DePaul Prep Wins Third Straight State Championship

[preview of my Inside—Booster story for this week.]

By Jack Lydon

CHAMPAIGN, IL—The toughness and heart of DePaul Prep cannot be overstated. Down by nine with under six minutes to play, the Rams rallied to defeat Brother Rice 55-52 in double overtime to win their third straight state championship. This was a heavy weight boxing match between fighters that know each other well.

The game was practically a mirror image of their first meeting in January when the Brother Rice Crusaders (31-6) defeated DePaul Prep 53-52 after grabbing an early lead. The Crusaders survived a late comeback by the Rams, but just barely.

That would not happen again. With the weight of two state champions pressing down and behind 33-24 with 5:42 to play, the Rams had to dig deep. Senior leader Makai Kvamme, a veteran of the two preceding state championships, stepped up big time.

Makai was struggling. He had not scored in the game to that point. Despite getting good looks, his shots were just not falling.

At 5:42, Makai get a layup, his first points of the game. He would score 9 more in the fourth. It wasn’t just Kvamme. Porter had a bucket. With the Rams trailing 40-37 and 43 seconds on the clock, Junior guard and transfer into DePaul Rykan Woo, who was not on the prior championship teams, surely had the biggest free throw shots of his life. He made the first. He made the second. He made the third. Scored tied, going to overtime.

It would take two overtimes but the Rams would close out the win with big buckets by AJ Chambers, Rob Walls, Rashaun Porter and five more from Kvamme in the second overtime.

“That was a fist fight of heavy weights. All great whistles. They let us play. Points were at a premium. Things got loose a little in the second half,” said Rams coach Tom Kleinschmit.

“These seniors that are up here have been on the varsity for three years. They are 70 and 5 in two years. The culture was built on the guys before them,” Kleinschmidt added.

“We knew that we had experience. We wanted to use that experience to the best of our ability. We stayed poised, stayed relaxed and started pressuring them to make them turn it over. We got that result,” said junior center Rashaun Porter.

“When we took the program over [in 2013], we had two goals: win the [Chicago Catholic] League and win the state championship. We hadn’t won a league game in five years and people looked at us like ‘ya, whatever.’ We attained one of the goals and won the League. Now we’ve won a championship,” said Kleinschmidt.

It’s three championships now actually. The Rams defeated Bloomington Central Catholic 65-41 in 2023 to win 2A. Last year they defeated Chicago Catholic League rival Mount Carmel 49-41 to win their second state championship in a row, that time in 3A. It will have to be said that the DePaul Prep Rams have entered the rarified air of multiple consecutive championships in IHSA history.   

“We are a defensive culture team that can score now. We talked about leaning on our experience. We certainly did that tonight,” concluded Coach Kleinschmidt.

Seventh ranked Brother Rice Crusaders were as tough a team as the Rams faced all year. And the Rams played a tremendously difficult schedule. Brother Rice has put together an impressive string of their own with three consecutive 30-win seasons. It was their first appearance in the State Tournament since 2005.

Chicago Catholic League Lawless Player of the Year, Crusaders senior guard Marcos Gonzales lead all scorers in the game with 24 points. Senior forward K. J. Morris had 11 points for Brother Rice. Senior guard Jack Weigus added 10 points.

It was a total team effort for the Rams, offensively as well as defensively. Kvamme lead the team with 16 points, all coming in the fourth quarter and the overtime periods. Rashaun Porter added 14 despite suffering injured fingers. Rob Walls and Rykan Woo had 7 each. AJ Chambers had 5. Jonas Johnson and Gus Donohue each added a three-pointer. The Rams had 10 steals and only 9 turnovers.

DePaul Prep and Lane Are Both Regional Champs

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

By Jack Lydon

It was a good night for basketball teams from Addison and Western. The seventh ranked DePaul Prep Rams (28-4) defeated the Carmel Corsairs (12-19) to win their tenth consecutive regional championship. Their immediate neighbor to the north, the Lane Tech Champions (20-11) defeated the New Trier Trevians 67-57 to win Lane’s first ever regional championship in school history.

With the number one seed in the 3A Antioch Sectional, DePaul Prep faced the number nine seed, Carmel Catholic from Mundelein. The Rams controlled the game from the outset. Their patented switching defense stymied Carmel at every turn. The Corsairs struggled to even get shots up. They only scored one point in the second quarter, and that was a free through in the closing seconds of the half.

Rams’s junior guard Rykan Woo, recently selected as second-team All-City by the Sun-Times, had nineteen points included all thirteen of the Rams’ first quarter points. Senior forward and DePaul University commit Jonas Johnson started the game and added eleven points. Point guard and Western Illinois commit Makai Kvamme had ten points.

“It’s great. I certainly don’t take it for granted,” Rams head coach Tom Kleinschmidt said of his teams’ having won ten straight IHSA Regional Championships.

