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.

Kenwood Survives Lane Tech 82-75

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

By Jack Lydon

No. 1 ranked Kenwood Broncos came up to Addison and Western for a Chicago Public League Red-Shield Division showdown Thursday evening against Lane Tech. Despite a furious third quarter comeback by the Champions, the Broncos hold off the Champions for a 82-75 victory. Broncos improve to 9-0 and 5-0 in the Red-Shield.

With almost a third of the season in the books and with wins over ranked teams like DePaul Prep, Warren Township and Simeon, Kenwood is looking like the best team in the state. Kenwood’s top rated players Devin Cleveland, Aleks Alston, Terrance “Tj” Seals and Amari Edwards have coalesced into a punishing offensive and defensive squad.  

This is what the Lane Tech Champions faced on their home court but Kenwood’s record and star power mattered little. This reporter has been to more than a few rock ‘n roll shows in his day but none was louder and more raucous than Lane’s gym on Thursday. The place was packed with students and parents from both schools. The Lane band was amping up the crowd.

Despite Lane’s 6-6 record so far in the season, this Lane team is as good as I have seen. They have any ton of length—tall players that spread the floor and make teams shoot over them. These Champions play defense and can score inside and outside.

They also have put together the toughest schedule of any school so far in the season. Going into this game, Kenwood was just par for the course competition for the Lane. The Champions have faced five ranked teams, Niles North, DePaul Prep, Curie, St. Ignatius and Kenwood. And that is not to mention that the Champions went to the Gonzaga Shootout in Washington D.C., where the faced national powerhouse teams Bishop Spaulding from Maryland and St. Ignatius of Cleveland, Ohio.

Kenwood jumped out to a 43-33 first half lead. Both teams were scoring. It just seems like every player on Kenwood scored at will.

Even so, last year’s game at Lane against Whitney Young came to mind at the half. The Champions were hanging around in striking distance with the kind of energy of a team that expects to win. That’s what happened last year with the Champions upset Whitney Young 67-51. The energy in the room was very similar.

Lane erased the deficit in the third taking a 51-50 lead with 3:09 left in the quarter powered by two early three-point shots by forward Zach Mazanowski. Mazanowski finished with a career high 31 points against the No. 1 team.

Lane Tech head coach Nick LoGalbo gushed about the senior’s performance. “He’s put in the work. He shows. He’s a division one player. I have been saying it to everyone who will listen. We’ve got guys looking at him now but they better get on him soon. Someone is going to be really lucky to get him,” said LoGalbo.

Eye popping as 31 points is at the high school level, the other Champions contributed at a high level. Senior center Dalton Scantlebury scored 17 points and dominated the paint much of the game. Senior forward Andrew Bartolai added 13 points. It was the Champions highest point total of the season against the best team in the state.

Kenwood was just too good. At one point, they Broncos spread the floor and slowed the tempo down a little. Sophomore shooting guard Devin Cleveland worked the ball into the lane, left then right and pulled up for a jumper that was nothing but net. A Whitney Young type upset was not going to happen against this group.

Kenwood senior center Aleks Alston had 25 points. Cleveland had 24. Transfer from Phillips point guard Amari Edwards had 11. TJ Seals and 10 and Demari Stephens had 11 points. The Champions could not stop the whole team in fourth quarter. The Broncos rallied for the seven- point win and possession of the first place in the Red Shield.

Mazanowski did not quite know his point total after the game, a career high 31 points. “We played phenomenal as a team. Dalton had 17 or 18 himself. All around it was a good game for us,” Zach Mazanowski said.

Amundsen Beats Lane 14-7

Amundsen’s talented senior quarterback Elmir Gjeka reported on Twitter that Amundsen’s 14-7 win over Lane Tech was the first time since 1973, 51 years, that Amundsen defeated Lane Tech. That’s a long time.

The Vikings have been focused on beating Lane every since the disappointing on point loss last year. They had it dialed on Friday afternoon. Running, passing, defense.

This is and excerpt from my story in this week’s Inside—Booster:

The Amundsen Vikings (5-4) defeated the Lane Tech Champions (3-6) on Friday afternoon 14-7, earning themselves a playoff berth. It was the first time the Vikings defeated in the ten years that Amundsen head coach Nick Olson has been coaching the Vikings.

The Vikings lead the Champions 7-0 at the end of the first quarter and added another after a long drive late in the second quarter taking a 14-0 lead into the halftime break. Amundsen burned six minutes off the clock after intercepting Lane’s replacement quarterback on the first drive of the second half.

Lane’s usual starting quarterback Noah Mayra reentered the game halfway through the third quarter. Moving the Champions steadily down the field, Mayra rifled an eighteen-yard touchdown pass to fellow senior wide receiver Julian Vickery to get Lane back in the game 14-7.

The Vikings run game and defense proved too much for the Champions to overcome. Reggie Mitchell ran the ball for first downs and the defense intercepted Mayra midway through the fourth and recovered a Champions’ fumble with 1:13 on the clock lock up the victory and a playoff berth.

Vikings’ head coach Nick Olson was a bit emotional after the game. “We are graduating 15 seniors, this is a special group for me,” he said.  

The toughest playoff draw has to go to Amundsen. The Vikings will play Geneva (8-1) from the DuKane Conference, who are currently ranked #5 in Michael O’Brien’s Super 25 rankings of area schools.

“This will be the best team we have played all season. We are well aware of that. Once you get in the playoffs, everybody is good,” said Amundsen head coach Nick Olson.

“We are gonna just try and do what we have been doing all year and that’s trying to run the ball, stay ahead of the chains and keep the ball away from their offense.”

Amundsen Falls to Simeon 30-14

[Preview of my article in Inside—Booster this week.]

