DePaul Prep Defeats Oswego East 56-48

The DePaul Prep Rams (10-1, 1-0) played the Oswego East Wolves (6-4, 4-1) in the Coaches United Invitational at Whitney Young last evening. The game started about forty-five minutes late because the Curie v. Waukegan game before went into overtime.

These shootout games make me nervous because they are at such random times on random days. I fear they will catch the Rams distracted or tired or hurt or just not focused. I tell myself, “don’t worry about the win/loss record.” What does it really matter if one drops a game to some south suburban school? This is about winning the Chicago Catholic League and the 3A state championship.

The Rams were waiting.

So was I. The white balance on my R-3 had been off in recent days. So, since I had some time. I had my headphones with me so I fired up You Tube for a quick tutorial on doing a manual white balance on the R-3. I did the white balance and it worked nicely.

Then I waited some more.

I sat in my usual spot at Whitney Young. Except this was not a Whitney Young game. I was at the wrong end of the gym to catch the Rams on offense. Not a big deal; it just felt a little off.

At the start of the game, the Rams were a little off. Not so bad, just committing more turnovers than usual. They lead 13-7 at the end of the first quarter.

The second quarter wasn’t better. There was still a lot of turnover and the refs were not helping. Tied at 25 at the half. Nothing that was so bad. Just off.

I thought, Tom Kleinschmidt will work it out.

The Rams were better in the third. Rashaun Porter and Rykan Woo were scoring. The Rams’ defense kicked in at the start of the fourth quarter. Plus, Oswego East just lost some steam. They weren’t finding the good shots in the paint that they had been. An 11-2 run to open the 4th quarter (I wrote 9-2 in a tweet I posted but it was 11-2) gave the Rams the edge they usually put on teams at the start of the third quarter. The Rams kind of coasted to victory after that.

So the start of the season is in the books. Ten wins against one loss, and that to the No. 1 ranked team, and then by only two points. Wins against a couple ranked opponents and an out-of-state powerhouse.

But here is the really fun part—Pontiac. If you have gone, you should go. I love the Pontiac Holiday Tournament. My experience is a little different than that of the average fan. I sit courtside and get to go in the press room and relax in private while working on photos and stories. The fun part are the games. Always good teams and good games. The people in Pontiac are so nice and friendly, even talkative. It’s fun. I love it.

Now I get to see our DePaul Prep Rams in the granddaddy of the holiday tournaments. It’s an honor and a pleasure. But, they will face some serious competition. A win over host Pontiac would likely bring Joliet West, Curie, Simeon or Benet. Fine with me. The Rams will be ready. Let’s go.

DePaul Prep Defeats Mater Dei 57-50 at Chicago Elite Classic

Kind of like my feeling regarding DePaul Prep’s recent 4A state championship in football, I looked up at the scoreboard and noticed that there were two minutes left in the game and saw that our Rams were up seven point against the California powerhouse Mater Dei on the big stage at the Chicago Elite Classic.

None of the people that I talked to in recent days knew anything about Mater Dei except that it was a California powerhouse team and that the out-of-state teams at the Chicago Elite Classic usually beat up on our local teams.

Frankly, I did not know what to expect in this game. I looked up Mater Dei and discovered that the boys basketball program has won one national championship (exactly what that means I do not know), eleven Californian state titles including back to back to back tiles from 2011 to 2014, sixteen Southern California regional titles, 24 CIF-SS titles and 40 league titles in 42 years. I am guessing this means that they are pretty.

I was just hoping the Rams could make a good showing and not look totally out classed, especially, with key player AJ Chambers not in uniform for the game. That’s kind of the way it looked in the first half. The Rams struggled to score against the length of the Mater Dei Monarchs but they were playing well on defense and not getting blown out. It was 25-18 Monarchs at the half.

I don’t know what TK said at halftime or what magical scheme Kenny Gryzwa and Michael Snead cooked up (maybe it was Magic Yellow), but the third quarter was a whole different animal. A couple threes early in the quarter by Jonas Johnson jumpstarted the Rams who outscored the mighty Monarchs 19-10 in the quarter. The Rams tied the game at 37-37 at the end of the third.

