DePaul Prepare Beats Brother Rice 55-46 in CCL Showdown

A preview of my Inside—Booster article for this week:

The #11 DePaul Prep Rams (18-1, 3-0) defeated the #9 Brother Rice Crusaders (19-3, 3-1) at Brother Rice Friday evening taking a big step toward to winning the Chicago Catholic League championship.

The Rams and the Crusaders are two of the top three teams in the Chicago Catholic League Blue division. The other being fourth ranked Mount Carmel. There are, of course, quite a few League games left for the Rams to play, including Mount Carmel, St. Ignatius, Montini, Leo, IC Catholic, Providence, DeLaSalle and Fenwick but the winner of this game is set up for a showdown with Mount Carmel, the only other undefeated team in League play, to decide the eventual winner of the Chicago Catholic League. DePaul Prep will face Mount Carmel at home on February 12th.

The Rams opened the game taking their time to shoot the ball. The signature quick ball movement by the Rams seemed even more exaggerated then DePaul head coach Tom Kleinschmidt’s usual game plan.

“We wanted to them play at our pace with our short bench,” Kleinschmit said. Junior guard and defensive specialist Rob Walls and junior forward Jonas Johnson were out with injuries for this key League game.

“We wanted to make them go side-to-side defensively. If we would have gone up and done and gotten into a running game with them, we would have gotten beat,” Kleinschmidt added.

“We were ready and executed the game plan perfectly. We wanted to take good open shots.”

The plan worked. The Rams grabbed an early lead on the strength of two three-points early in the first quarter by senior guard and offensive sparkplug PJ Chambers. PJ added two free-throws at the end of the first quarter lifting the Rams to a 14-6 lead.

Rams’ center Jaylan McElroy picked up his third foul with 3:30 left in the half which forced Kleinschmidt to go to the bench earlier than me might have liked. But the Rams hung on taking an eleven point lead into halftime.

Brother Rice was simply too good to just go away. The Crusaders worked their way back from seven down at the end of the third to force overtime holding the Rams to five points in the fourth. Holding the ball has a way of limiting a teams’ scoring.

Overtime was a whole different thing. Once again PJ Chambers made an early statement by draining a deep three-pointer that felt like it came from the Rams’ bench. The Rams defense held the Crusaders to just two points in the extra frame and the Rams won going away 55-46. After Chamber early three, the Rams added six free-throws.

 “[Sophomore guard and PJ’s younger brother] AJ [Chambers] really grew up tonight. Shawn [Rashawn Porter] grew up about five or six games ago, probably the Christmas tournament [referring to Porter’s standout performance in the comeback victory in the Hinsdale Central Holiday Classic semifinal against Oswego East]. AJ Chambers was able to give Makai [Kvamme] a break. He has been handling the ball for us for 32 minutes,” Kleinschmidt said praising his young player’s effort.

As for the Rams’ signature defense, Kleinschmidt said, “the switching really bothers guys if you don’t see it coming. And then, we do ‘front the post’ (meaning playing in from of the big man underneath the basket) with backside help. It’s part of our system. It’s hard [for other teams to] duplicate in practice. We are just used to doing it. It’s hard to prepare for.”

The Rams defense came through mightily in limiting Brother Rice’s stand out senior guard Cale Cosme to ten points. Cosme is the engine that drives the Crusaders.

“I just love to watch [Cosme] play. He is tough. He is a hard-nosed. He’s a good player. We wanted to tag him a little bit. We wanted to keep him out of the paint because he is such a great penetrator. He snuck around on us a little bit. But I think we did a nice job on him.”

Rams senior guard PJ Chambers came through for the Rams early in the first quarter. Two consecutive three-pointers lifted the Rams to an 8-2 lead. That set the tone for the Rams to make Brother Rice play their game.

Chamber could hardly contain himself after the game. “I was excited. I was happy. I was ready to play. I’m too excited, I can hardly speak right now,” Chambers said.

Chambers lead all scorers with 24 points; his highest scoring game of the season. Twenty-two points was Chambers previous top scoring game this season.