“It the cultivation of a program, the support that we get from the school, the coaches and players that we have had, names that [our current players] may not know or may have only heard of that really build the program, guys like Chris Herrell and Raequan [Williams], David Holiday, Scotty Calderon, [Dan Lydon], all those guys that build the program,” Kleinschmidt added.

“[Those guys] took the program and gave it to Perry [Cowen], Perry gave it to these guys. It’s been awesome. I don’t take it for granted. Ten straight regionals. I remember the first three that we played in we didn’t win one. I was hoping to win one or two regionals.”

DePaul Prep senior Makai Kvamme, widely regarding as a top point guard in the area, reflected on his last home game in DePaul’s Tom Winiecki Gym. “I have played here for so long, developed such a great relationship with my teammates. It means the world to me being here with my teammates and coaches.”

As good of a night as it was for the Rams, it was that and more for the Lane Tech Champions. The number four seed Champions defeated the previously ranked and five seed New Trier Trevians in the Maine South regional final 67-57. This was Lane’s first regional championship in school history. The Champions join the ranks of venerable southside 2025 CPS regional champions such as Kenwood, Simeon, Whitney Young and Curie.

The Champions reprised their January 18th 60-47 victory over New Trier but it wasn’t without having to deal with adjustments by the Trevians.

“They really tried to negate [first team All-City senior center] Dalton [Scantlebury],” said Lane Tech head coach Nick LoGalbo.

“They were in a box and one [defense] the entire game. We did a good job in setting our other guys up, using Dalton’s strengths in other ways. Guys stepped up.”

New Trier junior forward Christopher Kirkpatrick led the Trevians attack with his deadly long range jumpers. Kirkpatrick managed 29 points but it would not be enough to overcome a 17-4 first quarter deficit.

“We got hot from three early. We made some big ones late. We got to a point where they were just daring us to shoot it. Drew Barolai hit a big one from the corner. That kind of broke the game open in the third quarter. We took a pretty good lead. We maintained that through the fourth. And that was it,” LoGablo said.

“I am super proud of our guys. We have been talking about trying to do this for a long time. I thought we had the team to do it. We set the schedule at the beginning of the year. We decided that we are going to go play everbody. We found a way to get ourselves here. Our guys were ready for the moment.”

DePaul Prep advances to face a somewhat overlooked St. Viator Lions team in the 3A Antioch Sectional semi-final on Tuesday. The Lions have put together an impressive 23-9 record year.

The Lane Tech Champions will face #12 Evanston (26-5)  in the 4A New Trier Sectional semi on Tuesday.

Other area teams also played in the regional championships. In 4A, #20 Whitney Young knocked off the other ranked area team #13 Lincoln Park 50-47.

DePaul Prep Defeats Vashon 68-54 at H-F MLK Shootout

The DePaul Prep Rams (19-1, 3-0) defeated the Vashon Wolverines 68-54 this afternoon at the Homewood-Flossmoor MLK Day Shootout. Vashon, a public high school in St. Louis, (12-2) has been Missouri state champions for the last four years. They came into the game with DePaul Prep 11-1. I guess I didn’t know what to expect. As with the first game this year playing an out-of-state team, Mater Dei from Los Angeles at the Chicago Elite Classic, I was just hoping the Rams would play well and not get blown out.

I underestimated the Rams then. I ought to have known better today.

Vashon looked, to me at least, like the best team that the Rams had played all season. The Wolverines were big. They had a size advantage on the Rams on every position except for center where Lashaun Porter had an advantage on Terron Garrett who was listed in the program as a wing.

When the game started, the Wolverines were shooting well, defending furiously and rebounding on both ends.

Midway through the first quarter, the Rams had a nine point lead that Vashon cut to four by the end of the first. They Rams were playing well on defense and dealing with the pressure defense of Vashon about as well has a team could. The Rams were playing about as well as I have seen them play, especially on defense. It was two good teams battling it out. Rykan Woo had nine points in the first. The Rams held a 22-18 lead at the end of the first quarter and maintained that four point advantage at the half, 33-29.

The Rams shined in the third quarter outscoring the Wolverines 15-4. And they never looked back. The full court press that Vashon jumped into only made things worse. The Rams broke the press and ended in layups and back door dunks.

It was as impressive of a game as I have have seen the Rams play. Just so much toughness. Toughness demostrated in no small measure by the elbow inflicted gash that AJ Chambers suffered late in the second quarter. There was an extended time stoppage while the Homewood-Flossmoor janitorial staff mopped the blood off the court. Chambers wasn’t out of the game long. They quickly patched him up and he was back in the game wearing the number 21 jersey at that point.

Junior guard Rykan Woo had 18 points. Junior center Rashaun Porter had 16 points and the player of the game trophy. Senior point guard Makai Kvamme had 15 points. Let’s not forget the 4 points added by Rob Walls whose defense is worth three time as many points as he scores. Jonas Johnson came off the bench and added 7 points. AJ Chamber added 6 points, at least I think he did when I add up the scores of numbers 3 and 21. Gus Donohue added a bucket.