I was sitting courtside photographing the game. The Monarchs standing around, a little shell shocked, just looking at each other. They didn’t know what happened. I commented on Twitter that “I went to a shootout and a Catholic League game broke out.” It seems the Monarchs have never played in a Catholic League game, at least not a Chicago Catholic League one.

Rob Walls drained a three to open the 4th. Makai Kvamme and Rykan Woo followed with some key buckets. The Rams opened a seven-point lead midway through the fourth. Even a casual observer knows that it’s best not to get behind a Tom Kleinschmidt coached team in the fourth quarter—successful comebacks are rare against his teams.

Sure enough, the Rams hit their free throws and celebrated a 57-50 victory over the California powerhouse.

As is usually the case in big wins, the contributions of one player stand out. Saturday, that player was Jonas Johnson. He played excellent defense. He hit some big threes that opened the lane for Makai and Rykan. He scored fifteen points earning himself player of the game and a fancy Cain’s Chicken gift basket—nice! It’s great to see him excel on this big stage after suffering through injuries all last year. Well done!

I am not one given to such reckless talk a week into a season but maybe the Rams are, in fact, a top team in the area.

I have evidence that tends to prove such a proposition more likely true than not, at least to this point.

Go Rams!

Basketball Season Opens. DePaul Prep Defeats Niles North, Lane Handles Phillips

Great start to the 24-25 high school basketball season with the opening games of the Battle of Bridge Thanksgiving Tournament at DePaul Prep.

DePaul Prep 69, Niles North 63.

The DePaul Prep come into the season ranked #3 in the Sun-Times Super 25. Several other analysts have the Rams ranked #1 but it’s a pre-season ranking that matters little. Frankly, who wants to be ranked #1 in pre-season. One can only go down from there. No one disputes the Rams are a top team. Back-to-back state champs with three returning starters and a top transfer, the Rams will win a lot of games.

The Rams came out in a four guard line-up against Niles North on Monday. Center Lashaun “Shaun” Porter, guards, Makai Kvamme, A.J. Chambers, Rob Walls and new-comer Rykan Woo, the aforementioned top transfer from Whitney Young. This is a bit of a change from Tom Kleinshmidt’s typical two bigman, wing and two guard line-up but not much of a change. There have been plenty of times when the Rams played four guards at a time. And Rob Walls was grabbing boards like Dennis Rodman on Monday, so it’s not like the Rams surrender the paint.

Frankly, the Rams struggled a little in the first quarter to get the ball to fall. Usually, the Rams grab an early lead and hold it until the half. It was a little different Monday. They trailed in the first and rallied in the second quarter.

It was the third quarter where the Rams turned the game. They outscored Niles North 10-2 in the first half of the third quarter. They grabbed the lead and held it.

In typical fashion of a Kleinschmidt team, the Rams got a second half lead and held it with excellent ball handling and clutch free throw shooting.

By no means was it easy. Niles North head coach Glenn Olson, his family and the rest of his Vikings play basketball like it’s life or death. I have seen them play many time in recent years. It feels more like a boxing match than a basketball game. One feels lucky to be upright when it’s over. I get tired just watching.

The Vikings are especially good this year, ranked #10. Glenn Olson’s son Reid is the point guard. He is tougher than this father and a great shooter. Senior forward Hunter Gawron is a force and a high regarding player in the area. Let’s not forget senior guard Dylan Lam who poured in twelve points.

The should feel glad just have the win, and that the game is over. It was a nice win and a good preview of what is in store for us this season.

One of the DePaul Prep students was wearing a Tom Kleinschmidt Gordon Tech #34 jersey. How cool is that? It should be in a museum someplace. Next time I see him I will have to tell him to leave it to the school or to the Chicago History Museum in his will.

Lane 70, Phillips 54.

Lane played angry, especially Penn commit senior center Dalton Scantlebury, and handled Phillips in the first game of the tournament.

I didn’t hear Scantlebury say “Gimme the damn ball” but that’s how he played. 23 points and no doubt that he is serious.