“When I got the free throw line [with 57.7 left in the fourth quarter], I said to myself, ‘please let me get past 22.’ When I hit them I was like, ‘yes!’” said Chambers.

The Rams move onto play Normal Community High School on Saturday at the When Side Collide Shootout at Benet Academy. Then it’s back into the Catholic League schedule with Montini and Leo next week.

DePaul Prep Beats Marian Catholic 54-39 to Win Hinsdale Central Holiday Classic

[A preview of my next story in Inside Publications]

If there is one thing a DePaul Prep Rams basketball team knows how to do, it’s finish. The #7 ranked DePaul Prep Rams (15-0, 2-0) defeated the Marian Catholic Spartans (10-5, 3-1) 57-35 Saturday night to finish off its first Hinsdale Central Holiday Classic championship.

The Rams’ emotional victory over Oswego East in the semi-final game less than twenty-four hours before the championship game was the issue. The Oswego East game was certainly the Rams’ toughest game of the year. DePaul’s usual scoring formula—outside shooting and inside putbacks—was not working. They were 0-6 from three-point range. The big men inside, center senior Jaylan McElroy and sophomore Rashawn “Shawn” Porter, carried the load with some inside scoring but the Rams trailed at the half. They overcame their struggles in the second half and won going away, 54-39, but had it taken an emotional toll on the 14-0 Rams?

Having survived Oswego East, would the Rams suffer a letdown? Would the Rams’ struggles shooting the ball in the first half continue?

If there was going to be a letdown, it did now show as the championship game started. The Rams opened an early lead on the strength of two early three-pointers. One from senior guard PJ Chambers and the other from Shawn Porter. There was no letdown in the Rams. Chambers struggled against Oswego East but he was back to his reliable self against Marian. The Rams opened a ten-point lead by halftime.

Marian Catholic wasn’t going away. They are too well coached and too skilled for that. The Spartans cut the lead to seven at the start of the fourth.

Itt was time for the Rams to finish. 

“We just guarded. We try to start and finish quarters. The kids are buying into that. They did a nice job of finishing the quarter. We practice [finishing games]. We have some calls we make. The kids are aware of it. They are very attuned to it. We have been doing it for a while. We used to do it because we had to do it to win. We shorten possessions. Now we feel if we get a lead, we can make teams foul us and we make some free throws. If we get the lead, we can spread them and make the lead bigger,” said DePaul Prep head coach Tom Kleinschmidt.

That’s what happened. The Rams shortened their passes, drew out the defense and the minutes ticked off. They either got some layups or drew fouls. But it was the other end of the court that made the difference. The Rams held Marian to three points in the fourth quarter. They did not give up a single field goal in the fourth quarter.  The man-to-man defense forced bad outside shots. The Spartans had just three points all on the foul shots.

PJ Chambers lead all scorers with 22 points. McElroy had 14. Junior guard Makai Kvamme had 12. Porter had 14. Sophomore AJ Chambers (PJ’s brother) had 2. Junior forward George Richardson also had 2.

This is the Rams’ first Hinsdale Central Holiday Classic championship in seven tries. They have been in a final four four times, including a second-place finish in 2019.

The Rams take their #7 ranking and their 15-0 record into January but those might not be around long. In the first three weeks of January, the Rams host #2 ranked Homewood-Flossmoor in the annual Steve Pappas Shootout at DePaul’s Tom Winiecki Gym. And then it will be #3 ranked Mount Carmel at home. And then 15 win, and conference rival, Brother Rice. Oh, and then powerhouse Normal Community High School after that. 

The Lane Tech Champions (10-7, 3-1) also competed in the Hinsdale Classic. The Champions lost a close opener to Maine South 65-52, then wins over Morgan Park 71-37 and Morton 63-30 but fell to Lincoln-Way Central 51-47 in the final game.

The #15 ranked Lincoln Park Lions (12-4, 3-0) have made a splash this year. They advanced to the championship game in the Proviso West Holiday Tournament losing to #4 ranked Warren Township High School, 78-52.

