[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.