And it wasn’t just him. Senior forward Zach Mazanowski had a monster duck that was picturesque to write the least. Even with the graduation of Shaheed Solebo, the Champions may well be better than last year. Stay tuned for that.

Great start to the season.

And great to see college basketball star Raheem Anthony in the Tom Winiecki Gym. For those who may not recall Raheem was the engine of the DePaul Prep’s first state finals run in 2019. That team had other top players, like Perry Cowen, TY Johnson and Pavle Pantovic, but Raheem was the key—at least according to me.

But, best of all, new lights in the Tom Winiecki Gym. White light and lots of it. I have had my setting dialed in for some years in that gym but now I have to redo it all. I boosted the shutter speed, probably a little to high, resulting in a high ISO. I am going to dial it back a little. The photos came out a too grainy even with the AI processing. Give me a few tries and I will have it dialed in. Kind of like the Rams and their new four guard offense.

I hope you like the photos.

DePaul Prep Beats Richwoods 52-41 and Will Face Mount Carmel in State Championship

By Jack Lydon

The DePaul Prep Rams just keep winning. They defeated the red-hot Richwoods Knights 52-41 on Friday afternoon in the IHSA 3A semi-final in Champaign. They have not lost since the When Sides Collide shootout on January 20th.

DePaul Prep (34-2) advances to face the Mount Carmel Caravan in the 3A state championship game. For the second year in a row, the Rams will play in a state championship game. This time in 3A having moved up from 2A. It will be a rematch of the February 12th heavy weight prize fight for the Chicago Catholic League championship which the Rams won 41-38.

But let's not skip right past tonight's historic win. Richwoods' last three games were wins against Kankakee (27-5), Metamora (30-5) and Thornton (29-5) with a collective record of 86-15. The Knights are ranked first in the state by MaxPreps.com.

Oh, and Richwoods has Lathan Summerville who just might be the best player in the state. A giant 6-10 senior center, committed to Rutgers, that dominates the paint, can run the floor and shoot three-pointers.

Once again it was stellar defense and this time plenty of offense that drove the Rams to victory.  One cannot overstate the performance of the Rams’ defense and particularly, the work of sophomore forward Rashaun Porter. A truly remarkable effort by Porter against a top player on the biggest stage. The Rams held Summerville to 3 rebounds.

“I was prepared for it. Working on it everyday. It was hard at the start. But once you get into the game and then it’s just easy on defense,” Porter said of defending Summerville.

It was a total team defensive effort. Senior forward Jaylan McElroy and Porter bracketed Summerville. Rob Walls, PJ Chambers and Makai Kvamme turned off the outside shooting of Richwoods.

“[Summerville] is a very good player overall. He is really big,” said McElroy. “Our game plan was to surround him when he put the ball on the floor. We executed pretty well.”

“We wanted [Summerville] running into Shaun or running into Jaylan. So if we sandwiched him with two bigs and they skipped, you had Jaylan [McElroy] fronting with Shaun [Porter] on the backside. If they skipped the other way, you had Shaun on the front and Jaylan on the backside. So he was always running into size,” said DePaul Prep head coach and former DePaul University star Tom Kleinschmidt. 

The Rams were up to taking away Summerville. He finished with 18 points but only three rebounds. It was the defense against the rest of the team that cemented the victory. The only other Richwoods player in double figures was DaQuan Little with ten points.

“We stayed home on [Little]. He is shooting 44% from three. He shoots the hell out of the ball so we tried to stay home on him. [Tavie Smith] can make a shot. [Marion Herron] can make a shot. When you play a player like Summerville, you have to give something up. That’s what we were willing to give up.” They gave very little.

The defense was only half, and maybe not the most important half, of tonight’s performance by the Rams.

The Rams' offensive engine of Makai Kvamme (15 points), PJ Chambers (15 points) and Rob Walls (7 points) outscored the Knights in every quarter. Jaylan McElroy added four points and five rebounds.

Kavamme had some impressive buckets high off the glass and over Summerville. “I work on those shots a lot. I train with my dad. I know [Summerville] would be big. I knew I had to get it high on the glass in order to get a bucket,” said Rams junior guard Makai Kvamme.