The Walter Payton College Prep Grizzlies travelled to Centralia for its holiday tournament. Despite picking up an early season upset victory at home against Lane Tech, the Grizzlies dropped all three games in Centralia to Mt. Vernon 56-34, Belleville West 63-48 and Cahokia 63-57.

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 Defeats Hinsdale Central 51-39

The 7th ranked DePaul Prep Rams (13-0, 2-0) defeated the host Hinsdale Central Red Devils (6-6, 2-0) 51-33 in the quarter-finals of the Hinsdale Central Holiday Classic.

It was another typical DePaul Prep Rams win, if it started a little slower than usual. The Rams lead 11-10 at the end of the first quarter—not their usual early lead. It was the second quarter where the Rams opened the lead outscoring the Red Devils 16-8. After than Reds slowly pulled away and put the game away in the fourth.

Just another day at the office for the 13-0 DePaul Prep Rams. That’s what it’s been like this season: not flashy, just business-like and effective.

DePaul Prep’s Jaylan McElroy led all scorers with 18 points. PJ Chambers had 12. Makai Kvamme had 8. Sophomore guard and PJ’s brother AJ Chambers made a splash with 7 points.

The Rams will face Oswego East in two hours (from the time this post goes live on the website). Oswego East defeated Morton 72-39 in its first game at the HCHC and defeated Maine South 47-35 to advance to the semi-final game against DePaul Prep.

Oswego’s Jehvion Starwood looks to be the wolf in the pack to watch. He had 22 points against Maine South and 5 against Morton. Otherwise, the Wolfpack distributes it scoring amongst its players pretty evenly.

In the game preceding the Rams victory over Hinsdale Central, the 5th ranked Brother Rice Crusaders (15-0, 3-0) survived a 83-80 overtime scare from Auburn (Rockford). The Crusaders will face Marian Catholic in the other HCHC semi-final.

Lane Falls to Maine South 56-52 at Hinsdale Central Holiday Classic

The Lane Tech Champions fell to the Maine South Hawks 56-52 in their first round game on Wednesday evening. Great game but the Champions’ comeback came up a little short.

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.

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 Handles Vocational 62-46 and Look Ahead

The DePaul Prep Rams defeated the Chicago Vocational Career Academy 64-46 in the Battle of the Bridge Thanksgiving Tournament.

The Rams jumped out to an early lead and never looked back. The Rams defense simply stifled the CVS’s scoring attempts and and turned around and scored layups in transition. It was 20 to 6 and at the end of the first quarter and 43 to 18 at the half.  Rams’ Jr. guard Tyler Johnson finished with eighteen points. Center Brian Matthews had 13. Brian is playing with confidence and he is scoring. Lance Mosley had seven points.

Last year I wrote a season preview so I thought I should again. I am a little late with the Rams having already played two games but I thought I might offer some thoughts anyway.

Last year I wrote, “The Rams are also seen by many observers as among the top teams in 3A with Morgan Park, Bogan, St. Viator and St. Rita. So the expectations are high for a deep run into the IHSA 3A playoffs.” The Rams did not disappoint. They won the Grayslake Sectional over a very good St. Viator team. The Super-sectional game never happened because of a fight in the sectional championship between Farragut and North Lawndale. After falling to Bogan in the 3A semi-final, the Rams won the 3A Third Place last March over Peoria Manual.

In the words of Joe Henricksen, “Under Tom Kleinschmidt, DePaul Prep has arrived as a full-fledged, legitimate basketball program in Illinois.” Last year’s success made believers of Joe Henricksen and the Sun-Times reporter Michael O’Brien. The Rams look to take the next step from upstart to perennial powerhouse.

A look ahead at this year’s schedule has some opportunities for the Rams to pile up wins. The Chicago Catholic League poses its usual problems, Fenwick, Loyola, St. Joseph. I don’t know what to expect out of Br. Rice and St. Laurence with their two stars graduated or transferred. I would say the Catholic League Blue is wide open and the Rams have as good a chance as anybody.