By Jack Lydon

Amundsen had one slip away. A few big plays by Simeon early in the fourth quarter proved the difference. Amundsen dominated quarters one and three. Simeon dominated quarters two and four. The Simeon Wolverines (5-1) defeated the Amundsen Vikings (3-3) 30-14 on Thursday evening at Gately Stadium.

After the Vikings took the opening kickoff, on the first play from scrimmage, Vikings’ junior running back powered up the middle 56 yards for a touchdown. Simeon did not know what hit them.

The Vikings held Simeon after the Wolverines failed to connect on some deep passes. The Vikings took over on their 41-yard line. The Vikings went back to Reggie Mitchell. The junior again took the ball through the middle of Simeon’s defense. This time for 31 yards down to the Wolverines 23-yard line. Add in a few more runs and Mitchell had 102 yards in the first quarter. The first quarter was all Amundsen.

The second quarter went to the Wolverines. Senior quarterback Kaleb Sims scored on fourteen-yard keeper with 3:03 left to bring the Wolverines even 6-6 after the two point conversion attempt failed. The Wolverines added another touchdown late in the half with a 45-yard catch and run by junior wide receiver Cornell Conely. The two-point conversion was good. The score at the half was 14-6 Simeon. 

The third quarter was all Amunden. Literally. The Vikings’ first and only drive last almost all but a minute and a half of third. A fourth and goal ten-yard touchdown pass from Gjeka to Vikings’ sophomore wide receiver Shea O’Conor and a two point conversion brought Amundsen even 14-14 to open the fourth.

The speed of Simeon proved a little too much. A couple big plays by the Wolverines added two touchdowns and two two-point conversions. Simeon sophomore running back James Bell scored from four yards out early in the fourth. Bell added another TD with five minutes left on a 30-yard run to give the Wolverines a 30-14 lead.

Of the big plays that gashed the Vikings late, head coach Nick Olson said, “That’s been our Achille’s heal all year. I think it was second and goal from the thirty-something. We gave up the deep pass down the middle. Our defensive coordinator was calling it out, ‘hey they are going to go across the middle.’ But poor execution. We’ll get back to practice. We’ll have to figure out how to overcome that. We’re three and three. We are still in control of our own destiny. We’ve got three great team ahead of us. We have got to just focus on going 1-0 every week.”

After six games, the season is coming into focus. Obviously, each team is different every year. This year’s Vikings squad is very talented. Elmir Gjeka has always been a leader. Now he has matured into an excellent passer. Junior running back Reggie Mitchell has emerged as a dominant runner capable of taking over games. But the Vikings are not at full strength as they have been in recent years. The Payton game slipped away. Now this Simeon game was winnable but got away.

Excuses are not what Olson does. Only after being asked about his team’s injury plagued season, Olson said, “I have been coaching for ten years. I have never had a year like this. It just seems like every week we are missing four or five key guys. Minor injuries, thank the Lord, but enough to keep them from playing.”

“Every game we have played this year is winnable. We are just not making the plays when we need to. A few plays go the other way and we are right there. There is no quit here at Amundsen. We are not going to quit. We are going to get back to work. We are going to focus on Whitney Young.”

Lincoln Park Edges Lane Tech 3-0 in Overtime

[A preview of my Inside-Booster article for this week.]

By Jack Lydon

Ugly isn’t the only word to describe Lincoln Park’s 3-0 overtime win over Lane Tech at Lane Stadium Friday. Painful, dreadful, tedious, boring, even shocking all work well. Neither team could do anything. Neither run nor pass. Penalties. Turnovers. Even a muffed punt. One team kicked the football just slightly better than the other. That proved to be the different.

The Lions improved their record to 5-0 putting them atop CPS’s Red Division. To do it in this fashion didn’t seem to bother Lions’ head coach Andres Flores.

“I don’t think they crossed the 50 [yard line] did they,” Flores said. “The defense has been playing lights out. We just play a different game every week. Whether it is the offense scoring a bunch of points or if it is the defense picking up the slack or the special team on PAT, we find a way to win this year. I think we blocked [Lane’s field goal to tie] with ten people. Which is the crazy part.”

The game started slow and slowed down. The Champions have been throwing more this year than they have in recent years. But that was not to be today. The wind and the Lions’ pass rush saw to that. There was a strong north wind blowing off Addison Street right in Lane’s face as they started the game working south to north.

Wind or no wind, the Lincoln Park defensive line completely controlled the line of scrimmage. Champions running backs struggled to even get to the line of scrimmage. Lane senior quarterback Noah Mayra was pressured on every pass play, sacked multiple times, intercepted twice and fumbled twice. Lane really struggled.

The only scoring in the game came in overtime. Lincoln Park lost the OT coin toss and ended up with the ball first. Starting at the ten-yard line, the Lions first three plays went nowhere. Two runs and an incomplete pass brought the Lions down to fourth and goal from the four. Flores sent in his kicker to attempt a field goal.

This was something of a controversial call. Even if the kick is good, all Lane would have to do is score a touchdown to win.

“[Lions’ junior] Noah Weiss is a great kicker. I trusted my defense. Defense has been lights out all year. Tonight they played a hell of a game again. I was a little worried because [Lane] can run a little bit. I felt that we bottled them up and shut them down. Hat's off to Lane, but it was our night,” Flores said.

Good decision. Weiss sent the ball through the uprights for the only score of the game. It would have been good from 40 yards.

Lane’s offense entered and took the ball at the 10. On first down, a three-yard gain to the seven. On second down, an inexplicable read option by Noah Myara was swallowed for a three-yard loss back the 10. On third and goal from the 10, Mayra tossed a fade pass to the right side of the endzone that had no chance to be caught.