Maybe I am too close seeing too many DePaul Prep games. I can’t really judge how good they are. Let’s just say they are No. 1 and only getting better. IC Prep away on Tuesday and then Brother Rice at home on Friday night.

DePaul Prep Survives Loyola 43-35

The DePaul Prep Rams (15-1, 3-0) defeated the Loyola Academy Ramblers (15-5, 1-2) 43-35 on Friday evening at Loyola. I have to hand it to Loyola. Tom Livatino had the Rams playing his game. Slow the tempo way down, play very physical and hope to edge teams at the end.

It was working in the first half with the assistance of the referees. I don’t like to criticize referees. They are usually very good. In first half of this game, the referees were let them play. Meaning they weren’t calling any fouls. This hurt the Rams. Their shots were not falling.

The Ramblers were hitting shots at least enough to stay close to the Rams. Loyola’s center Brandon Loftus was impressive in the paint and hitting outside shots.

The second half was different for the Rams. The refs started calling fouls and the Rams were able to score like they usually do.

The Rams gained a lead and were able to build it with some remarkable free throw shooting to seal the victory. Junior Rykan Woo was 8 for 8 in the game and 6 for 6 in the last 1:05 of the game.

The Rams improve to 15-1 overall and 3-0 in the Chicago Catholic League Blue and probably retain their #1 ranking.

A little past the midway point of the season 16 games into the 30-game season, the Rams are the No. 1 ranked team in the Sun-Times Super 25. They got that spot after winning their inaugural appearance in the Pontiac Holiday Tournament. It was another achievement for the DePaul College Prep basketball team that has now become a “program.”

At the R-B tournament in the summer of 2023, I was talking to Mike Mullin of the Illinois Wolves. He was the first person that I heard use the term “program” in conjunction with DePaul Prep. After just one 2A State Championship, some might argue that the “program” moniker might be a little premature. Not anymore. Since 2019, the DePaul Prep Rams have achieved a third place in 3A, a No. 1 ranking in the 2020, the COVID year, a 2A state championship, victory in Hinsdale Central Holiday Classic, a 3A state champion and a Pontiac title. Combine that unprecedented success with the same coach in the program for 10 years, a coach with over 300 career wins, and you are pretty much talking “program.”

That’s all fine but there are games to play. This season has seen the return of proven producers Makai Kvamme, Rob Walls, Rashaun Porter, AJ Chambers and Jonas Johnson. But it’s the emergence of Rykan Woo that have brought the Rams, admittedly a 3A team, to that top tier.

Woo, a transfer from Whitney Young, is averaging 17 points a game. His eye popping 24 points and 6 of 7 three pointers against Warren has him being talked about as the best player in the whole junior class. I first saw him play at the R-B tournament this past summer. But it was at the Ridgewood summer event that he turned heads. A longtime DePaul Prep observer told me that this 24-25 team would be better than the last two state championship teams. We will see about that but the addition of Rykan is making a believer out of me.

The Rams schedule has been rough. At the start of the season, Tom Kleinschmidt told me, “We are going to lose some games this year.”

Not true so far. Only one loss. And then to the No. 1 team at the time, Kenwood. And then only by two points in the last ten seconds of a weekend shootout game. Add in some signature wins over Niles North, Lane, Rich Township, Mater Dei (a California powerhouse program), Curie, Benet and Warren.

I would say the first half went well for the Rams. The bulk of the Chicago Catholic League games will be played in the second half, namely Mount Carmel, Brother Rice, St. Ignatius, DeLaSalle and Fenwick. Who cares about Pontiac and state championship if you don’t win the Chicago Catholic League Blue? We will see about the second half.

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!

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.

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 Handles Loyola 40-18

The DePaul Prep Rams are for real. They just keep passing test after test. The #9 ranked Rams (10-0, 2-0) defeated the #25 ranked Loyola Academy Ramblers (8-3, 1-2) 40-18 at DePaul Prep on Friday.

If defense is Loyola’s calling card, DePaul Prep handed it right back to them Friday night at DePaul Prep’s Tom Winiecki Gym, and then some. The Ramblers has only managed to score nine points against the Rams until well into the fourth quarter. That’s not a typical high school even for the notoriously low scoring Catholic League games. The Ramblers managed to double that output in garbage time finishing with 18 points.

The Rams had struggled against the ‘Blers in recent years dropping four out of the last five games they have played with scores typically in the thirties and forties. Last year’s score was the lowest of the last five with a 39-36 Loyola win.

DePaul Prep’s man-to-man defense denied open shots to the Ramblers. Rams’ guards PJ Chambers, Makai Kvamme, Rob Walls and AJ Chambers were defending everything. The shots the Ramblers did manage to get up, didn’t fall. Rams forward Jaylan McElroy, Jonas Johnson and Rashawn Porter battle on the boards preventing easy second shots for the Ramblers.   

Junior forward Jonas Johnson led the scoring for the Rams with ten points including to three-pointers that lifted the Rams late in the first quarter. Senior guard PJ Chambers had nine points despite missing significant minutes because of some early foul trouble. Senior forward Jaylan McElroy finished with eight points.