The second major tournament is the Hinsdale Central Holiday Classic. This will be the Rams third year in Hinsdale for Christmas week. Hinsdale has a number of ranked teams including Marian Catholic, Stevenson, Homewood-Flossmoor, Westinghouse and CCL rival St. Rita. The Rams could make a run at this title. It would be difficult and would require some good fortune but they could win.

The Second Annual Steve Pappas Shootout brings Deerfield to the Tom Winicki Gym. Deerfield is good but they are not Morgan Park. Personally, I think it was genius to bring in Morgan Park last year. It got last year’s team into a big game against a potential state tournament favorite. The narrow defeat gave the 2018/2019 Rams the confidence they needed for their deep playoff run.

This year’s St. Patrick Shootout will bring St. Viator. Even without St. Viator’s graduated stars, Hernandez and Calvin, my beloved Lions are more than just dangerous. Lions forward Connor Kochera is drawing rave reviews for his performances over the summer.

Non-conference games include Ridgewood, Peoria Manual, Benet and Mather (for senior night).

The 3A landscape is a little different this year. This is not your father’s 3A. Changing  enrollment classifications have dropped some traditional 4A schools into 3A. Among those schools moving from 4A to 3A are Notre Dame, Deerfield, Benet, Fenwick, Kenwood and Riverside-Brookfield. All these 4A playoff teams in 2018/2019 are in 3A this year. Throw in powerhouse teams like Morgan Park and Bogan and 3A is a whole new world.

So here we go:

1.         Battle of the Bridge

2.         CCL Part 1

3.         Hinsdale Christmas Tournament

4.         CCL Championship

5.         3A Playoffs

How does one eat an elephant? One bite at a time.

Half Over and Plenty Left to Do for DePaul Prep Rams

The season is half over. 29 regular season games with 14 in books. The DePaul Prep Rams record stands at 11 wins, 3 losses and 5-0 in the Chicago Catholic League. The Rams are ranked #12 in the Sun-Times Super 25 and #15 in the Chicago Tribune top 20.

The Rams have wins over #23 Providence St. Mel and #13 Leo. The three loses have been to Benet Academy, (12-3, 4A, currently ranked #16), Marian Catholic (14-1, 4A, #4) and Oswego East, (11-2, 4A, #17) by a total of nine points. So basically, the Rams have a couple good wins and three “good” losses.

It has been a long time since a DePaul Prep or Gordon Tech team has been this good. The Rams last won the Catholic League in 2000. The 11-3 mark is the best in the tenure of Coach Tom Kleinschmidt.

The first part of the year made believers out of those that thought the Rams might not be very good given the loss to North Chicago in last year’s sectional final. The Rams made a believer out of me early when the just appeared to play angry. Serious as a heart attack. Ask Notre Dame and Lane Tech. Those games impressed me. The Rams put those good teams away. Providence St. Mel came into the Tom Winiecki Gym hot and with a lot of hype. The Knights left soundly defeated.

The Hinsdale Central Holiday Classic, while disappointing for the Rams, was not a failure. They lost a close game to a very, very good Marian Catholic team. I have seen a lot of good teams this year: Evanston, St. Viator, Bloomington, Morgan Park, Curie, Uplift and Bloom. Marian Catholic looked just as good as any of those teams. As for losing to Oswego East in a double overtime 3rd place game, that means nothing. Who cares about a third-place game? Not me.

Still, the season is half over. It’s too early to be a good season. There is a great deal of work left to do and many very good teams to overcome.

The best teams left on the regular season schedule are #5 Morgan Park, #21 St. Laurence, #22 New Trier, and then CCL rivals Brother Rice, Fenwick, Loyola and St. Rita. The best is yet to come, a preview game against Morgan Park, a trip to Quincy, a fun one in a big shootout against New Trier and then the Catholic League games. Win the Catholic League. That’s what I want to see. Win the Catholic League.

After that, we’ll just have to see what happens.

Day One Hinsdale Central Holiday Classic

I saw three games of the Hinsdale Central Holiday Classic. I planned to stay there all day. But I can’t seem to ever stay for a whole day of games.