Fourth and goal from the 10, Lane head coach Dedrick Dewalt sent in the kicking unit to tie the game and force another overtime. The dominant Lincoln Park defensive line would have none of it. A host of Lions collapsed the Lane offense line and blocked the kick to win the game.

Midway through the season, it’s clear that Lincoln Park is the class of the CPL northside teams. In recent years, Taft and Lane have been the top teams on the northside. Amundsen has busted into the top with winning records and playoff appearances. This year the Lions are king of the northside jungle. Okay, Taft is good too having lost only to an 8A school, Stevenson, on the road. Amundsen has two losses and Lane has three losses.

Lincoln Park has a 5-0 record includes wins over Phillips, Lane, Lindblom, Comer and Clark Co-op. The Lions will not face any top southside teams like Morgan Park or Whitney Young this season. Noble/Johnson, Westinghouse, Amundsen and Payton remain for Lincoln Park.

Asked if they can “win out,” Flores said, “We’ll take it one game at a time.”

“We’ve got Payton on the last game of the season. We have had a rivalry [with Payton] for a couple years back and forth. Last year they beat us. Year before that we beat them. They are a good team. Well coached.”

Amundsen Handles Hyde Park 41-18

Amundsen Vikings head coach Nick Olson was not happy after this the 41-18 win over the Hyde Park Thunderbirds on Saturday afternoon. He thought his team took the Thunderbirds too lightly; that the were not ready as they could have been.

I don’t know. The Vikings rallied after and early interception and touchdown by Hyde Park. The Vikings came back and handled the Thunderbirds scoring 41 unanswered points.

The Vikings looked good to me. Junior running back Reggie Mitchell had 156 years rushing and five touchdowns. Quarterback Elmir Gjeka looks confident and in command of the offense.

Coach Olson knows his team better than I do. I believe him when he says that they weren’t as ready as they could have been, but his team handled a pretty talented Hyde Park squad. The Thunderbirds were gassed early in the game but they have some players and they will win games this year despite the 0-3 start.

Amundsen is good. They are going to win a lot of games.

Lane Survives Late Charge by TF South 21-20

The plodding lackluster contest became an unlikely thriller with three quick touchdowns, a made two-pointer and a missed two-pointer all in the final three minutes of the game. The Lane Tech Champions (1-1, 0-0) traveled to Lansing, Illinois to take on the Thornton Fractional South Red Wolves and survive a late comeback by the Red Wolves to win 21-20 Friday night.

Let’s just say that until the final three minutes, this game was not exactly football at it finest. Both teams were plagued by mis-queues, injuries and penalties, and the occasional dustup too. The ineptitude both squads displayed gave way to clutch plays at the end.

Down late 14-6 late in the game, there was no quit in TF South. With three minutes left, Red Wolves’ senior quarterback Nicholas Ford launched a deep ball up the far sideline. Sophomore wide receiver Amari Dukes caught it in stride for a 63-yard touchdown to bring the Wolves to within two points. What looked like an eventual Lane win suddenly was one play away from a tie.

With the game on the line, Ford found his other wide receiver David Nkwogo at the back of the endzone for the two-point conversion to tie the game.

The Lane sideline was stunned. I think the TF South sideline was a little stunned too but cheered and danced all the same.

With 2:35 left on the clock, Lane Tech fielded South’s kickoff and returned it to their own thirty-three-yard line with time to take the lead.

This is not the three yards and a cloud of dust Lane Tech Champions of recent years. On the very next play, senior quarterback Noah Mayra took the shotgun snap and quick rifled a strike down the middle to junior wideout (and baseball player) Alex Lagges. Lagges shock a couple tackles and raced up the Lane sideline for the go-ahead score. The PAT made it 21-14 Lane. 

“This year we have some pretty good skill [players]. That was just a double post to the middle of the field and Alex [Lagges] took it 80 yard (67 actually) for a touchdown,” Lane Tech head coach Dedrick Dewalt said.

“I had the post on that,” Champion’s Alex Lagges said of his winning touchdown after the game. “I just trusted that my quarterback Noah [Mayra] was going to see it, read it. That’s what he did. That’s what we do. Great play call by my coach. He saw the middle was open. We knew if we got the shot, we could make things happen.”

One play and the Champions had the lead back with 2:16 on clock. But still plenty of time left for South. But no time outs for the Red Wolves. A couple plays for small gains took time off the clock. Then Red Wolves QB Ford scrambled and found senior wide receiver Tariq Meggs-Hood underneath the coverage who sprinted up the Lane sideline to the Lane 45-yard line.

With time ticking down to 35 seconds, Ford dropped back and launched a perfect strike to senior RB/WR Christian Streeter at the goal line for another unlikely touchdown against a prevent two deep zone defense to make the score 21-20. This time the South faithful believed it and stadium erupted.

TF South head coach Bob Padjen, never hesitated. They were going for it. Win or lose, the extra points try would decide the game.

With no time outs, the Red Wolves would need run the play quickly. Padjen called a cut back run up the middle from an overloaded and decoy formation. But the quarterback audibled to a Philadelphia Eagles style “tush push” run up the middle from the three-yard line. Initially, it looked like it was working but the Champions defensive line stiffened and stopped the Wolves a half-yard shy of victory.

The Champions move into Chicago Public League play. CPL has created a 16 team Red Division super-conference. Lane will not have to face Kenwood and Simeon this season but will have to face Morgan Park. The games against Whitney Young, Taft and Amundsen give the Champions a chance to prove undeniable mastery of the Northside. Stay tuned.

Lane Wins City Championship 5-3 over Kenwood

It didn’t look good for Lane late in the City Championship game on Monday at Wrigley Field. Kenwood’s senior left-hander Kevari Thunderbird was rolling. He held the Champions scoreless giving up only two hits through five and a third.