The Chicago Catholic League Blue is largely regarded as the best conference in the state this year. Six of its nine teams have been ranked this year: # 4 Mount Carmel, #5 Brother Rice, #9 DePaul Prep, #13 DeLaSalle, #25 Loyola and formerly ranked St. Ignatius. The win over Loyola lifted the Rams to 2-0 in the conference. Mount Carmel and Brother Rice also remain undefeated in conference play with Friday night wins over St. Ignatius and DeLaSalle respectively.

“Lane was ranked in the pre-season. Lane tested us. Niles North tested us. Those teams are good. We haven’t been Catholic League tested. Loyola was on the road at Br. Rice. They were [tested] and we weren’t. I was nervous about that,” Rams’ head coach Tom Kleinschmidt said. His Rams passed the test handling the Ramblers like they haven’t in recent years.

Of his defense, Kleinschmidt said, “I think we switched up on them. We took them out of their first and second options. We stayed home on some shooters. The ball was not falling for them. We had a little bit to do with that. There we some shots that they would make on other teams.”

Loyola’s coach Tom Livatino is as good as it gets and dialed up the defense at the start of the second quarter going to his high-pressure trapping one-three-one defense.

“We had some unforced turnovers that we were not real happy with but the way we were guarding we forgave that a little bit,” Kleinschmidt continued. “We practiced the one-three-one. We have seen it on film and we were prepared for it.”

Coach Kleinschmidt was all business after the game with little time to celebrate a dominant Catholic League victory. That might have something to do with the fact that the Rams will face #6 ranked Bloom Township (5-2) on Sunday.

“They are big and strong. We haven’t watched them. We put all of our eggs in the Loyola basket. We will watch it tonight and tomorrow morning and then we will have practice. It’s the last game before [Christmas] break. We will go play our ass off and give it shot,” Kleinschmidt said of Bloom.

DePaul Prep Wins Battle of the Bridge Tournament with 67-50 Victory over Niles North

Defending 2A State Champions, the DePaul Prep Rams (4-0, 0-0) defeated the Niles North Vikings 67-50 in the championship game of the Battle of the Bridge Thanksgiving tournament at DePaul Prep Friday night.

The frustration on the face of Niles North coach Glenn Olson was palpable. His Vikings were close, but the DePaul Prep Rams were just too solid in every phase. Niles North has suffered four loses to DePaul Prep in the Battle of Bridge championship game dating back to 2016 and one in a semi-final.

A quick 6-0 lead for the Rams to open the first quarter was part of the formula for a Tom Kleinschmidt victory. Get lead in the first quarter, survive the inevitable bounce back, build the lead in the third quarter, handle the ball and make free throws to win. It was a textbook Tom Kleinschmidt win—even if it didn’t feel very safe and any point until the end.

The Rams can execute in every phase and did on Friday. They can run and score in transition. They can the drive the lane, taking it to the rim or hitting the floater. Rams’ junior guard Makai Kvamme has stepped up his game on the point taking over where graduated senior Maurice Thomas left off.

Senior guard PJ Chambers was scoring inside and out, leading all scorers with 20 points, even with being occasionally spelled by his little brother AJ Chambers. And we are not even talking about Jaylan McElroy yet. The big man got in a little foul trouble and spent the second quarter on the bench. No worries. Sophomore forward LaShawn Porter filled right in. Jaylan dominated the boards throughout and was money with the key free throws in the fourth quarter. Junior Jonas Johnson hit a three on the Rams 15-2 run late in the second quarter and some free throws at the end.

This year’s Battle of the Bridge Thanksgiving tournament was one of the early season’s marquis events featuring two ranked teams, #13 DePaul Prep and #20 Lane Tech. Niles North is right there too. In fact, the Vikings were singled out by Joe Henricksen of the City Suburban Hoops Report as a team likely to break into the Super 25.

“How many teams have the opportunity to play two ranked teams in two road games at a Thanksgiving tournament?” Olson said after the Lane game.

The other teams were Lane, Notre Dame, Englewood Stem, Francis Parker, Jones and Prosser.

The Lane Tech v. Niles North game played on Wednesday also a marquis matchup of excellent teams. A packed and noisy gym at Lane saw the Champions edged by the Vikings 63-61. Match up featured two top players in the area: Lane’s Shaheed Solebo and Niles North’s Yaris Irby.  

“The close of the second half was one of the best that I have seen. We wanted to spread them to get some fouls,” said Rams coach Tom Kleinschmidt.

The fourth quarter Rams defense particularly on Niles North star player Yaris Irby who had only two points just closed out the game.

“The constant pressure and switching [players to cover Irby] was part of it. We don’t put one guy on one guy where they both get tired. We kind of share the load. And I think that kind of help us in second halves. Everybody can guard whoever. They have to guard whoever. It keeps us fresh at the end of the game.

“That was fun and nerve-racking. I was never comfortable and never am.”

