Riverside-Brookfield Summer Shootout 2024

The Riverside-Brookfield Summer Shootout this past weekend was a good look at teams in advance this year’s upcoming tournament. I mostly cover the Chicago Catholic League and the Chicago Public League so I wanted to get a look at as many of those teams as I could. But I could only be there on Friday.

I got a look at DePaul Prep in games against Lake Zurich and DeLaSalle. The Rams have plugged in junior guard/wing Rykan Woo, a transfer from Whitney Young. The Rams return Makai Kvamme, AJ Chambers, Rob Walls and Rashawn Porter. They should pick up where they left off.

The Lane Tech Champions also looked like they picked up where they left off. Despite losing Shaheed Solebo to graduation, the Champions return Dalton Scantlebury, a top player in the 2025 class. The returning group of seniors, Braydon Rosenkrantz, Drew Bartoli, Mike Remotigue and Zach Mazanowski. Despite a close lose to Simeon in their first game, the Champions looked good.

The St. Ignatius Wolfpack looked very good against East St. Louis. Returning top player Phoenix Gill looked bigger, stronger and faster. A new group of starters, make this pack of wolves appear especially dangerous in the coming season.

I saw DeLaSalle against DePaul Prep. Meteors coach Gary DeCesare will have this talent group ready. They looked good but not good enough against the Rams.

I saw the first half of St. Laurence against Glenbard West. Jason Opeka had his Hilltoppers playing their 1-3-1 defense that was giving the talented group of Vikings, lead be returning EJ Mosley, some trouble. I didn’t get a good chance to see much of what Roshawn Russell and this Vikings will have in store for the league this winter. I asked one observer about St. Laurence. He said, “We’ll see.”

I also got a look at El Paso-Gridley. A newcomer to the R-B, the Comets look to show off their top performer Jonah Funk. The 6-9 forward didn’t dominate and played on the perimeter more that I expected. The 2-A Comets were overmatched in the game I some them play against DeKalb. It’s difficult to say how well the Comets will fair this season even with Funk. But I got a look at Funk, he will dominate the Comets conference opponents. I intend to get down to El Paso at least once this year to see Funk play, if he stays in El Paso.

I also got a look at Lou Adams’ Rich Township squad. I figured it was only a matter of time before Adams working Rich into a top team. That time appears to have arrived. Look for Rich to make a splash.

I got a look at Benet. The Redwings look special even without one of last year’s top contributor, Gabe Sularski. Sularski a couple court’s over after returning to his home town Lemont team. Sularski had a couple chippy exchanges with Whitney Young’s Antonio Munoz in their matchup.

Whitney Young is, well, Whitney Young. They will be very good as usual—maybe special. Antonio Munoz looks itching to get after a state title.

So those are my impressions of Friday. Here are a few photos from the day.

Waubonsie Valley Handles Plainfield East 65-35

I went out to Waubonsie Valley high school in Aurora to see the fourth ranked and undefeated Warriors take on conference opponent Plainfield East. I was taking pictures so I couldn’t do much more than keep track of the score but I am quite sure that Plainfield East had more turnovers in the first half than they had shots. Plainfield East did not play well.

Waubonsie Valley made them pay. The Warriors finished on layups and a couple dunks, hit some threes and showed some impressive ball movement.

I can’t say I was particularly impressed with Waubonsie’s defense. They opposed shots but they did regularly give up penetration in the paint. East’s shots mostly missed.

The Warriors handled East 65-35 in a game that lasted little more than an hour.

I wanted to see if Waubonsie Valley is really good given its gaudy win-loss record or if they just haven’t played anybody. I looked through the Warrior’s schedule. They haven’t played a ranked team but they have beaten a very good Normal Community team that is not part of Michael O’Brien’s Chicago area rankings. I saw Normal Community just edge DePaul Prep at the When Sides Collide shootout last weekend. They are big and quite good. Even so our plucky DePaul Prep Rams teams very nearly defeated Normal so I would not say Normal is a great team.

I have seen Curie, Homewood-Flossmoor and Thornton, the teams that rank ahead of Waubonsie Valley. Waubonsie is not as good as any of those teams.

As for the teams behind Waubonsie, Mount Carmel, Benet, Bloom, Downers Grove North, Warren, DePaul Prep and Brother Rice. I would have to say that most of these teams are as good or better than Waubonsie.

