[A preview of my Inside Publications story for next week.]
The St. Ignatius Wolfpack defeated the Lane Tech Champions Tuesday 65-60 at Lane claiming victory in what is an unusual rivalry.
The Wolfpack opened a 24-14 lead early in the second quarter and looked to be cruising to a convincing victory on Lane’s home court.
“I realized in the second quarter that once we started trailing that I was not doing enough. So I just locked in and just did whatever I could,” Lane’s standout forward Shaheed Solebo said after the game. He could and he did.
“The guy guarding me was a little slower than I was so I just exploited that. I got to the lane once and they started dropping back. The three opened up and I was just able to find it,” Solebo continued.
Solebo dropped eight unanswered points in the second quarter and the Champions went into the half only done by one point, 29-28.
Chicago Public School Lane Tech College Prep and St. Ignatius would not naturally be thought of as rivals. St. Ignatius is Catholic high school founded in 1870 by the Dutch Jesuit missionary priest Arnold Damen for whom Damen Avenue is named. On the other hand, Lane Tech College Prep is a Chicago Public School in CPS’s White-North Division, which opened in 1908 was once largely a technical school that taught carpentry, cabinet making, welding and electrical shop. In recent years, Lane has become a top notch college preparatory selective enrollment school that competes with St. Ignatius for the very same college bound Chicago grade school children.
“It’s a great rivalry game. We have a shared community. A lot of the kids that come to Ignatius and Lane have the other school as an option,” said St. Ignatius head coach Matt Monroe.
“They go to the same grammar schools; they play on the same travel teams, so there is a lot of familiarity and a lot of friendships between the two. It’s a friendly game but its also a rivalry.” One of the Lane players even has a brother going to St. Ignatius.
And so it played out. The records and the ranks were out the window. “I don’t even pay attention to the [St. Ignatius’ ranking],” Lane’s Solebo continued.
“They are guys just like I am. Same type of player. I am not phased by it. Going against a team like this we had a chip on our shoulder,” said Solebo of the Wolfpack. “Although we did not get the outcome we wanted, it’s a sign we have big things coming.”
Coming out after intermission, the Wolfpack closed ranks. Senior forward Jackson Kotecki shook off his first half funk and his shots started to fall. Senior Richard Baron dialed it up a couple notches and took over guarding Lane’s Shaheed Solebo. Thirteen of Baron’s 21 points came in the fourth quarter to lift the Wolfpack to a 65-60 victory boosting their record to 10-1 heading into York High School’s Jack Tosh Holiday Classic as a favorite.
“It’s a real great luxury having so many talented kids. Any given day, someone can step up and fill the role that the team needs and that goes up and down the entire roster,” Monroe gushed about his team.
But even so, St. Ignatius has a tough road ahead. “The Catholic League Blue from top to bottom is the strongest conference around. Even the teams that are in the White Division are really good. Every single night is a dogfight. Every single night is a game that we need to get up for. Anyone can beat anyone in our conference. So looking ahead there are a lot of challenging games. We look forward to it because we love the competition. We also enjoy testing ourselves against the best,” Monroe said. In addition to No. 9 Ignatius, the Catholic League Blue includes No. 4 St. Rita, No. 6 Brother Rice, No. 11 Mount Carmel, Loyola, Fenwick, Leo and Lane’s immediate neighbor DePaul Prep.
Lane’s Sheheed Solebo led all scorers with his season high 27 points. The Wolfpack’s Richard Baron finished with 21. Phoenix Gill had 17.
One you watch Alex Burstein’s broadcast of the game on Lane’s You Tube channel here.