Thunderbird hit his pitch count limit with one out in the sixth. It looked bleak for the Champions after Kenwood senior left-hander and center fielder Khamaree Thomas took over for Thunderbird promptly striking out two Champions to keep the shutout going.

But Lane’s head coach Sean Freeman, channeling his inner Jason Heyward, gathered his team during a long delay before the Champions came to bat in the top of the seventh. Not the rain from the Heavens like in Cleveland for the Cubs but an injured umpire stopped the game for an extended period. Freeman rallied his group for one last chance at the City Championship on the big stage.

“I mentioned the 49ers v. the Ravens when the lights went out and the Ravens ended up coming back. I said we are going to do that right here. It ended up being great.”

With one out, junior shortstop Ted Greco walked. Standout right freshman Sebastian Wilson crushed a double to right center advancing Greco to third. Senior Ethan Borggren singled to left scoring Greco.

Then it was Tyler Trapp’s turn. The junior second baseman struggled early in the game with two errors and a strikeout.

“It was a change-up just perfectly down the middle in my perfect spot and I just did everything I know,” said Trapp. He crushed it over the centerfielder’s head to score Wilson and Borggren. Just that quick, the game was tie. Tyler’s celebration at second base was reminiscent of the Cubs’ Anthony Rizzo in the tenth inning of the seventh game of the 2016 World Series.

Keeping it going, Champions’ outfielder Henry Owens walked on four pitches. Sophomore third baseman Ronan Owens crushed a long sacrifice fly to right field advancing Trapp to third.

Henry Owens stole second.  

With two out and men on first and second, catcher Elias Padilla singled scoring two runs to give the Champions a 5-3 lead with the Broncos still to bat.

Winning pitcher senior Oliver Evans stayed in for the bottom of the seventh. Strike out swinging for Kenwood’s Damaurion Butler. One out. Kenwood’s Jimmy Downs struck out swinging as well. Two down.

Kenwood’s clean-up hitter, senior first baseman Savion Flowers chopped a ground ball to first base. Ethan Borggren grabs it beating Flowers to the bag. Wrigley erupted in celebration. The Champions rushed out of the first base dugout onto the field. Hats and gloves flew into the air. Players ran into center field in celebration.

Foul ball.

After things settled down a bit. Sean Freeman walked out through the infield telling his team that the umpires had ruled the grounder a foul ball. The game would go on.

With Flowers back in the box and Evans back on the mound, Flowers hit a high fly ball to left. Champions’ senior Grant Leff gloved it. This time it was over. Champions won the Chicago Public League City Championship at Wrigley Field for the second time in three years. A second celebration ensued.

Of Kenwood pitcher Kevari Thunderbird, Freeman could not say enough. “He is a great pitcher. I tip my cap to him. He was the best player on the field today. I knew that once he hit the limit, if we could get him there, our odds would obviously go up a little bit,” said Freeman, not a man given to exaggeration.

The Lane players showed a maturity well beyond their years. Frankly, Thunderbird had them well under control for most of the game. Even when he got in a jam, as he did in the third and fourth, he got himself out of trouble with strikeouts.

“We were trying to work the counts as deep as we could. We knew that he would be pulled after 115 pitches,” Trapp said. Having committed two errors early in the game, Trapp stayed in the game mentally and physically.

“I just let the errors stay in the past. I can’t change the past. I just keep looking toward the future, toward my next opportunity,” Trapp said.

Next opportunity is the IHSA playoffs that start Wednesday.

[As for the photos, I worked up about three or four times as many as I usually do delaying the posting of them. I figured more is better under these unique circumstances. Not often—okay probably never again—will these players get photos of themselves playing at Wrigley Field.]

Lane Defeats Morgan Park 5-2 in CPL Playoffs

The Lane Tech Champions defeated the Morgan Park Mustangs 5-2 on Thursday afternoon at Kerry Wood Cubs Field. The Campions advance to face Whitney Young on Saturday at noon at UIC’s Les Miller Field at Curtis Granderson Stadium—isn’t that a mouthful.

Lane improved its record to 24-9, 14-0 in conference.

A spirited Morgan Park team made the trek north to face the Champions in the quarterfinal of the Chicago Public League baseball playoffs. The single elimination tournament will culminate in a championship game at Wrigley Field the coming Monday at 5:00 p.m. Admission is free. There is also free parking at the Cubs lot at Clark and Grace.

Lane v. Whitney Young

I went over to Kerry Wood Field Friday evening to catch the Lane v. Whitney Young baseball game. According to Max Preps, the Champions came into the game with an 8-0 record. Lane Head coach Sean Freeman corrected me when I asked about the spotless record saying that they dropped a couple split squad games to out-of-state teams on their Spring Break trip.

The Dolphins jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first. Champions’ senior right handed pitcher Jack Davis gave up three singles, a walk and two runs with two out but settled down pitching five full innings allowing only one earned run with eleven strike outs and two walks.

I couldn’t stay for the whole game so it’s not going to get the full treatment and a story in the Booster. There will be time for that.

Sean Freeman’s Champions have three division one commits: senior first baseman Ethan Borggren (Northwestern), senior center fielder Henry Murray (Boston College) and freshman right fielder Sebastian Wilson. The talent is there for the Champions to have a great season.

It turns out that the Champions fell to Kenwood 6-4 on Saturday in what might be a telling look at the top teams in the Chicago Public League.

With the weather warming up and league play starting, I will be getting out to as many CPL and CCL games as I can.

The photos are not my best. It was coooold and I didn’t give it the full treatment. I am still getting back in the swing of taking baseball photos.

Simeon Edges Lane 53-50

The Lane Tech Champions (17-11, 7-2) hosted reigning IHSA 3A runner-up Simeon Wolverines (14-13, 6-2) in the Chicago Public League quarter-final at Lane Tech on Wednesday. The Champions defeated Whitney Young for the first time in memory on January 24th, could Simeon be next?