The Rams outscored Richwoods in each of the quarters. The Knights rallied late in the third quarter and cut the Rams’ lead to two points at 28-26 but that was as close as they would get. Jaylan McElroy’s four points on two put-back buckets lifted the Rams.

The fourth quarter would feature Makai Kvamme with free throws, PJ Chambers with a steals and layups and Rob Walls with a layup and free throw. AJ Chambers added a free throw at the end for good measure.

DePaul Prep is taking its place as a premiere high school on the Northside, particularly when it comes to basketball. A state championship, a number one ranking in the COVID year with no playoffs, and two state third place finishes in the last six tries.

The move to 3A hasn’t been much a hurtle for the Rams. “A lot of guys talk about 2A. 2A is great. We don’t play a 2A schedule. The only time we play 2A teams is in our conference. There is probably three or four coaches down there that say we play in the best conference. This year we feel we do. We have been 3A before. This is our second time down here in 3A. We were 3A in 2019. Bogan beat us up,” said Kleinschmidt.

The Rams move on to face the Mount Carmel Caravan in the 3A State Championship game. Mount Carmel defeated Mt. Zion from far Southern Illinois 65-49. The Caravan saw the return of senior forward Lee Marks who has been out with a fractured elbow since February 6th.

“Marks is a difference maker. He is good. They are good. We know those guys. We know the coaches. We know what they are going to do and they know what we are going to do. It’s going to be fun. I am glad we are playing a Catholic League team,” said Kleinschmidt.

Rams senior PJ Chambers received both All City and All Area first team honors. “I am blessed. I was very surprised. I am very thankful to be awarded these type of accolades,” said senior guard/forward PJ Chambers. “Whoever we play tomorrow, we are going to battle it out and hopefully we win.”

“We play a lot of good teams on our schedule. We will face the adversity and overcome it.”

Back to the State Finals for DePaul Prep with 51-31 Win over Crystal Lake South

By Jack Lydon

The DePaul Prep Rams’ third quarter adjustments to the Crystal Lake South Gators high pressure 1-3-1 defense opened a lead for the Rams and propelled them to Champaign, again. They booked their 33rd win against two losses with the 51-31 win over the Crystal Lake Gators (31-5) in the IHSA 3A Super-sectional playoff at the Now Arena in Hoffman Estates Monday evening and a berth in this weekend’s IHSA State basketball championship tournament.

The Rams will need another great plan and the same flexibility when they on Peoria Richwoods in Friday’s IHSA 3A state semi-final.

Rams senior guard/forward PJ Chambers lead the Rams with 18 points but, as usual, it was the Rams’ defense and third quarter offensive adjustments that lifted DePaul Prep, the way actual rams might navigate through a pack of gators.

“[Crystal Lake’s] defense is a nightmare. We struggled in the first half. You saw it. They got a million deflections. They have length. They are good at it. They do [the 1-3-1] a little differently where they it push up. Once you get across half court, they are coming for you,” said Rams’ head coach and former Gordon Tech and DePaul University star Tom Kleinschmidt.

“Their length really bothered us. We took too many jumpers in the first half. We needed to drive the ball and get some gaps. They made it tough on us.”

Gator’s junior point guard AJ Demirov clearly was the stray that was also the drink for the Gators.

“We wanted to make sure that [Demirov] saw a player and a half. We tried to keep him away from the basket as best we could,” Kleinschidt said.

The Gators’ offence consisted of Demirov, 10 points, and small contributions each of the rest of the starting lineup. The problem was that Demirov was taking the bulk of the shots for Crystal Lake South and had only four field goals (of which only one was a three) and one free throw.  

“We wanted to meet him at the elbow or the [free throw line] so he couldn’t get into the paint and had to take tougher shots. We didn’t do a great job in the first half but okay. In the second half, we did a much better job of showing him a man and a half or two men,” Kleinschmidt continued.

The first half was pretty even except for the end. With the clock ticking down to the half, Demirov drove the lane for an underhanded layup and the foul with 3.2 to play. He added the free throw to bring the Gators within seven.