In a week, we will get a chance to see how good Waubonsie is when they take on #12 Bollingbrook. Mark your calendars.

That being written, 22-0 is impressive. They deserve the high rank. Going undefeated in any league, in any sport, in any conference is hard, hard, hard to do. So #4 they are and so they should stay. At least until we see how they do against Bolingbrook.

My Photos from DePaul Prep v. Notre Dame IHSA 2A Third Place Game

The DePaul Prep Rams took on the Notre Dame Raider (Quincy) in the IHSA 2A Third Place game at the Peoria Chiefs’ Dozer Park. Unfortunately, the Rams came up on the short of end of the crappy scoreboard the Dozer. 7-2.

Even so, it was great experience. It was a little surprise how few members of the press covered the finals. No one except me from Chicago and guy from the St. Louis Post Dispatch, Garen Vartanian, his story is here: https://ca.sports.yahoo.com/news/columbia-rolls-state-championship-game-230351543.html. It appeared in the Post Dispatch first but its behind a pay wall now). There were a couple guys from Shaw Media covering the 1A games. Maybe it’s just the lack of sports coverage in general or maybe it’s just that high school baseball does not generate a lot of interest.

Nevertheless, it did happened. My photos will prove it. Here are the photos from the third place game.

My last event of the school year. God willing I will be back in the fall.

Photo Gallery from DePaul Prep's Catholic Cup Cross Country Invitational

Saturday, September 10, 2022, DePaul Prep hosted its Catholic Cup cross country invitational meet. No one seemed to know how long Gordon Tech/DePaul Prep has been running this cross country meet at Horner Park. The first time I covered it was 2012. It was going on well before that.

Saturday was bigger and better than ever. And DePaul Prep’s Mac Kittrell won the boys varsity race by a wide margin.

I included a photo from the 2012 cross country meet at the end of the gallery. See if you can recognize one the runners pictured in the photo.

Antioch Edges Ridgewood 48-46

The Antioch Sequoits (10-16, 6-7) traveled down to Norridge to take on the Ridgewood Rebels (3-21, 2-7) Saturday afternoon. Antioch’s first year head coach Sean Connor, former sophomore coach and varsity assistant to Chicago’s DePaul Prep, was looking to schedule a game to fill in for a game lost to COVID. Chris Mroz’ team at Ridgewood fit the bill.

Ridgewood worked up a lead slowing through the game. The Rebels led by eight early in the fourth quarter. A couple quick three points brought the Sequoits back. Foul shots erased the deficit and built a small lead.

I have seen Seen Connor coach quite a few games. I have never seen one of his teams blow a lead. Saturday’s game reminded me of Friday’s DePaul Prep game. Tom Kleinschmidt’s DePaul Prep Rams got a small lead on St. Rita in the third quarter. His Rams handled the ball well, killed clock and made their foul shots.

That’s what Sean’s Sequoits did on Saturday afternoon at Ridgewood. They got a small lead and kept it.

Sequoits 48, Rebels 46.

DeLaSalle Defeats DePaul Prep 40-37

The DePaul Prep Rams (3-1, 10-2) fell to the DeLaSalle Meteors (0-3, 4-13) Friday evening (January 7, 2022) 40-37 at the Tom Winiecki Gym.

The Rams were without their head coach Tom Kleinschmidt but were ably led for the evening by assistant coach Michael Sneed. Coach Kleinschmidt is expected back for tomorrow’s Steve Pappas Shootout.

The Meteors came out shooting well and jumped out to an early first quarter lead on the strength of three three-pointers. At the start of the second quarter it looked like the Rams might do what they usually do—pull ahead but despite taking a 19-16 lead, the Rams could not hold their lead.

DeLaSalle’s coach Gary DeCesare is just one of those coaches that can impact a game by the shear force of his will. Maybe it’s just me, but he is as much fun to watch as the action on the court. He returned to coaching in the Chicago Catholic League this year after coaching out of state last season. He formerly coached at St. Rita where he met with considerable success during his tenure. I caught up with him after the game.

“DePaul’s a great program. They were the number one team in the state last year and those kids that played tonight were on that team; so they know how to win,” DeCesare said.

“For our program, taking over, trying to change the culture, we are learning how to win. We played some really tough competition. Our last seven games have been out-of-state. We played in [Las] Vegas and Arkansas. We went 0-7. I told the kids when you come back, you are going to meet teams just like we played. Everybody in the Catholic League is good and well coached. We’ll be prepared.”