None of the Lane Tech fans wanted talk about such a thing as they waited for the Wolverines to arrive at Lane. Lane Tech defeated Perspective ITT and Crane to move up to the CPL playoffs’ quarterfinal and the chance to defeat Simeon. Simeon defeated Dunbar and Brooks and would have to travel up to the Northside to take on Lane.

This is not your father’s Simeon Wolverines. Not even your brothers. Legendary Simeon basketball coach Robert Smith is enjoying his first year of retirement. Last year’s Rubin brothers have moved onto division one college basketball.

Smith’s long time understudy Tim Flowers is at the helm of the Wolverines this year. Flower’s 2023-24 Wolverines start one returning player, Rashad “RJ” McKinnie and four talented but inexperienced sophomores Lorenzo Shields, Kassidy Nelson, Jocahana Pullum and Andre Taylor.

Lane played right with the Wolverines in the first quarter. Lane’s junior center Dalton Scantlebury had 5 points and senior guard Shadeed Solebo had 5 but the Champions trailed 16-14.

The second quarter began to show the Champions weaknesses. If Lane was going to come up with another huge win in this winning season, they would need not only big games from Scantlebury and Solebo, they would need their outside shooters Brandon Labkon and [name redacted] to drain some threes. No threes in the first half for the Champions. Simeon opened a 31-21 lead at the half.

Not much better for the Champions in the third quarter. They were making foul shots and working the boards very well against the young Simeon squad but still trailed by nine at the end of the third. Simeon’s senior leader RJ McKinnie was playing lights with 14 points in the first half and finished with a game high 22 points.

Nick LoGalbo’s Champions never quit. Seven unanswered points by the Lane got them right back in it midway through the fourth quarter. The Champions trailed by only four points and had all the momentum. Simeon was not done. They added free throws at the end keep their lead.  Lane’s [name redacted] and Brandon Labkon added a couple huge buckets after Shaheed Solebo fouled out. The Champions trailed but three in the final seconds and had the ball after a critical Simeon turnover.

It was not to be. A miss and a turnover robbed the Champions of a chance to tie.

It was an emotional win for the Simeon Wolverines who have struggled at time this season.

“It’s been a big road for me. Last year I played with all seniors. It was easy. But this year I have to be more of a leader and lead the younger kids. It’s hard [to take that on]. Everybody wants to beat Simeon,” said Simeon senior guard RJ McKinnie.

Simeon moved on to play Curie in the City Championship semi-final on Thursday but lost to top seed Curie Condors 75-51.

McKinnie lead all scorers with 22. Lane’s Dalton Scantlebury had 15 and Brandon Labkon 14

Lane Tech Defeats Whitney Young 67-51

Preview of my story this week in Inside-Booster.

The biggest win for Lane Tech in decades. The Lane Tech Champions (14-10, 7-2) defeated the Whitney Young Dolphins (12-10, 5-2) 67-51 in a jam-packed crosstown rivalry and conference showdown. No one could remember the last time Lane defeated Young. One would never have known that from the energy in Lane’s gym. Two overflowing student sections and the rest of the gym packed with spectators were rocking at a deafening pitch from before the game even started.

Lane’s senior shooting guard Shaheed Solebo was the story of the first half. He had 11 of the Champions’ 14 first quarter points and kept it up with 11 more points in the second quarter.

“[Shaheed’s] been on a run the last two weeks. He put on a show Monday [against Lincoln Park,] said Lane Tech head coach Nick LoGalbo. Lincoln Park (17-8, 6-3) was ranked #15 coming out of the holiday tournaments but that Champions dropped Lincoln Park 75-64 in the Lion’s tiny (and poorly lit) gym.

“He knew what this game was. He battled and battled the entire game. He was super aggressive for us. He made the kicks when he needed to. He commanded so much attention, it opened things up for other guys especially in the second half. He was awesome,” LoGalbo said of Solebo.

Solebo knew what this game was and was determined to beat Whitney Young in his last try at them. This game had more intensity a playoff game. It was personal. The two student sections cheered back and forth at each other. The Champions and their fans were sick of losing to Whitney Young and this was the night to end it. The players were focused but a little tight to open the game missing usually makable shots.

“We had high expectations coming in. We had a preseason ranking which did wonders for our team’s ego. We struggled through injuries. We really didn’t have our team the whole month of December with Dalton being out,” LoGalbo said.

The Champions and their big man in the middle, junior center Dalton Scantlebury, did a great job limiting Whitney Young to one shot in the first half.

“That’s been an all-season struggle. I was really impressed with the way we rebounded as a team. We have struggled this season boxing out as a unit. I get a majority of our rebounds so sometimes other people lag a little. Today we all really come together,” Scantlebury said.

Despite the Solebo’s huge first half, Lane went into halftime only up 31-26. Halftime adjustments by Whitney Young’s legendary coach Tyrone Slaughter might spell disaster for the Champions who might struggle to keep up their intensity in the second half.

“Dalton came out a little flat. He missed some [shots] that he has been putting in for us pretty consistently,” LoGalbo said of Scantlebury.

Scantlebury proved his place as a top public league player in the second half. Dalton dropped a three-point play inside early in the third quarter freeing up Solebo to keep up his scoring.

“Best one-two punch in the City when those two guys are playing well together,” LoGalbo said about Solebo and Scantlebury.

The second half was not all Solebo and Scantlebury. Timely open three-pointers from senior guard [name redacted] and senior guard Jackson Labkon took the life out of any third quarter comeback by the Dolphins. Junior guard Kenneth Rosario added a three-pointer to start the fourth quarter.