The Rams open Chicago Catholic League play on Thursday at St. Rita. The Rams then make their first appearance in the Chicago Elite Classic with a game on Friday, December 1, 2023, against neighbor Lane Tech at UIC’s Credit 1 Arena.

Basketball Season is Here

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Romeoville Live Summer Shootout 2023

The Romeoville Live Event is not at Romeoville High School. It’s at the Romeoville Athletics and Events Center, a large sports facility that normally hosts basketball and indoor soccer leagues. It’s big. The soccer field has six basketball courts assembled on top of the field turf.

The games themselves are abbreviated versions of a high school game. Two halves of fifteen minutes. Few foul shots. Not a whole lot of defense. These “Live” events allow college coaches a chance to see high school players in person. They afford the casual fan a chance to see the skills of individual players. To see how teams play together at this early part of the year. To check out the new players on a team. Plus, its basketball when there is not a whole lot else going on.

I couldn’t catch many games, some late games Friday and some early games Saturday. I managed to see some teams I cover: Lane, DePaul, Evanston and Simeon. Also, Sean Connor’s Antioch Sequoits—can’t miss them.

Lane was handled in the first game I saw by a West Aurora team that was a revelation to me. I have study up on them. Very talented.

The Champions rallied for a solid win over Oak Park/River Forest. In between those games was Antioch v. Evanston. Sean Connor’s mythical swamp creatures were depleted by injuries and players out playing baseball. They struggled a little moving the ball but plenty of fight in the Sequoits. Sean will have them ready to compete up there near the border.

Evanston looked athletic but these are not the Wildkits of recent years. Mike Ellis will coach ‘em good and have them ready to make trouble in the Central Suburban South.

I really wanted to see DePaul Prep v. St. Laurence on Friday afternoon but that was not in cards. This morning the Rams would face Hyde Park and Oswego East. We would get a good look at the Rams against stiff competition. They did not disappoint.

In typical Tom Kleinschmidt fashion, the Rams built to a small lead on Hyde Park midway through the first half and stayed away despite a furious full court press with four minutes left in the game. Rams 57, Thunderbirds 39.

The Oswego East Wolves would be the early test for this year’s Rams. Oswego East upset Joliet West in last season’s 4A Sectional final only to lose a close game to eventual 4A State Champ Moline in the super-sectional. This wasn’t last year’s team but some key pieces are still there.

The Rams got behind early and just looked out of sync. Would this be end of the streak?

No. Midway through the first half, the Rams put together a 12-0 run and managed to carry the up and down eight point lead to a 48-40 victory. Sophomore forward LaShaun Porter is filling in nicely for the departed Payton Kamin and the injured Jonas Johnson.  

I also got a chance to catch up with Dominic Scianna from CPS Athletics and St. Laurance assistant coach Billy Judge. So that was good.

With these two Live events behind me, I guess it is football season now.

DePaul Prep Advanced to 2A State Championship Game with 45-17 Defensive Gem over Teutopolis

The DePaul Prep Rams are peaking at the best time of the season. They handled the Teutopolis Wooden Shoes 45-17 in the IHSA 2A semi-final in Champaign. I was told that 17 points is the lowest point total in IHSA playoff history. Teutopolis struggled to even get shots up. This was probably the Rams best performance of the year.

The Rams difficulties in the Chicago Catholic League, going 6-7 in the Blue, were clearly frustrating, even disconcerting, for the Rams and their fans.

“We got the injuries when we had Rita, Mount Carmel and DeLaSalle so we took our lumps early,” said DePaul head coach Tom Kleinschmidt. “But we learned from that. And now we are a little bit seasoned.”

Advancing in such dominant fashion to the state championship game must be satisfying, even vindicating, for the Rams. But even more than that, the Rams and their coach Tom Kleinschmidt clearly want it. They are driven to get this championship.

The defensive effort of the Rams, particularly in the second half, was something really special--truly a historic defensive effort. Teutopolis did not score in the fourth quarter. Their seventh and final point came midway through the third quarter.

“We executed our game plan. We fronted the post on the big. We wanted to turn them into passers with back side help. We shaded [Teutopolis’s Brayden Niebrugge and Garrett Gaddis]. We wanted to make the other guys score on us. [Teutopolis’s James Niebrugge, Brayden’s cousin] hurt us,” Kleinschmidt continued.

“We wanted to run that clock in the fourth quarter. So we called a longer set. We wanted to take a minute and a half [off the clock with every possession] and have them chase us. We wanted to wear them down where they had to chase and foul. And then we could do what we did, flash and get back door cuts.”

DePaul’s senior guard Maurice Thomas nearly beat Teutopolis himself with sixteen points. Junior forward Jaylan McElroy had ten points. PJ Chambers with seven. Payton Kamin with six. Jonas Johnson and Henry West each with exclamation point buckets at the end. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention senior Dane Barkley’s beautiful no look assist to Henry West with 1:12 left.

The Rams advance to face the Bloomington Central Catholic Saints on Saturday in the 2A state championship game at 12:45.