Not to be outdone, Rams’ clutch, silky smooth junior point guard Makai Kvamme took the inbound pass down the length of the court and banked in a three off the glass.

“What a momentum builder to walk into the locker room,” Kleinshmidt said of Kvamme’s buzzer beater.

“It looked good but I was like, ‘this ain’t gonna happen.’ It caught glass and went in—a huge momentum builder going up ten into the locker room with the ball coming out in the third.”

In the second half, “we put three guards in a triangle. We wanted to reverse a couple times. The more times the ball goes side-to-side the gaps will get open. We got it to the middle to [PJ Chambers] or his brother [sophomore guard AJ Chambers] and we either got straight line drives or dump offs. Shaun had two dunks with dump offs,” Kleinschmidt said.

“You can watch all the film you want. Until you take the court and see it, the physicality, the athleticism, how they rally to the ball. It’s tough to prepare for,” said Crystal Lake head coach Matt LaPage said of DePaul Prep’s defense.

“In the third quarter, they came at us not only offensively but defensively—just stifling. It’s a special defense. It’s as good as advertised. That’s for sure.”

Of the defensive effort, DePaul Prep’s PJ Chambers said, “What we did really well was contain [Demirov]. That was the game plan. If we could take him out of the equation, it was very possible for us to win,” said PJ Chambers.

“We’ve got our defensive stoppers. We’ve got Jay, Rob, Makai, AJ, even me at times. All of us play our roles really well. It came down to guarding #4 [Demirov], especially Rob, Kai and Jay at times, they excelled greatly.”

If Demirov was the main ingredient in the drink for Crystal Lake South, Chambers was DePaul’s secret sauce on offense for DePaul Prep. Eighteen points including an early three that got him going.

“Right. That’s how I play. If I am hot early in the game, then I keep shooting. If it starts to die down, I know I have to switch my game up,” Chambers said.

It wasn’t all Chambers by any means. It was a total team victory. Senior center Jaylan McElroy finished with nine points including two steals with layups finishes late in the game. Junior guard Rob Walls had nine points and eight rebounds. Kvamme had eight points with the big three to close the first half. Sophomore forward Rashaun Porter had five. Sophomore AJ Chambers added a field goal.

Of his historic defense, Kleinschmidt offered this: “Our strength is our defense and it’s because we can switch 1 to 5. They can all guard somebody for a little while. Even our guards can front the post long enough so help can get there on the back side. And our bigs can move their feet well enough until the help comes. That is the strength of our team that we can switch one through five and everybody can guard.”

More than just the switching, the Rams had a plan for Demirov and his sharp-shooting mates.

“We know they’ve got shooters all over. We didn’t want to leave corners [in order to cover Demirov]. They are a great shooting team. So we wanted to help with the big instead of the guards in the corner. If I help off the corner, [Demirov] is going to drive [and] kick. We took away one of his options. We wanted to see them make tough twos instead of threes,” said Kleinschmidt.

This has been an historic season for the DePaul Prep Rams. 33-2 is most wins in school history. The Rams only losses this year are to two teams, Homewood-Flossmoor and Normal Community, who are both still alive in the 4A final four.

The Rams have put together quite a string of successes in recent years: a 2A state championship last year, third-place finish in 2A in 2022, #1 ranking with wins over Fenwick and Evanston to win the Chipotle tournament in the COVID year with no playoffs and a third place finish in 3A in 2019.

Crystal Lake South had themselves an historic year as well. The Gators were ranked at points this season. They entered the Sun-Times Super 25 on January 21, 2024, at 25th spot. 25th on January 28, 2024. February 4, 2024, at 24. They fell out on February 11th. Prior to this year, the Gators had not won a sectional in 41 years. Coach Matt LaPage is 172-138 in 11 years as head coach.

The Rams move on to play Richwoods from Peoria on Friday morning in the IHSA 3A semi-final in Champaign. Richwoods (29-4) is coming off an impressive 58-52 victory over third ranked Thornton on Monday.

