DePaul Prep Dismantles Fenwick 52-22, Wins Chicago Catholic League

[Preview of my story in this week’s Inside—Booster.]

By Jack Lydon

The DePaul Prep Rams (26-3, 7-1) dismantled Fenwick 52-22 to win the Chicago Catholic League at DePaul Friday night. Absolute shutdown defense held the Friars to thirteen points into the fourth quarter. This is an exceptional Friars squad with that only had three losses in the Catholic League coming into the game. A Fenwick victory in this game was entirely impossible.

The Rams came into the game with a 6-1 record in the Chicago Catholic Leagues Blue Division tied with Brother Rice. A win for the Rams assured them of at least a share of the conference title. Shortly after the game ended word spread that Mount Carmel defeated Brother Rice making DePaul Prep outright CCL champs for the second year in a row.

The Rams hit a little rough patch at the end of January suffering back-to-back losses first to Brother Rice and then to Homewood-Flossmoor at the end of January—if you can call it a rough patch to lose consecutive games to the No. 8 team and the No. 3 team respectively when you have a 26-3 record. Let’s call it a little bump.

The Rams opened the game strong. Senior guard Rob Walls dropped a short jumper from the lane on DePaul’s opening possession. It was a good omen given the Rams first quarter struggles in the home loss to Brother Rice two weeks earlier. Then the defensive show started. Fenwick struggled to even shoot the ball. Drives into the lane quickly lead to passes out to the wing. The outlet passes lead to off-balance missed shots and DePaul Prep rebounds. Few if any offensive rebound for the Friars.

The Rams built their typical 15-6 first quarter lead spreading the ball around with buckets from all five starters and two each from junior guard Rykan Woo and senior point guard Makai Kvamme.

In the second quarter, the Rams held Fenwick to three points. They made just one basket, a three-pointer from senior Kamren Hogan. The Friars’ frustration was palpable with a halftime score of 29-9 DePaul.

“They couldn’t get by us. We made them take jump shots. We got every rebound. We can play,” DePaul Prep head coach Tom Kleinschmidt said of his Rams’ defensive effort.

“I think our switching bothers teams. Our guards really kept the ball in front of us. We were disciplined tonight. We made them take jump shots.”

Rams junior center Rashaun Porter put on a masterful defensive performance that stood out among masterful defensive performance. Porter was matched up against Fenwick standout forward Nathaniel Marshall. Marshall is one of the best football players in the state who has gained attention for his basketball skills in recent months.

“Shaun’s a big body. He’s long and he is strong. He didn’t bite on head fakes or pump fakes. He kept [Marshall] in front of him. He did a nice job,” Kleinschmidt said of Porter.

It didn’t get much better for Fenwick in the second half. The Friars managed only another four points in the third quarter falling behind 41-13. Even so, there was no quit in Fenwick, their own defensive effort made the Rams work for their points. Rykan Woo finished with sixteen points in a little more than three quarters. AJ Chambers had twelve. Makai Kvamme had eight. Rashaun Porter had seven.

The regular season is drawing to a close with one regular season game left, a home matchup against East Suburban Catholic Conference champion Benet Academy next Friday at DePaul’s Tom Winiecki Gym.

DePaul Prep landed the #1 seed in the IHSA 3A Antioch Sectional. The Rams will host the winner of Lake View v. North Chicago on February 26th to open the playoffs. The Rams look to “threepeat” as state champions. Two years ago the Rams won the 2A state championship and won the 3A state championship last year with win over Chicago Catholic League rival Mount Carmel in the championship game.

Rams Win 3A State Championship

[Preview of my Inside—Booster article.]

By Jack Lydon

Defense and free throws win games and state championships. The DePaul Prep Rams (35-2) defeated the Mount Carmel Caravan (32-6) to win IHSA 3A state championship. It’s DePaul’s second straight state championship who are believed to be the first time to win consecutive championship is two different classes, 2A and 3A.

The DePaul Prep’s second straight state championship is just the another in 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 and a third-place finish in 3A in 2019. The Rams are the winningest team in playoff finishes in the last five years.

The Rams and Caravan know each other well. They battled in February for the championship of the Chicago Catholic League, widely regarding as the top conference in the state this year. The first meeting had the feel of a heavy weight prize fight, or at least a Catholic League football game. The Rams prevailed 41-38 but the Caravan’s Lee Marks was out having broken his elbow in the game against Leo a week before. Marks adds so much to Mount Carmel as he proved in the semi-final against Mt. Zion.

No matter. The Rams opened the game in their usual fashion. DePaul Prep’s junior point guard Makai Kvamme, leading scorer for the Rams with 18 points, opened the scoring with a three pointer and then a layup off a turnover. The Rams added ten more and lead 15-7 at the end of the first quarter.

It’s best not to get behind DePaul Prep. Few teams are better at handling the ball and controlling the tempo. Maybe so but the Caravan has senior forward and Northwestern commit Angelo Ciaravino (24 points) is no ordinary player. Led by Ciaravino, the Caravan charged back in the third quarter.

The refs called the game much tighter than the refs did in the first matchup between the teams. Shortly into the third, DePaul Prep was called for three fouls in the space of four seconds off the game clock.

DePaul head coach Tom Kleinschmidt agreed the refs were calling the game tighter than he expected in a championship.

“I kind of lost my composure a little [with the refs]. That was my fault,” Kleinschmidt said.  

The Caravan cut the Rams lead to six points at the end of the third quarter and ramped up the defensive pressure in the fourth frame.

Championship experience and hours of free throw practice paid dividends for the Rams. Senior and All Area guard PJ Chambers was calm as could be. With the score 37-34, Chambers stepped up the line and dropped two free throws with a 1:44 to go. And then two more at 1:20. And then two more at 1:05.

It was Makai Kvamme’s turn at the line 50 seconds left. Two more free throws made. A layup by sophomore guard Rob Walls added two more points. Two more free throws at the end for Kvamme made it a 49-41 final. And a state championship, again.

“I don’t even have words. I am very excited. It’s amazing. It’s a pleasure to be part of this DePaul Prep program and to win so much,” said Rams’ point guard Makai Kvamme.

As to the free throws, Kvamme said, “I don’t think about it anymore. I am pretty confident. After the Normal game [where he missed two free throws with no time on the clock that could have sone it for the Rams], we worked on them every day because I missed those two free throws. I was upset obviously after the game. I just kept working,” Kvamme said.

Mount Carmel head coach Phil Segroves downplayed the tight calls. “I don’t know what the foul totals were. We did come out a little bit more aggressive [in the second half]. We knew that we had to play a little bit more up tempo. We were able to force some turnovers and get some quick buckets. That is where you saw the twelve-point lead cut to three,” Segroves said.

“We had the right scout on the wrong night. We had a great scout for DePaul Prep based on what we had seen and us playing them earlier in the year. Their guys did some stuff that we were not expecting. Their guys hit some big shots early. All the credit to Coach Kleinschmidt and DePaul Prep.”

It was a phenomenal season for the Rams. They won the Chicago Catholic League. It was the winningest season in school history, 35-2. Their only two losses were to the two teams that played for the 4A state championship Homewood-Flossmoor and Normal Community. They did it without starter junior guard Rob Walls for much of the season and junior forward and anticipated starter Jonas Johnson for most of the season.

They did it starting two seniors, two juniors and a sophomore. The sixth man was also a sophomore. They did without a lot of fanfare. They did it in a workmanlike fashion. They enjoyed themselves. And so did we.

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.

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.

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.