Even so, the Dolphins were hanging around keeping the Champions’ lead under ten points.

“We had [the lead] to ten or eleven and just didn’t turn the corner until the fourth quarter. That is a sign of what we are still trying to prove. If we are going to be the team we say we want to be we have got to smell the blood in the water and put them away,” LoGalbo said after the game.

This was Lane’s night. The energy in the gym never dissipated. There would be no let down. Good teams finish. And that’s what these Champions did.

“We felt like let’s get into our delay game then they will start fouling. We will get some easy ones at the line. At about thirty seconds, we would run our stuff. If it is not there on the back door, let’s just reset. And that’s what we did. One time we got in the set and we scored. The other times we got a few back doors and it worked out,” said LoGalbo.

The last points were scored by Whitney Young with 1:18 left in the game. They would get no closer with the final score 67-51. It was a convincing win for Lane over Whitney Young. One that was decades in the making.

Even with the contributions of Scantlebury and timely threes by Labkon and Rosario, make no mistake, it was the force of will and the 34 points by senior standout Shaheed Solebo that brought home the historic victory to Lane. His presence, production and leadership on the floor made the difference.

“We knew how good we were since last Spring. We knew it. Now we are just showing everybody else,” said Shaheed Solebo.   

Curie Defeats Kenwood 68-49

Kenwood led 28-24 at halftime only to be outscored 28-4 in the third quarter. I don’t know what’s happened to Kenwood but they look like a whole different team from the one I saw play Thornton at the Chicago Elite Classic.

These are the photos. Curie’s gym is a great place to photograph a game. The light is pretty good. The gym in colorful. And otherwise a great atmosphere.

Lane Tech Defeats St. Ignatius 57-51

Preview of my article in the Inside Booster:

The Lane Tech Champions (8-4, 3-1) found their way back, back from an early season injury to a key player and back from twelve-point deficit at the end of the first quarter. The Champion defeated the St. Ignatius Wolfpack (6-6, 0-2) 57-51 at St. Ignatius on Tuesday.

If there can be an important game early in season, this one sure felt like one. Both the Wolfpack and the Champions opened the season as ranked teams, #10 and #20 respectively. Both have lost their ranking after losing some games.

A win for the Wolfpack against a quality opponent such as Lane would stop their slide after a brutally difficult opening season schedule resulted in five losses to ranked teams.

A win for the Champions would bring them back from a couple losses, including an unexpected conference loss to Payton College Prep, and the absence for key contributor junior center Dalton Scantlebury. Scantlebury suffered a foot injury prior to the Payton game and has missed a few games.

The Wolfpack opened the game looking like a top ten team. The 13-0 scoring run on the Champions at the end of the first quarter made the game appear that it might not be close and the loss of Scantlebury might mean more than it was hoped. 18-6 Wolfpack at the end of the first quarter.

Lane Tech did not panic. Too well coached for that. They started playing defense. Funny how when a team starts playing defense, their shots start to fall. The Champions put together a run of their own. 25-21 St. Ignatius at the half.

Back and forth through the third and into the fourth. With time ticking down late in the fourth quarter, big players come up big. Lane’s senior Shaheed Solebo, who is considered one of the top players in the class of 2024, poured in two three-pointers from the baseline that landed like bombs erupting in the gym and put the Champions ahead for good. The Wolfpack continued to battle with plenty of time left to get the lead back but only managed three more points. The Champions made their free throws and won 51-51.

“Something just turned on. I knew we needed to win the game. Those threes might be the best [three-pointers] I have’ve had all season. I was ready to shoot. I knew those were going in,” Solebo said of the three-pointers.

Of the defensive gem pitched by the Champion, Solebo said, “Coming out after the half, we knew that stops (pointless possessions by St. Ignatius) would win us the game. We knew they were overloading the weakside. We started talking more. We started calling out screens and switching more. We played more aggressive with hands up. We just locked in on defense.”    

“It’s a big win, a team in our sectional, great program. We talked about just trying to find our identity. Dalton [Scantlebury] was such a big part of our identity early for the first six games. Now we have had six games without him. We’ve had some guys step up and do different things for us. Zack [Mazanowski] who is a wing plays [center]. Dylan [Pepper] who’s a wing plays [center,]” Lane head coach Nick LoGalbo said after the game.

Big win for sure but the season is just beginning. The Champions will face St. Louis, Missouri powerhouse basketball program Chaminade College Prep next.

“Frank Bennett, [Chaminade’s] head coach, and I coached in USA Basketball Nike Hoops Summit this past spring. We have run camps together in USA Basketball for years. We are two very like-minded individuals. We have been talking about doing this for a while. We finally got it in the books. We are going to see them next year,” said LoGalbo.

Then onto the Hinsdale Central Holiday Classic for the Champions. This will be the first appearance at Hinsdale where they could face a rematch with neighbor and newfound rival, DePaul Prep Rams on Friday, December 29.

DePaul Prep Defeats Lane Tech 60-49 at Chicago Elite Classic

A preview of this week’s article in the Inside Booster:

The DePaul Prep Rams (6-0, 1-0) defeated the Lane Tech Champions 60-49 in the Chicago Elite Classic on Friday night at UIC’s Credit Union 1 Arena.

The Rams fell behind big time to a Champions squad that was firing on all cylinders. Lane Tech head coach Nick LoGalbo had his Champions were ready to play. Playing aggressive defense and taking to ball inside to Lane’s standout junior center Dalton Scantlebury, who had nine points in the first quarter alone and finishing with a team high sixteen points, the Champions could do nothing wrong. They held a 22-5 lead until DePaul Prep’s Gus Donahue drained a three-pointer from the baseline to make the score 22-8 at the end of the first quarter.