Be careful what you wish for. Bloomington Central Catholic defeated Rockridge 57-44 in the other semi-final. The Saints have Cole Certa. Certa finished with nineteen points, sixteen of which came in the second half. If you have not heard of Certa, you soon will. The heavily recruited junior guard is the third highest rated 2024 prospect in Illinois behind only St. Rita’s Morez Johnson and James Brown.

Stay tuned. The Rams will have to duplicate, or maybe improve their defensive effort to bring home the school’s first basketball state championship.

DePaul Prep Defeats North Lawndale 50-42 to Win 2A Sectional

Preview of my upcoming Inside Publications article:

The DePaul Prep Rams defeated the North Lawndale Phoenix 50-42 on Friday evening to win the IHSA 2A Christ the King Sectional championship and move on the Super-sectional against Perspectives—Leadership on Monday.

The Rams’ pair of highly rated forwards, Jaylan McElroy and Payton Kamin, have sat out much of the season with injuries but they have been back in the line up together now for a couple weeks. It has taken a while to see if and when the talented pair would regain their dominate form. These last two sectional playoff games against two very good CPS teams have answered those questions. And the answers are yes and now.

The DePaul Prep Rams, 19-12 overall and 6-7 in the Chicago Catholic League Blue, have two third-place finishers in the state tournament in recent years. In 2019, the Rams lost to Bogan in the 3A semi-final and defeated Peoria Manual to take third place. Last year, the Rams lost to Nashville in the 2A semi and defeated Rockridge to take third.

And let’s not forget the Rams functional equivalent of a state title with the #1 ranking and championship in the COVID season’s Chipotle post-season tournament in the absence of the IHSA state finals in the COVID season.

The North Lawndale Phoenix, 15-11 overall and 5-3 in the CPS Red-West/North, have a storied history as well having won a 2A state championship in 2008 under their late coach Lewis Thorpe.

The Rams’ second quarter defensive stand and rebounding performance proved that the junior pair are back and playing together at a high level. After an even 9-9 first quarter, the Rams defense put the Phoenix back on one their heels.

“I think our switching bothered them a little bit. And then they got used to it and spread us,” DePaul Prep head coach Tom Kleinschmidt said about the Rams second quarter play. That’s what happened. Interestingly, the Rams and Phoenix play a similar game. They both want to move the ball side-to-side looking the dribble penetration for a layup or a kick out pass for an open three.

The Rams would not bite. DePaul did a great job switching defensive coverages as the Phoenix the ball around which forced long outside shots that missed the mark.

“We did a nice job giving them one shot and keep them off the glass. We limited their possessions. We did what we wanted to do,” Kleinschmidt said of the defensive stand that held North Lawndale scoreless for most of the second quarter while the Rams converted on the other end for an 11-0 run.

It wasn’t all Rams. North Lawndale is too tough and skilled to turned off for long.

“In the second half, we had a hard time containing the ball. They spread us in the second half. Attacked our guards a little bit and got in the paint too much. And that bothered us in the second half,” Kleinschmidt continued.

Down 25-16 at the half, North Lawndale chiseled their way back in the game briefly tying the game late in the third quarter. But the Phoenix physical play get them in foul trouble repeatedly sending the Rams to the line. Not a good place to be against the DePaul shooters. The Rams dropped sixteen free throws in the second half.

“I just think it’s a style they play in the Red West. They press. They are physical. They play a lot of guys. They are in shape. That’s their style of play and we know that going in,” Kleinschmidt said of the Phoenix physical play.

At the end of the game, “we [did] a nice job of spreading [the offense]. We usually have some guys that can make some free throws and that didn’t happen tonight. But we made enough [free throws] to get a win. We got enough stops and rebounds down the stretch,” Kleinschmidt said.

The Rams took their lumps in the Chicago Catholic League regular season without them. The early season four game losing streak to St. Laurence, DeLaSalle, Mount Carmel and St. Rita definitely stung. When asked about what this playoff success means to his team, Kleinschmidt said, “We’ve got two goals. We want to win the Catholic League and we want to win State. We knew we would probably struggle when we had the injuries. We looked at it as a positive. The sophomores (forward Jonas Johnson, point guard Makai Kvamme and guard Rob Walls) would get a lot of minutes and then they could help us in games like tonight. And they did.”

Of the press break and killing the clock, Kleinschmidt said, “we drill it and practice it so they should be good at it. We turned it over one time late that we did not like. If we would have finished some of those layups we had, I think we missed three layups under the rim, that’s what we wanted. We don’t want jump shots under five [minutes]; we want to go to the rim. It makes the game a little easier if you finish those.”

DePaul Prep will face Perspectives Leadership on Monday in the super-sectional at Joliet Central High School. The winner of that game moves on the state championship 2A finals starting Thursday.

DePaul Prep Drops Lake Forest 51-45 at Steve Pappas Shootout

DePaul Prep hosted its 4th Annual Steve Pappas Shootout on Saturday. Four high level high school basketball games from noon to 6:30. The first game was the host DePaul Prep Rams (10-6, 1-4) against Lake Forest Scouts (7-8, 2-2).