As so they were.

They came ready to play. There were precious few inside buckets for the Rams. DePaul’s senior center Dylan Arnett had difficulty getting the ball inside. And when he did, he was mobbed.

“Dylan’s a really good player. We have some bigs and I told everybody, ‘Use your fouls. Use all five fouls.’ We have three guys that are 6’6” or better. We gotta put a body on him and be physical. We know he is physical. Every time he touches the ball, he has to earn his points.

Despite Arnett being roughed up, the Rams were always within striking distance. With 10 seconds to go and only down two, the Rams got a turnover and had a chance to win with a three or to tie with a bucket in the paint.

It wasn’t to be. The Rams turned it over with a few seconds left without getting up a shot. A foul with 1.8 to play lead to a DeLaSalle made free throw making the final 40-37.

The Rams host the Steve Pappas Shootout on Saturday (January 8, 2022) and will take on Homewood-Flossmoor.  

As for the photos, I tried something a little different. I used a 50mm, f1.8 prime lens on a second camera body instead of the usual 24-70mm, f2.8. I wanted to do something different. I don’t think it made any difference. At least know I know.

DePaul Prep Defeats St. Joseph in Last Game

At the strange abrupt end to the COVID football season, I photographed the DePaul Prep Rams football game against the St. Joseph Chargers. It was the last ever football game for St. Joseph High School. The school administration announced earlier that week that the school would close at the end of the school year.

DePaul Prep defeated St. Joseph 44-0, on April 23, 2021. Three early interceptions of St. Joe’s replacement quarterback doomed the Chargers. The Chargers fought hard but the Rams dominated the undermanned Chargers in all phases.

It was an emotional game. I spent a lot of time photographing from the St. Joe’s sideline. I wanted to document the last game as best I could. I have been going to St. Joe’s basketball and football games in 1977 when I was a freshman at St. Viator. Joe’s was in the ESCC then. I distinctly remember Isiah Thomas playing as a senior in St. Viator’s Patrick Cahill Gym when Isiah and legendary coach Joe Pingatore were on their way to a state championship.

Fast forward to recent years when my son Dan played football and basketball at Gordon/DePaul; I have seen many games against St. Joe’s.

It’s always sad when a school closes, especially a Catholic school. I have also liked and respected the people at St. Joseph. I wish them well.

As for the photos, I apologize that it took me so long to get these up. I was writing stories for the Inside Publications in the Spring and I just did not have enough time to do that and photograph non-story games.

A DePaul Prep player inquired about the photos and I realized although I have processed them some time after the game, I never posted them to my website. So here they are better late than never.

I hope you like the photos.

St. Ignatius Upsets DePaul Prep 56-54 in Sectional Semi-final

The St. Ignatius Wolfpack defeated the DePaul Prep Rams on Wednesday evening (March 11, 2020) to win a IHSA 3A sectional semi-final 56-54.

I did not post these photos right after the game. Frankly, I did not know what to write. It was an abrupt and unexpected end to the season, to the whole season, for everyone. The next day, the IHSA pulled the plug on high schools sports because of the global pandemic.

No more playoffs. No state championship tournaments. That’s it. Done. Over. Wait ‘til next year. I suppose it had to be.

I may, or may not, have more to write about the DePaul Prep season. It seems people actually read this idiot blog so perhaps I ought to be a little more circumspect with sharing my opinions. Plus, I don’t know what to write at the moment anyway. Kind of uncharted territory when the team has a great season, an historic season and one is disappointed just because you did not to win a state championship.

As for the photos, I have never liked the light at St. Ignatius. Not enough light and it is just too yellow in there. I can never get the white balance correct.

It was great to see the young St. Ignatius student photographer Luke Hales at the game. Luke is a high school senior and takes amazing photographs. You can see his photos from the same game here and judge for yourself. I have really enjoyed seeing his “in with the team” perspective. I look forward to seeing his photos in the future.

But I will write this. Thank you DePaul Prep. I hesitate to name names because I would have to far too many people to mention. I greatly enjoyed just coming to the games and watching excellent high school basketball. Thanks for the opportunity to get work on my craft, at your expense most of the time. Thank you for being so nice about it and making me feel welcome and appreciated.

In the words of our erstwhile leader and beloved Ram for life, Paul Chabura:

As always, Go Rams!