“Our energy coming into the game was obviously very high. DePaul being about 500 feet from our campus, there is a bit of bad blood there,” said Scantlebury. 

“We did some things with our scouting that was different from what they have seen on film and that was by design. We were locked into what we needed to do to attack them,” said Lane head coach Nick LoGalbo.

The Champions went right at the Rams. They got the ball into Scantlebury who scored three straight buckets. That freed up the Champions’ star player Shaheed Solebo who poured in eight points of his own. The Rams were on the ropes.

Lane and DePaul Prep, the successor to long time Gordon Tech high school which was just across the Chicago River from Lane, have been neighbors for decades but not exactly rivals. Now with Gordon becoming DePaul Prep and moving from the Fr. Gordon Campus into the old Devry College building immediately south for Lane, it may be that the rivalry is growing.

DePaul Prep is in the Chicago Catholic League and Lane is in the Chicago Public League. Their paths don’t cross often in competition. They have met in basketball only twice in recent years with DePaul coming out on top in 2015 and 2018 in the championship games of the Battle of the Bridge Thanksgiving tournament, a tournament jointly hosted by the two schools.

It wasn’t always that way. The schools faced off in the 1980 state playoff semi-final game at Lane which the Rams won 15 to 8 going on to win the Gordon Tech’s only state championship in football. The schools played in basketball a few times in the early 2000’s in tournaments with Lane winning three in a row. Before that it was Gordon Tech had the edge winning eight of ten matchups dating back to 1961.

Given Scantlebury’s comment and the fact that the players know each other pretty well from playing with and against each other during the summer, have a rivalry growing. Plus the fact that the Rams won a state basketball championship that last year doesn’t appear to sit too well with the Lane players. The rivalry looks to be heating up.

The Chicago Elite Classic has spice things up in an early season marquis matchup pitting the two programs which are gaining some attention.

This huge early deficit is not part of the typical game plan for Tom Kleinschmidt formula wins. His teams are supposed to grab an early first quarter lead, survive a second quarter comeback by the opponent, build a lead in the third quarter and finish the fourth quarter with rebounds and free throws.

The plan had to be different on Friday night but not the result.  

“We weren’t ready to play. Defensively, which is our strong point, we were not is sync. When they started making shots, we got shook. We got punched in the face. We had to regroup a little bit in the second quarter,” said DePaul Prep head coach Tom Kleinschmit, himself a Gordon Tech grad well acquainted with the neighboring city size school across the Chicago River then and now across a parking lot.

At the start of the second quarter, Kleinschmidt dialed up a three-quarter court press that took the Champions out of what they were doing. 

“They went without a bucket for about six minutes. [We] cut it in have and we had a enough will in the second half to hang on,” Kleinschmidt say.

The Rams did more than cut the lead in half, they all but erased Lane’s huge lead in the second quarter outscoring the Champions 20 to 9 trailing 31-28 at the half.

“Early they were loading up on Dalton [Scantlebury] and we had really good weakside action. Once we started seeing the pressure, we weren’t as aware and probably a little tired. The weakside action stopped happening. We had some turnovers and just not great shots,” LoGalbo said.

It was more than just dialing up a press. Kleinschmidt new his advantage and played it.

“We thought we were a little deeper at the guard spots and we wanted to wear them down. They came out excellent; fantastic job by Lane coming out. But with our experience at guard and out depth at guard, if we could pressure them for 32 minutes, I thought we could get our hands on some live ball turnovers and that’s what happened,” Kleinschmidt added.

That experience and skill at the guard position showed in the end. Rams senior guard PJ Chambers, a product of Bell School, just a few blocks from both Lane and DePaul Prep, came alive in the second half. He led all scorers with twenty-two points including nine free throws in ten attempts that put the game out of reach in the fourth quarter. Part of that guard advantage was AJ Chambers, PJ’s sophomore brother, who had three points.

The Rams’ senior center Jaylan McElroy, who survived a little foul trouble in the first half but was ably spelled by sophomore forward Rashaun Porter, finished with twelve points.

I would tell you what is next for these two programs but I haven’t thought much past this game. It’s been fast and furious start to season. Time to take a breath.

But stay tuned. The season just started.

Niles North Edges Lane Tech 63-61 at the Battle of the Bridge.

This was a game. The ranked against the should be ranked. Lane came into the game ranked at #20 in the Sun-Times Super 25. Niles North is ranked but the topic of discussion in the “No Shot Clock'“ podcast this week was that they will be. Maybe sooner rather than later.

Niles North junior guard Yaris Irby was a revelation. He was every bit as impactful as Lane’s D1 prospect senior guard Shaheed Solebo.

Niles North came out doing what they wanted to do. They played up tempo and scored in transition. Lane’s length gave the Vikings fits. No problem; they just had Irby and Reid Olson pour in some threes and you’ve got a ten lead at the end of the 1st quarter.

“And we were playing the pace we wanted to play at. Playing fast. We were getting up and down. That was in our favor. The game slowed down in that second quarter,” Niles North coach Glenn Olson said after the game.

Yes it did. If there is anything Lane’s head coach can to it’s fire up his Champions. It was like the Champions turned up the speed and intensity 100%. No more full court offense for rhe Vikings, The Champions used there inside size and seemed to score helped by a couple threes from Dylan Pepper and one from Shaheed Solebo.

The second half was back and forth battle. Very even half with two excellent teams. Niles North had just a little bit more.

Vikings 63, Champions 61.

Lane Tech Handles Jones 60-40 in the Battle of the Bridge Opener

The Lane Tech Champions opened the season against the Jones College Prep Eagles with an impressive 60-41 victory at the 2023 Annual Battle of the Bridge Tournament.