The Rams opened an early lead on strength of seven points by PJ Chambers. The Rams have struggled a little this year losing four straight games to Chicago Catholic League opponents. The Rams are without two junior starters Jaylon McElroy and Payton Kamin who are expected to return to the starting line-up soon.

This matchup against Lake Forest brought Asa Thomas to Tom Winiecki Gym. The Lake Forest senior forward and Clemson commit is one of the top players in Illinois. This was the first time I got to see him play in person. He did not disappoint. Unfortunately for the Scouts, he didn’t have enough support on either end of the floor.

The Rams opened a ten point halftime and lead by as much as 14 in the third quarter. Lake Forest chipped away at the lead cutting it to four points with 17 seconds left. The Scouts turned the ball over with 6 seconds on the clock. The Rams survived 51-45.

Asa Thomas lead all scorers with 24 points. The Rams PJ Chambers had 22. It was a nice win for the Rams against a quality team in the shootout honoring their from coach Steve Pappas.

DePaul Prep Falls to Mount Carmel 42-41

Preview of my Inside Publications article this week.

No. 17 Mount Carmel defeats DePaul Prep 42-41

DePaul Prep Rams lost to Mount Carmel Caravan 42-41 at Mount Carmel Friday night. The Rams are struggling through an uncharacteristic three-game losing streak in the Chicago Catholic League’s Blue division.

 The Rams (4-3, 0-3) opened the game outscoring the 17th ranked Caravan (7-1, 2-0) five to zero. The Caravan then went on a 10-0 run to close the quarter. They would hold the lead that eventually dwindled to a single point at the buzzer to survive a young and injured Rams team.

The early run by the Caravan was aided by some sloppy Rams ball handling. “They picked us up a little bit, trapped us a couple times when we were lazy with the ball. We have bad habits in practice right now in passing. They are leading to the game,” said Rams head coach and former DePaul University star Tom Kleinschmidt.

The young Rams start three sophomores, center Jonas Johnson, guard Makai Kvamme and guard Rob Walls, one junior, PJ Chambers and one senior, guard and leading scorer Maurice Thomas. Out with injuries for the moment are junior standouts and returning starters Payton Kamin and Jaylan McElroy.

Despite the Rams having two of their best players on the court, they opened the season 4-0 winning the Battle of the Bridge Tournament hosted by DePaul Prep along with Lane Tech. Catholic League Blue conference play has been a different story. Coming into this game, the Rams were on a two-game losing streak in the conference play dropping games to St. Lawrence and DeLaSalle.

There are encouraging signs for the Rams. Mount Carmel’s transfer Lee Marks emerged as a force for the Caravan at last weekend’s Chicago Elite Classic. The Rams shut him down. “We scouted him pretty well. Our gap defense shut his driving lanes down a little bit. We did a nice job keeping him off the boards. He is a fantastic rebounder. He had seventeen rebounds against Laurence,” said Kleinschmidt.

The Caravan never blow the game wide open. The largest lead they managed was seven points. Then curiously, early in the third quarter, Caravan head coach Phil Segorves slowed down the pace of game. At one point midway through the fourth quarter, Caravan point guard Deandre Craig put the ball on his hip in classic style and waited for the Rams to come out and defend.

 “I think they wanted to pull us out and get us in the bonus. [Deandre] Craig is one of the two or three best point guards in the league. I think [Mount Carmel head coach Phil Segorves] wanted to put the ball senior point guard’s hands and control the game, get fouls and go to the line,” Kleinschmidt added.

The Rams chiseled away at the Caravan lead making it a one possession game for the last couple minutes. Only a questionable turn over call and foul pushed the lead to four. The Rams made it a one-point game with a three before the buzzer.

The fact that the young Rams can play with the seventh ranked CCL powerhouse Caravan has to be encouraging for Rams fans. This adversity early in the season is going to help them when they get their scorers back. “1000%. Everybody is getting minutes. This time that they are getting you normally can’t get it. And they are playing well. We are stretching our bench. When we get everybody back, we will be in good shape,” said Kleinschmidt.

Out of the frying pan and into the fire for the young Rams who host 5th ranked St. Rita Mustangs next Friday the DePaul Prep’s Tom Winiecki Gym on Friday. St. Rita will be riding high after defeating the 6th ranked and previously unbeaten Brother Rice Crusaders 57-51 at Brother Rice.

Riverside Brookfield Summer Shootout Preview

By Jack Lydon

Riverside Brookfield Summer Shootout is the start of basketball season, for me at least. And so it begins.  R-B and its driving force Mike Reingruber, will host 72 “top area teams” on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Play opens Friday at noon with games across six courts. The complete Friday and Saturday schedule is available here. Sunday here.

72 area high schools will participate along with several from the St. Louis area—Belleville Althoff, Belleville East, Belleville West, East St. Louis and O’Fallon. As for the top teams, who know who those teams are at the moment?