Richwoods is for real. Of Richwoods’ senior center Latham Summerville, basketball analyst Scott Burgess wrote, “No doubt about it Lathan Sommerville was the best player on the floor in [the Thornton] game. He was dominant from the very beginning of the contest. Big and physically imposing post dropped 32 points and double-digit boards. He took out the #1 and #2 ranked players in his class in back-to-back games along with the defending state champs [Moline] to lead his team to Champaign.”

It only gets tougher for the Rams.

[Blogger’s note: My thanks to my friend James Janega, a former Tribune reporter, for looking at this piece and offering some suggestions. I have landed some blows in my fight with the English language but I will need many more sparing sessions to get where I need to be.]

DePaul Prep Defeats Notre Dame 46-16; Advance to Face Lake Forest in Sectional Final

The DePaul Prep Rams (32-2) defeated the Notre Dame Dons (16-18) 46-16 last night in the St. Viator 3A Sectionals semi-final. The Rams advance to play the Lake Forest Scouts on Friday at 7:00 p.m. in the sectional final.

Lake Forest handled a scrappy if undersized Ridgewood Rebels squad 59-32 in last night’s second game.

DePaul Prep 60, Providence 32

The DePaul Prep Rams defeated Providence Catholic 60-32 on Tuesday evening at the DePaul Prep’s Tom Winiecki Gym. The Rams improve to 23-2 overall record and 4-0 in the Chicago Catholic League Blue Division.

The season is quickly drawing to a close with only five games left, St. Ignatius, DeLaSalle, Fenwick, Mount Carmel and Benet. The next four games will decide who wins the Catholic League. The Mount Carmel game will be a home game for the Rams. It is a rescheduled game from a couple weeks ago when we were supposed to have a foot of snow that never materialized. The basketball gods must have caused the postponement to draw out the excite to the penultimate game of the season.

Here are some photos from last night’s DePaul Prep v. Providence game.

DePaul Prep Defeats St. Ignatius 47-43

The DePaul Prep Rams defeated the St. Ignatius Wolfpack 47-43 on Thursday evening at DePaul Prep’s Tom Winiecki Gym. Huge win for the Rams who haven’t beaten St. Ignatius in a long time. I concentrated on taking the photos so there is not much of a game recap.

DePaul Prep Suffers First Loss of the Season 57-46 to H-F

The DePaul Prep Rams (16-1, 2-0) lost their first game of this 2023-2024 season to the #2 Homewood-Flossmoor Vikings (14-1,3-0) 57-45 Saturday evening at DePaul Prep’s 5th Annual Steve Pappas Shootout.

Loyola Defeats Glenbrook North 48-38 at Steve Pappas Shootout

In the first game of the fifth annual Steve Pappas Shootout at DePaul Prep, the Loyola Ramblers defeated the Glenbrook North Spartans 48-38. The Spartans, coming off a big win over New Trier last night, ran into a hot shooting Ramblers team that was ready to play.

Simeon Falls to Bloom 45-39 at Pontiac

I just love the Pontiac Holiday Tournament. The people like watching the basketball games. Everyone is friendly. The food is good. It’s easy and comfortable.

I wasn’t planning to go to Pontiac this year because I don’t really have a team to cover. But I went anyway. Simeon and Benet were playing early in the day which game me time to get back to Hinsdale to cover the Brother Rice and DePaul Prep games in the evening.

I am really glad I did. I just love going to Pontiac. (And I also recommend stopping at the World War II Museum when you are down there. It is very interesting.)

The Simeon Wolverines were battling Bloom but after Rashad McKinnie left the game with a shoulder injury they couldn’t keep up. Bloom ended up winning 45-39.

I was sitting next to this older lady from Pontiac who quite energetically routing for the Wolverines. I kind of like that. I was too shy to ask her why. I cheer for Simeon too because of Simeon’s former coach Robert Smith.

So now I have a new friend in Pontiac.

DePaul Prep Defeats Oswego East 54-39 to Advance to HCHC Championship

The DePaul Prep Rams (14-0, 2-0) defeated Oswego East (10-5, 5-1) 54-39 Friday night to advance to the tournament championship at the Hinsdale Central Holiday Classic.

