This weekend was the Chicago Elite Classic, the first big shootout event of the season. Ten years ago, Whitney Young head coach Tyrone Slaughter lamented being in West Virginia for early season shoot out.
“Why don’t we just do this in Chicago?”
The Chicago Elite Classic was born and here we are ten years later. This is my third or fourth one. It’s an excellent chance to see the best area teams and some of the best national teams. If you are even a casual fan of high school basketball, it is a great chance to see high level play. Parking is plentiful. The food is good. The atmosphere is exciting. It was so loud during the Oak Park River Forest v. Fenwick rivalry game that I had to cover my ears. It was great to some teams that I will see again and some teams I probably won’t get to see, at least not until the playoffs.
I didn’t get to see all the games but I asked the other observers there, who frankly know a lot more about it all than I do, what they thought. In notebook style, here we go:
St. Ignatius
The Wolfpack looks even better than last year’s 3A third place finishers. Reggie Ray is an active defender and a scorer in addition to Richard Barron. Phoenix Gill can run the point. It was a big stage for the sophomore. He will grow into the role and become a scorer. Ignatius is one of the Chicago Catholic League Blue contenders.
Mount Carmel
The Caravan had to be the biggest revelation to me. They are just big, strong and fast. They dismantled a very good and well coached, if a little robotronic, Riverside-Brookfield squad. The Caravan has a weakness, I didn’t see it. Another CCL Blue contender.
Benet
The Redwings were likewise a revelation. This is not your father’s Benet team. They are better than the usual disciplined and well coached Gene Heidkamp teams of recent years. This team is fast, athletic and can score. The ESCC favorite for sure.
Simeon
I didn’t see this game.
“Simeon is Simeon,” I was told. Good enough for me. I saw them in the summer. They are just so talented and well coached. They are the best until they are not.
St. Rita
This is the one that is hard to figure. They are loaded. The Mustangs have the top junior in the state; James Brown, Morez Johnson and Nojus Indrusaitis. I saw them during the summer and they looked outstanding.
After Simeon dismantled them 86-59, I asked how did St. Rita look?
“Not good,” I was told.
“They don’t have anyone to bring up the ball,” said the observer.
I guess great players do not necessarily make a great team—yet. The No. 5 Mustangs (2-3) have played a tough opening schedule so far. An opening game eight-point loss to Joliet West, then a convincing win out-of-state over Lanier from Oak Hill, Georgia, a loss to Cardinal Ritter in St. Louis and a drubbling of Yorkville Christians. The loss to Simeon was an eye opener for the Mustangs as the head into the Chicago Catholic League schedule. Montini on Tuesday and then an early season showdown against rival and CCL Blue contender Brother Rice.
Speaking of the Catholic League, as of the Super 25 rankings just released, the CCL Blue has three teams in the top ten; St. Rita at 5, Brother Rice at 6, St. Ignatius at 10. Mount Carmel is perhaps a little underrated at 17. The Blue also has DePaul Prep, Leo and there is always Loyola. Where it goes from here is anyone’s guess.
Joliet West
What does one write about the Chicago Elite Classic finale? The atmosphere was electric. The baselines were full of photographers and videographers. Both the Kenwood Broncos and the Joliet West Tigers were fired up.
There was an early incident in the first quarter between Joliet West’s Jeremy Fears, the number one prospect in this year’s senior clase, and Kenwood’s Darrin Ames, the number four propect in the same senior class. It appeared to me, looking on from the other end of the floor, that as Ames was playing defense on Fears, they got tangled up and they both tumbled to the floor away from the ball after the whistle. As Ames was getting up, Fears scramble to his feet sending Ames back to the floor. One of the referees had enough and called technical fouls on both players.
Foul trouble hampered the Tigers. Jeremy Fears got his fourth foul midway through the third and sat the rest of the quarter. They missed him.
Kenwood just played better in all phases and pulled away from Joliet West for a 72-66 victory.
Lane
I wrote about 4-2 Champions’ victory over Taft yesterday. Champion’s coach Nick LoGalbo was very excited about his young team’s comeback victory. This young team might not be ready for a long run this year, but next year? It would be a remarkable event indeed if Lane could rise to the top of one of the two top CPS conferences, the Red-West/North.
Champions head coach Nick LoGalbo seems energetic enough to make a run at it. It appears from enrollment information on the IHSA website, Chicago’s Lane Technical High School is third largest high school in the state of Illinois and by far the largest high school in the City of Chicago. What other school could be better suited to do it.
Still, will the best athletes be attractive the small town sized high school on the northside without a history of championship, at least in basketball? With the emergence of players like Shaheed Solebo and the Dalton Scantlebury, there is a bright future and a prospect of championships for the Champions.