There are a number powerhouses from last year, such as 4A State Champion Glenbard West, 1A State Champion Yorkville Christian, 4A runner-up Whitney Young, 3A third-place St. Ignatius, 3A fourth place Simeon, 2A third place DePaul Prep.

But that was last year, star seniors have moved on to college programs, the new senior class comes front and center.

I have learned over several years going to R-B that these games are not regular high school games. It like the summer leagues where one gets a glimpse of the new starters playing offense and not a ton of defense. I got to see the highly-touted young players about to make there impact.

To the untrained eye, R-B can look like just another basketball tournament. So I am doing some research to find out who to watch. This year’s top seniors at R-B include Darrin Ames (Kenwood), Asa Thomas (Lake Forest), Cameron Christie (Rolling Meadows), Dalen Davis (Whitney Young) and Miles and Wesley Rubin (Simeon). There are a good number of juniors to see at R-B that will impact there teams and conference play including James Brown (St. Rita), Morez Johnson (St. Rita), Jaden Smith (Kenwood), Payton Kamin (DePaul Prep), Jaylen McElroy (DePaul Prep) and Shaheed Solebo (Lane Tech).

As for what teams to keep and I eye, I am of course interested in the teams in my coverage area, Lane Tech, Lincoln Park and DePaul Prep. The freshly re-named Lane Tech “Campions” will feature junior standout Shabeed Solebo. Lincoln Park looks to overtake Lane as the top northside school in CPS’s tough Red-West/North division under third-year coach Antwon Jennings. Tom Kleinschmidt reloads after another historic state playoff run with emerging stars Payton Kamin, Jaylen McElroy. DePaul Prep’s sophomore Jonas Johnson will be fun to watch too.

Then there are top teams to look at and see what they have coming back. I don’t do rankings. Understand, I typically cover Chicago Catholic League and Chicago Public League games. I get out to some ESCC and Evanston games when I can. These are a mix of top teams from last year and teams that I have seen over the past few years that are on the rise. So in no particular order:

Glenbard West. It should be interesting to see what Glenbard West can do after its historic season. Can Jason Opoka recreate the defensive length of Pierce, Huff, Durkin, Renfro and Warden?

Leo. After winning the Chicago Catholic League last year but losing the 2A Super-Sectional to CCL rival DePaul Prep, the Lions look to take another step. With returning stars Jared Gee, Tyler Smith and Jakeem Cole, Jarrod Gee and Tyler Smith, the Lions should be ready to make another deep run.

St. Rita. Is this the year for the Mustangs to bolt to top of the Catholic League Blue and makes it past Kenwood and Whitney Young in 4A? With two top ranked players, James Brown and Morez Johnson, the Mustangs their best chance in years. But will it be enough?

St. Ignatius. Coming out of the gate last season with a #4 Sun-Times ranking, he Wolfpack were in the spotlight. Some early season struggles with character building last second losses got them ready for a deep run in 3A and a third in State finish. Matt Monroe brings back key players Richard Barron and Jackson Kotecki. Even with the graduation of A. J. Redd, the Wolfpack should be very good and highly ranted.

DePaul Prep. And then there is DePaul Prep. After the 2020 COVID season, he Rams lost all five starters including standout and recent transfer to U. C. Davis, TY Johnson. Nevertheless, Tom Kleinschmidt plugged in recent Cleveland State re-commit Dylan Arnett, Trevon Thomas, sophomore standouts Payton Kamin and Jaylen McElroy, Julian Green and Anthony Gutierrez. That group battled in the CCL Blue and ran through 2A dropping Orr, Michelle Clark and Leo to make it to Champaign finishing third.

That was last year. This year is up to the still very young Rams, including Kamin and McElroy, Will O’Shields, Maurice Thomas and perhaps highly regarded sophomore Jonas Johnson. No easy road for the Rams in the CCL Blue with St. Rita, Mt. Carmel, Brother Rice, Leo and the always tough Loyola Ramblers.   

Kenwood. Then there is the Chicago Public League. Kenwood made believers out of me. I saw them handle Curie at Curie. Highly rated Darrin Ames and Davius Loury return. Expect Kenwood to be at or near the top of the Red-South/Central in February and highly ranked to start the season.  

Whitney Young. Whitney Young is Whitney Young. Dalen Davis and Marcus Pigram return. Tyrone Slaughter will reload and be back.

Simeon. It will be a fun season with Robert Smith’s victory lap. We will get a look at Simeon as the Wolverines take on DePaul Prep at 3:30 on Friday at R-B. Aviyon Morris, Jalen Griffith, Wesley Rubin and Miles Rubin return. This group will want to win for their legendary coach’s final tour.

So there you go, a look at a few teams that will play at R-B. Get out there early. Parking is . . . difficult.

Correction. I previously identified Timothy Christian’s Ben Vanderwall as Yorkville Christian’s Jaden Schutt. Yorkville Christian was not at the 2021 Riverside Brookfield Shootout. My apologies.

Timothy Christian’s Ben Vanderwall at 2021 Riverside Brookfield Summer Shootout