It was a gutty and gritty performance by the Rams under the weight of an undefeated record. Ultimately, it was the Rams’ signature defensive strength in the fourth quarter that lifted them to a convincing but certainly less than certain victory.

While the Rams waited for their game to start, they watched Brother Rice, their Chicago Catholic League Blue rival, their fellow highly ranked team and their fellow undefeated team, lose to Marian Catholic 75-74 in double overtime.

When asked if watching Rice lose moments before their own game was to start, Rams’ coach Tom Kleinschmidt admitted it had an effect on his team.

“So yes. I don’t like to hear that. It’s probably true. It’s probably a late game. Probably having no school all coincides with it. It was our third game in three nights. I am not going to make excuses. I thought we would be a little more ready. We should have been a little bit more ready. But I think we have got some tough guys that want to win. Our culture helped us rise above that,” Kleinschmidt said.

But Kleinschmidt denied the weight of a 13-0 season played a part in the early struggles in the game. “I really don’t feel that and I would tell you that if I thought it was. I just think we do a nice job. They really handle being undefeated. They don’t even talk about it. They are pretty mature,” Kleinschmidt said.

Rams’ senior guard PJ Chambers, and the Rams as a team, struggled shooting in the first half. Chambers is usually the catalyst of DePaul Prep’s early offense. Without that punch, the Rams did not get their characteristic first period lead. The Rams’ field goal percentage in the first quarter was just 26.7% and they were 0-11 from three-point range in the first three quarters.

Midway through the third period, Oswego East started a ¾ court press when the Rams brought up the ball. Rams’ junior point guard Makai Kvamme quickly passed the ball to the middle and another quick back door pass into Rashawn Porter under the basket for a bucket. They broke the press as quickly as it started. The Wolfpack gave it up and settled directly back into their zone defense.

“I think teams do want to play us in a zone. Especially if we should the ball like we did tonight. We were 2 of 16 for 3s. We are a better shooting team than that. We have got some heavy legs and it showed tonight. Hopefully we get some rest and are fresh tomorrow,” Kleinschmidt said.

The press break sequence was a turning point. The Rams regained that confidence that they have not lacked all season. They settled into their clock control motion offense. Rams senior guard PJ Chambers, who struggled mightily shooting in the first half, opened the fourth quarter with a three-pointer and added a second three-pointer a few minutes later to lift the Rams to a six-point lead.

“We got some deflections and steals and some layups that triggered us that gave a little bit of breathing room when we were not shooting the ball well,” Kleinschmidt said. The Rams closed the game scoring the last nine points and the final score made the game seem a more lopsided than it actually was. 

“It’s something all shooters go through. We have our highs, and we definitely have our lows. The main thing about a shooter is you gotta keep shooting,” Chambers said after the game.

Chambers downplayed the effect of watching Brother Rice lose. “Coach TK said, before we even started the tournament, that were going to be upsets. We definitely saw it. It was true for Brother Rice.”

Rams senior forward Jaylan McElroy did not suffer a first half slump. McElroy and fellow forward Rashawn “Shawn” Porter, who finished with 15 points, carried the Rams in the first half.

“I just kept playing my game. We were on the glass as a team but for me as an individual, I just kept the energy going. I did not let being down at the half get to me,” said McElroy, who lead all scorers with 17 points.

DePaul Prep won its opener against Lincoln-Way Central 53-25 on Wednesday. On Thursday, the Rams defeated the host Hinsdale Central Red Devils 51-33 to advance to face Oswego East. The Rams advance to face Marian Catholic in the Hinsdale Central Holiday Classic championship game.

In other action at the Hinsdale Central Holiday Classic tournament, the Lane Tech Champions dropped their first game to Maine South 56-52 then rallied in the second round to defeat Morton high school 63-30.

[Note: With the last start and finish to the game and the early deadline for the New Year’s holiday, this piece missed the deadline and will not be in the Booster this week. That’s okay. It gives me a chance to do a whole holiday tournament rap up.]

