kids on both sides who know each other. It was great. I think the home court advance came to us, our school and wave of kids came out and show pride and support,” Anderson said of his team’s home court advantage.

The Lincoln Park Lions are one of the teams that emerged this year. It’s not like no one expected them to be good. They should signa last season. But the Lions have been a top team Ranked all year. They defeated Whitney Young, St. Laurence and Curie, all ranked teams. They lost to Red Shield rival and perennial powerhouse Simeon by one point in a wild one at Simeon. They lost to suburban powerhouse Warren Township also by just one point.

Of their success this year, Anderson said, “I attribute that to the hard work that these guys put in. We watch film. We work on things. When it comes to certain teams and they see film and they see what a team can't doing and won't do, we feed off that and we attacked that. We attack team’ s weaknesses.”

The Lions are poised to win the Red Shield conference. It could work out that the Lions will play #2 ranked Kenwood who is undefeated in the conference for the championship. The Lions have one loss in the conference, but if they win the rest of their conference games and defeat Kenwood in the regular season penultimate game, they would be Red Shield champs.

Just saying. Still almost half the season to play.

Lane Defeats Whitney Young, Again

By Jack Lydon

The Lane Tech Champions defeated (9-8, 4-2) Whitney Young (10-7, 5-2) on Tuesday for the second year in a row. This time at Whitney Young by the score of 61-57. This time the attitude of the Champions seemed palpably different before the game. They just had these, okay, let’s go looks on their faces. It might have been the brutally difficult schedule put together by Lane’s coach Nick LoGalbo that toughened their hides.

“We played the top five teams in the state. We played Niles North twice, a top ten team. We went out to DC we played some best teams that country. Now it’s time to put it all together. In our first game in 2025, winning on the road at Whitney Young, we did that tonight,” LoGalbo said.

The Champions have indeed played top competition, like the very top: #1 DePaul Prep, #2 Kenwood, #6 Brother Rice, #12 Curie, #13 Niles North—twice, formerly ranked St. Ignatius as well as top out-of-state competition at a Washington DC shootout.

The Champions had a great first quarter. The defense was dominant holding the Whitney Young Dolphins (10-7, 5-2) to ten points. Brayden Rosenkrantz had eight of the Champions’ eighteen points including two three pointers. He added a third three early in the second quarter.

“That's who he's always been, an unbelievable shooter and an unbelievable defender,” LoGalbo said of Rosenkrantz.

“Early in the year he was just up and down with his confidence. We told him he's our point guard. We believe in him and he's just bad at a whole other level, but it started with him defending and we're really proud of him and we need to keep it rolling.”

The game was by no means over after the first quarter. The Dolphins came charging back with a 13-0 run in second quarter and briefly took a lead late in the quarter. The second half was back and forth until late. The Lane defense again took it up to very high level. The Dolphins were opposed on every shot and could not get anything to fall. The Champions built and held a lead through what seemed to be the force of will more than pretty basketball.

With games left against Lincoln Park, New Trier, Simeon and Hyde Park in the second half of the season, their brutally tough schedule seems to be paying off at the right time for the Champions to make a run breaking them into the rankings and launching them into the 4A playoffs.  

No rest for the weary. Lincoln Park at Lincoln Park is on Thursday. Key game for the Champions. Get there early. Very few seats in Lincoln Park’s gym.

Best of 2024

It’s that time of the years again for my best, and by best, I mean, favorite photos of the year. I always try to limit the number to 5. I shot 163 events this year. Call it 1000 photos each. That’s the 5 best out of 163,000 photos. No problem.

#1 PJ Chambers v. Mount Carmel.

This one is my favorite. Not by a lot, but clearly the best to me. It’s a shot of DePaul Prep’s PJ Chambers in the Rams’ February 12, 2024, game against Mount Carmel at the Tom Winiecki Gym for the Chicago Catholic League Championship. It also turned out to be a preview of the 3A State Championship game as well. Just the look on PJ’s face tells the story of the struggle that was that game.

#2—#5 These are in no particular order of preference.

#2 Pádraic Ó Conaire Statue (Replica), Eyre Square, Galway, Ireland

I just found this walking in the small park just adjacent to the old Great Southern Hotel in Galway. Just a lovely little statue. Pádraic Ó Conaire was renounded Irish writer from the area. The original statue was moved indoors some years ago.

#3. Nick LoGalbo.

This is a photo of Lane Tech head basketball coach Nick LoGalbo. In addition to being a great basketball coach, he is so great to photograph. Always so much expression, always in motion. This is the rare contemplative LoGalbo before a game. Still tons of expression.

#4 Total Exclipse of the Sun.

This was my second chance to photograph an eclipse. I got some good ones in Southern Illinois in 2017. The total eclipse came back to basically the same area in April. I went and I got this one. It’s about as good as I could do without more specialized equipment. It shows the solar flares which turned out way better than I ever hoped. I can’t wait until 2044. Mark your calendars.

#5. Mike Passarella and his team.

I knew when Mike Passarella took over as the DePaul Prep football coach that he would have great success. I didn’t expect it to be a state championship in his fifth or maybe sixth season. He looks like a serious as a heart attack football coach in this photo but he really a very nice man. He couldn’t nicer and more accommodating to me.

#5A. Carol and Dan in front of Lydon’s Bar, Cong, Galway, Ireland.

Not the greatest photo but it just means a great deal to me. A great trip with Carol and Dan.

#5B. DePaul Prep Wins Second State Title.

I was finally able to capture a “signature Kirstin Stickney reaction shot.” Sun-Times photographer Kirstin Stickney is legendary for this kind of shot. I, as you may know, am not. I have been working at it and I finally landed one. Special thanks to the Rams’ Jonas Johnson for a proper celebration to capture.

#5C. DePaul Prep State Finalist Volleyball Team.

There is just something about the photo that tells a story. I can’t help but wonder what the players are saying as they watch their opponent warm up. A special thanks to Rams’ head coach Caroline Gajzler who encouraged me to photograph her team’s games. It was a great adventure learning how to photograph volleyball that ended up in a state tournament. And thanks to the players and their parents for suffering through more than a few not so good photos.

#5D. Four Students at Volleyball State Finals Game.

This one turned out better than I ever imagined. It was a particular favorite of the other judges. I must thank these young ladies. I was not looking to take this photo. I don’t know these girls. They were standing in the front row and asked me to take it. They look great and posed perfectly. The color just pops!

#5E. 30-Second Time Out.

This one is pretty new. I took it early in December during the Rams’ victory over #2 Rich Township at Mount Carmel. The look on DePaul Prep Rams’ Makai Kvamme is gripping. I don’t know what Coach Kleinschmidt was a saying by Makai was listening.

#5F. Kid in a Kleinschmidt Jersey.

Finally, and again, these were in no particular order, the kid in the Tom Kleinschmidt Gordon Tech jersey is classic. What high school kid in any high school has the luck to have and the smarts to wear the high school jersey of his school’s legendary 300 game winning basketball coach? Again, maybe not the best photo ever, just a great subject. Great story about that jersey.

I hope you liked the photos.