IHSA Boys Playoff Weekend Recap

We are a week separated from the IHSA 3A and 4A Boys Playoffs now and I am now getting around to the recap. I spent last Friday and Saturday in Peoria photographing as many games as I could.

I found out one cannot photograph and process all the games in real time. Two games per day is about all I can do and get galleries and stories up on a timely fashion.

As for the games themselves, they did not disappoint. Well, except for the first game, where m y DePaul Prep lost to Bogan. The Rams had good shots early but they would not fall. Credit to Bogan. They put on a stellar defense effort basically shutting down everyone on DePaul except Perry Cowen. After that East St. Louis impressed against a tough and scrappy Peoria Manual team in a very entertaining battle.

4A was especially fun. I have seen Evanston five times this year and a couple times last year. Very good and entertaining team. Extremely well coached. Sr. guard Jaheim Holden has to be one of the most exciting players I have seen in the past few years. The Wildkits handles Rochford East who I had not seen. Evanston posses so many matchup problems. Rockford constantly lost track of sophomore Blake Peters and he made them pay. Peters was 7 for 8 from beyond the arc—just deadly.

Then the biggest game of the season so far, Curie v. Beilleville West. E.J. Liddell is better than advertised. Gonna be star at the next level. He has it all. Curie lost composure at the end. The Condors just ran out magic and one by one their best players fouled out.

DePaul Prep refocused and came out wanting to end the season with a win in the 3A Third Place game on Saturday morning. They did just that, soundly defeating a Peoria Manuel team that did not want to be there.

Frankly, I was busy working on photos of the DePaul v. Manuel game and I didn’t see much of the 4A Third Place game. As I recall, Curie won but what I remember is that they didn’t want to be there eight.

Then the premier Evanston v. Belleville West 4A Championship on Saturday night. What a game! It was tough for the Maroons to matchup against Evanston early. The Wildkits came out running and opened a seven point half time lead. As good as the Wildkits looked, Belleville West was playing Evanston’s game and stayed right with the Kits. One just got the feeling at the half that the Maroons would overcome.

That they did. No three pointers for Blake Peters. E.J. Liddell got the ball inside and either scored or dished it off for an easy backdoor bucket. The Maroons overcame and pulled away. It was quite a show.

And then, all the sudden, it was over. Time to go back to Chicago. It just left me wanting more.

Thanks to all for another wonderful high school basketball season. The R-B summer tournament will be here soon. Then the Thanksgiving tournaments. See you then.

As for the photos, these are a few good ones I got over both days. I hope you like them.

DePaul Prep Falls to Bogan 51-31 in 3A Semi

The DePaul Prep Rams lost to the Bogan Bengals 51-31 in the IHSA class 3A semi-final this afternoon (March 15, 2019) at Peoria’s Carver Arena. The Bengals, ranked #2 in Sun-Times Super 25, 29-3, topped the Rams in all phases. The Rams struggled out of the gate. They were getting good shots but they would not fall. Rams Sr. Guard and Brown recruit Perry Cowen was the games leading scorer with 14.

The Rams will face the Manuel, also the Rams, tomorrow in the 3A game at 11:00 a.m. Bogan advances to face East St. Louis in the 3A championship tomorrow afternoon.

DePaul Prep Defeats Ridgewood 56-32 to win 3A Regional

The DePaul Prep Rams took care of business against the host Ridgewood Rebels 56-32 on Friday (March 1, 2019) to win their fifth IHSA Regional Playoff Championship in a row.

This is the last phase of the season—the IHSA 3A Playoffs. Been through Thanksgiving, Christmas, Shootouts, CCL games, now the playoffs. Another Regional championship in the books now its only good teams in front of the DePaul Prep Rams. Carmel, St. Viator, Farragut, Morgan Park and Springfield Southeast. That’s all. No problem.

The Rams have played the schedule for it. They played everyone tough. Took Morgan Park to the end. They can play. They know what to expect. Dribble, shoot, play defense, make layups and most importantly—make free throws. Do those things, get a little luck and who knows.  

Go Rams!

DePaul Prep Defeats St. Ignatius 51-38

DePaul Prep Rams clinch a Chicago Catholic League Blue title with victory over Wolfpack.