DePaul Prep Handles Lincoln-Way Central 53-25

The defending 2A state champions and #7 ranked DePaul Prep Rams (12-0, 2-0) handled the Lincoln-Way Central Knights (3-8, 0-3) 53-25 at the Hindale Central Holiday Classic.

The Rams jumped out to their characteristic early lead and never looked back. Junior point guard Makai Kvamme lead all scorers with 12. Gus Donohue had 9 points off the bench in 17 minutes. Jaylan McElroy and Rashawn Porter had 9 each.

The top seed Rams got the benefit of that top seed with a little lesser competition than the usually face in the Chicago Catholic League Blue and the fancy shootouts. That will change soon enough. They could easily face their neighbor, the Lane Tech Champions, that gave them fits in the Chicago Elite Classic. If they get past Lane, they might face the 5th ranked Brother Rice Crusaders in the championship game of the HC Squared on Saturday.

The Rams will likely face host and defending champion Hinsdale Central tomorrow at 7:00 p.m. The Red-Devils have a big lead as this item goes to live on the website.

Lots of basketball to play. I love this time of year.

DePaul Prep Rallied to Defeat Taft 50-38

After the Lane v. Chaminade game, I left for the Tom Winiecki Gym. Six minutes later I arrrived just after the second half of the DePaul Prep v. Taft game started. The game was tied. Both teams were running and gunning. A fast paced game.

In the fourth, the Rams defense got a bunch of stops. On the other end the Rams finished layups and free throws to build a lead and they won the game 50-38. An impressive finish against a talented Taft squad.

The Rams move on to the Loyola Christmas tournament next week.

Merry Christmas basketball fans!

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 59, St. Rita 14

The DePaul Prep Rams entered Catholic League play Thursday evening at St. Rita High School with a 59-14 victory over the Mustangs. The Rams improved to 5-0 and 1-0 in the Catholic League.

Tomorrow is the Chicago Elite Classic where the Rams will face neighbor Lane Tech in the final game of the night.

DePaul Prep Rams 72, Jones Eagles 41 to Open the Season

The high school basketball season opened this evening with the DePaul Prep Rams women’s basketball team beating up on the Jones College Prep Eagles 72-41. As games go, it was quick, an hour and twelve minutes. The running clock in fourth quarter helped but the game seemed closer than the final score.

I wasn’t able to give the game full treatment. This was a last minute addition to the schedule. I didn’t keep stats or do any interviews.

Nevertheless, I got a look at this year’s Rams. Coach Sarah Zarymbski has three sectional champions in her four years at the helm of the women’s varsity team, except there was no IHSA playoffs in the COVID year. So three sectional victories in three tries. This group has a lot to live up to. And by the looks of tonight’s game, they seem up to the task.

The two new starters, Miliah Wood and Grace Lee, will fit right in as starters. Returning seniors Charlotte Collins, fresh off a successful volleyball season, London Walker-George and Casey Galloway return and round out the starting line up.

Coach Zarymbski played the whole bench today too and there didn’t seem to be much let down. The Rams played well in all phases but only lead by ten at the half.

The Rams blew the game wide open in the third quarter with defense and scoring in transition. They pushed the lead to thirty points at the start of the fourth quarter causing a running clock in the fourth quarter and speedy conclusion to the first game.

It’s going to be a fun season. With the boys team receiving a pre-season 13th rank in the Sun-Times Super 25 rankings, DePaul Prep students, faculty, parents and supporters should be treated to some high quality basketball in what may or may not be the final year in the Tom Winiecki Gym.

Stay tuned. March will be here before one knows it.

DePaul Prep Wins Seventh Straight Regional 56-36 Over Latin

DePaul Prep Wins 2A Regional 68-11 over Francis Parker

The DePaul Prep women’s varsity basketball team defeated Francis Parker 66-11 at Francis Parker Thursday evening. It was all Rams from the beginning. Francis Parker suffered a rash of turnovers early and the Rams jumped out to an 13-0. And it continued from there.

The Rams move on to hosting a 2A Sectional tournament next Tuesday, February 21, 2023. The Rams will face either Latin or Christ the King.