The Champions come into the season as a ranked team, #20 in the Sun-Times Super 25, for the first time that I can remember. There are high expectations for the Champions who feature two of the top rated players in the area, senior guard Shaheed Solebo and junior foward/center Dalton Scantlebury.

I wasn’t planning a full story on this game. We will have to save that for Friday’s championship game. I also took some photos at the barnburner between the Champions and the Niles North Vikings. I will post those photos shortly.

Basketball Season is Here

Basketball is here. From now until the state finals on March 16th next year, we’ll have four and a half months of tournaments, high-profile shootouts, league play, non-conference matchups and basically just fun and excitement.

This year is a little different than most. I do most more my shooting and coverage of the DePaul Prep Rams who are coming off a 2A state championship. This is new for me. No team that I have ever regularly covered or even been a fan of has won a state championship.

What makes this really interesting is that the Rams haven’t should still be very good. Gone are Maurice Thomas and Payton Kamin. But Rob Walls and Jonas Johnson both of whom had championship experience should fill in nicely.

And the other team I cover often, the Lane Tech Champions, look to have their best season in a long time. Led by Shaheed Solebo and junior power forward Dalton Scantlebury, the Champions and their coach Nick LoGalbo are ranked #20 in the Sun-Times Super 25. The expectations are high for the Champions.

We will get an early chance to figure out the Champions. They will face good teams in Niles North and either DePaul Prep or Notre Dame in the Battle of the Bridge, the Thanksgiving tournament hosted by Lane and DePaul Prep. Maybe this will be their year to take home a win in the tournament.

The Battle of the Bridge Tournament dates back to 2014, the first season after Gordon Tech changed its name to DePaul Prep. I could only find the results of the Battle of the Bridge going back to 2018. The 8 to 18 website is offline after its purchase by another company so the old Gordon Tech records are only longer easily available.

So here we go. Enjoy. It goes by fast.

Amundsen Falls to Belvidere North 38-20

By Jack Lydon

 

The half time score was Belvidere North 17, Amundsen 0.

With the halftime score Belvidern North 17 and Amundsen 0, Amundsen head football coach Nick Olson said on the sideline just before the start of the second half, “Twenty-one to seventeen. Write it down, twenty-one to seventeen is the final score.”

He said it such conviction, and given the enthusiasm of his players, this reporter wasn’t sure he was wrong.

He was right about the Amundsen part, just not the Belvidere North part. The Amundsen Vikings lost to the Belvidere North 38-20 on Friday night in IHSA 6A first round playoff game.

As has been the case in recent games with the Vikings, early mistakes put them behind. Behind 7-0 after Belvidere North scored on 27-yard run around the left end by Belvidere North senior running back Joseph Brown, the Vikings were moving the ball when mishap struck.

With first and ten on their own thirty-seven, Amundsen sophomore quarterback Smith Beeson took the snap and handed the ball to the receiver in motion, except the receiver didn’t take it. Beeson dutifully continued with his fake dive up the middle. But the ball was left behind by both would be runners. No one on field seemed to notice the ball lying on the turf at midfield.  

After what felt like a prison sentence, the Belvidere North defenders noticed and jumped on the ball.

It wasn’t the end. The Vikings defense held after the turnover but they couldn’t hold on the next drive. The Blue Thunder scored a second touchdown on a two-yard quarterback sneak with 3:27 left in the first quarter. The Vikings drove the field late in the second quarter but missed a field goal try.

Getting the ball back with under a minute to go in the half, the Blue Thunder and moved into Amundsen territory for their own field goal try. Alan Perez’s 38 yarder was good making the halftime score 17-0.

The third quarter was all Belvidere who brought the score to 31-0.

The remarkable part about this whole game was that there was no quit in Amundsen at any point. Down 31-0 late in the third quarter and the game clearly out of reach, Nick Olson’s Vikings were playing with the same focus and energy they had when they off the bus.

The wind died down a little in the fourth quarter and Amundsen junior quarterback Elmir Gjeka connected on a beautiful deep ball to junior wide receiver Edwin Soto who raced up the Amundsen sideline for a 68-yard touchdown.

The Vikings were not done and added two more touchdowns bringing the final score to 38-20.

The mood of the Amundsen Vikings and their fired-up coach Nick Olson after the game was parts angry, respectful, defiant and wanting a rematch, like a boxer wanting to keep fighting after having been knocked down.

“They came out and they executed. We were just sloppy on tackling tonight. Another week of poor execution,” Olson said after the game.

“I felt really good about the week of practice. The kids really responded from the lost [to Lane] last Friday night. My fellow coaches and I had a really good game plan. Tonight came down to missed tackles and missed opportunities.”

Belvidere North made few mistakes and knew what they wanted to do—run the ball. That they did.

“They passed it a hand full of times. We knew they ran a Wing T offense. They wanted to pound the rock and run it down our throat,” Olson continued.

“We felt like we had a really good game plan to stop it. Our players were there. Their players made the plays. That’s what it came down to.”

The Vikings have a bright future. “We finished in fifth play [in the sixteen team] Red Division, just behind Lane. They thought we would just come [into the Red] and get walked on. We played a lot of Blue and White [division] football over the last ten years. We are playing against 7A and 8A schools, Taft and Lane Tech, that have almost triple our enrollment,” Olson said about moving up into the CPL Red Division.

“But we are not scared of hard work here at Amundsen. Our message in the off season is ‘close the gap.’ We know other teams are going to have more players. We know other teams are going to have better athletes. We are going to close the gap by working really hard.”

Belvidere North moves on to the second round and will face either Wauconda or Grant.

Amundsen moves on to the Prep Bowl playoffs next week.

One can find another story and photos from the game at: https://www.rrstar.com/picture-gallery/sports/2023/10/28/photos-belvidere-high-school-football-defeats-amundsen-38-20/71357151007/