DePaul Prep Basketball Season 2017-2018

I thought I might put together a gallery of photos from DePaul Prep mens basketball last season, 2017-2018. Last year's Rams were the best group in many years. Very fun to watch. It has only been a few years and Tom Kleinschmidt and the rest to the DePaul Prep coaches and staff have brought the Rams back to the top of the Catholic League and rest of high school basketball. Interestingly, moving up from 2A to 3A improved the Rams playoff chances. This next season with this formidable group of seniors will be fun indeed. 

DePaul Prep's Season . . . So Far

With DePaul Prep’s regular season in the home stretch, indulge us in a brief recap and look ahead. With five games to go, the Rams have a 18-4 overall record with quality wins over Notre Dame, Leo, Benet, St. Rita, St. Joseph and Evanston. The four loses have all come at the hands of ranked, or previously ranked, teams, Niles North, St. Rita, Lincoln Park and Loyola.

The Rams dominated opponents in the first part of the season except for the game against highly regarded Niles North. Lance Mosley’s last second three pointer sealed the road victory over Benet Academy. Another very nice road win in the Chicago Catholic League Blue division against the ranked Leo Lions impressed fans and critics alike.

Next came the Hinsdale Central Holiday Classic where the Rams scored wins over Crete-Monee and Stevenson. In what had to be the Rams worst game of the year, DePaul did not look good at all against St. Rita—a painful loss to eventual tournament champion. Next was a close loss to a hot Lincoln Park team in the consolation game (which pretty much does not count because it was a tournament consolation game).

The third phase of the season was the Martin Luther King Day tournament with some non-conference games sprinkled in. The Rams won the MLK Tournament with wins over St. Francis (Wheaton), Lindbloom, Riverside-Brookfield and Loyola.

The Rams scored a big CCL rematch win at St. Rita and took care of a very good St. Ignatius team next. The head scratch game of the year was Loyola. Just could not get a shot to drop against a red-hot Loyola team. Another head-scratcher at St. Joseph with only 10 points in the second half saved by a long gaming three-pointer from Raheem Anthony and brought home a key CCL Blue game.

An invitation to Joe Henrickson’s “When Sides Collide” Shootout brought a match-up with Evanston. The Rams scored another season defining 59-52 win over the Wildkits. Perry Cowen putting two 20 plus point totals up in two games.

Looking ahead a little, the Rams have games left against Fenwick, Brother Rice and DeLaSalle in the CCL Blue plus a CCL White crossover game against Montini. Fenwick can take the CCL Blue with two road wins against DePaul and Loyola. Fenwick travels to DePaul this coming Friday and Loyola on February 26th. If Fenwick falls to one of those teams, we may be looking a three way tie between Fenwick, DePaul and Loyola in the Blue.

Don’t hold your breath, Fenwick is ranked 7th and has looked good against the area’s top teams despite suffering some losses. The DePaul/Fenwick is Friday at DePaul. It will be a special night at DePaul’s Tom Winiecki Gym because DePaul is retiring current head coach, former Gordon Tech star and former DePaul University All American Tom Kleinschmidt’s #34. Coach Kleinschmidt enters the game with a 108-59 win/loss record at Gordon Tech/DePaul over the last six seasons.

I know it is bad luck but let’s look ahead to the IHSA playoffs. DePaul Prep elected to move up to 3A where they have been assigned to North Chicago Sectional in the Hoffman Estates Super-Sectional. The Rams avoided the Joliet Central Super-Sectional with the other ranked teams in 3A. There are no Sun-Times Super 25 ranked teams in Hoffman Estates Super-Sectional. Other than DePaul, the best team is probably Carmel, a lesser light in the East Suburban Catholic Conference. DePaul also has the advantage of hosting a regional again this year.

There are some good teams in 3A has ranked teams. Morgan Park, North Lawndale, Hillcrest, Marian Catholic are all ranked. Previously, ranked teams include St. Laurence, St. Rita.

In terms of downstate 3A teams, MaxPreps has Champaign Central, Springfield Southeast and Centralia all ranked ahead of DePaul Prep. But none of those teams are in the Hoffman Estates Super-sectional. In fact, the highest MaxPreps ranked team in the Hoffman Estates Super-Sectional is Carmel ranked #18 in 3A and #78 in the state.

So, here is what’s left to do: take care of Fenwick, win the Catholic League Blue, win the home regional, win the North Chicago Sectional, win the Hoffman Estates Super-Sectional at the Sears Centre, go to Peoria, beat Marian Catholic, Morgan Park and/or Champaign Central and collect state championship trophy. See how easy that is?

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