I arrived in time for the second game, Marian Catholic Spartans v. Glenbrook North Spartans. The Glenbrook North Spartans played a spirited first quarter staying with the Marian Catholic on the strength of outside shooting. But it did not take long for the other Spartans to pull away. Marian Catholic excelled in all phases; they shot well, scored off the fast break and played outstanding defense. Final: Marian Catholic 67, Glenbrook North 47.

I didn’t photograph the third game, St. Charles East v. Stevenson. I caught up on preparing for the DePaul (9-1) Prep v. Urban Prep Englewood (0-9) game next.

The DePaul Prep Rams came out a little flat but Perry Cowen added seven in the second quarter and the Rams never looked back. Granted this was not the most serious test for the Rams but this team of seniors just seems to take care of business.

St. Charles East should prove a tougher test for the Rams on Thursday. Assuming they survive this Kane County test, the Rams are likely to face one of their toughest games so far. Marian Catholic is as good as the Rams have faced with the possible exception of Leo.

And then after Marian Catholic, either Lincoln Park, H-F or Oswego East. The Hinsdale Central tournament is tough.

DePaul Prep Edges Leo in OT

The #11 ranked DePaul Prep Rams edged the #4 Leo Lions on Friday (December 21, 2018) 61-58 in DePaul’s Tom Winiecki Gym. This matchup of the top teams in the Chicago Catholic League did not disappoint. One could tell that it was going to be close in the end even as the Rams opened a six-point early lead.

There were a great many Leo fans in the crowd. I haven’t seen so many opposing fans since the last time Loyola came in. The game got a little chippy. I didn’t really see what was going on. I have a very narrow field of view looking through a 70-200 mm lens all evening. I miss a lot. But of what I saw, it did not look too bad.

Leo’s DaChaun Anderson played inside against DePaul as well as anyone has this year. He is a beast and can finish. Myles Thomas was solid as usual. And of course, Fred Cleveland. He seems so small out there but I have never seen a small guard like that so able to drive and score.

With 4.1 on the clock in the fourth quarter, after DePaul’s Raheem Anthony missed the second of his 1 and 1 with the scored tied, Leo senior guard Fred Cleveland took an outlet pass and launched a shot from three quarters court which banked in off the glass for an apparent Leo victory. But with the ball in air, a ref blow his whistle repeatedly waiving off the shot because of a travel by Fred Cleveland. I didn’t see it in real time but seeing it on video, it looked like a travel to me and the referee started the call before the shot when it. Nevertheless, the Leo faithful were not happy.

In OT, the Rams finished as usual. They seem so determined this year. I wish I could pick a standout performance by one of the Rams. But they all played well. They all contributed. Pavle scored inside. Ty Johnson hit a big 3 late. Perry scored inside and outside including another monster dunk. Lance played great defense, rebounded and hit his shots. Brian Mathews come off the bench in the first half and hit two big free throws. Solid and determined all the way round. The Rams rallied back from losing the lead late in the game.

The Rams improved there record to 9-1 overall and 5-0 in the Catholic League. The games against Blue division CCL teams begin after the Hinsdale Central Holiday Classic which starts the day after Christmas. The Lions record drops to 9-2 overall and 4-1 in the Catholic League. Leo’s #4 ranking is in some jeopardy but if they fall, they won’t fall far. They played well but were edged in the end by the talented and determined #11 ranked Rams.

As for the photography, I took 2130 photos. That’s a lot more than I usually take. I am not sure why—just a lot of action. I tinkered around with the settings again, going with a fixed ISO at 6400, rather than automatic. The auto setting was pushing up to 12,800 which gave me images that were too grainy. These images came out okay but I had to boost the exposure on all of them.

So onto the Christmas tournaments. I am not sure where I will be yet. I will be out at Hinsdale Central for some games but I will be looking for the best matchups of teams I haven’t see yet. I had planned to go to Pontiac but I don’t know if I will this year. We’ll see.

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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