Lane Tech Handles Jones 60-40 in the Battle of the Bridge Opener

The Lane Tech Champions opened the season against the Jones College Prep Eagles with an impressive 60-41 victory at the 2023 Annual Battle of the Bridge Tournament.

The Champions come into the season as a ranked team, #20 in the Sun-Times Super 25, for the first time that I can remember. There are high expectations for the Champions who feature two of the top rated players in the area, senior guard Shaheed Solebo and junior foward/center Dalton Scantlebury.

I wasn’t planning a full story on this game. We will have to save that for Friday’s championship game. I also took some photos at the barnburner between the Champions and the Niles North Vikings. I will post those photos shortly.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Payton Defeats Jones 60-51

I stopped over at Payton to catch as much of the Jones game before heading over to the DePaul Prep v. St. Rita game last Friday. I am glad I did. Payton has a good basketball team and a lively gym atmosphere. Once one can get in the building that is.

I was impressed by senior guard, forward and center Brennan Moore. He can do it all and regularly does. He and his band of large omnivores put a solid beating on a very good Jones team.

I had a nice chat with coach Ross Burt after the game. “We don’t really have positions,” he told me.

I couldn’t work up a proper story in a timely fashion but I will get back there for the full treatment at some point.

Oh, and they have really interesting halftime entertainment too.

Lane Tech Falls to Trinity 48-23 in National Women in Sports Day Shootout

The Lane Tech Women’s Varsity Basketball hosted a shootout in celebration of National Women in Sports Day. Four games in one day: Loyola Academy v. Westinghouse, Resurrection v. Payton, DePaul Prep v. Jones and Lane v. Trinity.

I have shooting so many games in recent days that I can’t work up even a nominal story on the games. I published a brief post and gallery about the DePaul Prep v. Jones game yesterday but it was all I could do to get that done. I have bitten off more than I can do with doing games during the weeks and one or two shootouts on the weekends.

I hope you like these photos from the Lane game. With the new lights in the Lane gym and the new camera, the exposures I get are so much better. I hope you like the photos.

Lake Tech Holds to Defeat Jones

After the last-minute postponement of the Farragut game on Friday, Feb. 26, the Lane Tech boys basketball team finally opened its season on Monday, Mar. 1, against Jones. The Lane boys (no longer known as the Indians) beat Jones 40-34, in a defensive struggle.

Both teams came out of the 360-day layoff since their last high school basketball game, very rusty. Shots just would not fall. These jitters combined with very strong defensive efforts by both teams meant that after one quarter of basketball, the score was Lane 7, Jones 5.

The second quarter was not a whole lot better. The score at the half was Jones 15, Lane 12.

“First game jitters; that’s gonna happen, especially after a year layoff and only having a couple practices,” said Lane Tech head coach and athletic director Nick Logalbo.

Things teams settled down at halftime and felt a little more normal, well COVID normal. Shots started falling. It turned into an exciting back and forth game. Lane’s junior guard Sean Molloy sparked the Lane boys with nine of this game high 14 points in the third quarter. Interestingly, Sean Molloy is the youngest brother of Lane’s girls’ varsity basketball coach Megan Molloy.

With 1:06 left on the clock in the fourth quarter, Jones senior forward Niko Rosich tied the game at 37 with a long three-pointer.

Lane point guard senior Justin Brown quickly brought up the ball and with 50 seconds to go dished to Molloy. Off the shot fake, Molloy slashed into the lane and was called for a charge. With the foul, the ball went over to Jones with the game still tied with 39 second remaining.

Initially, Jones looked like it would play for the last shot but Rosich broke for the basket missing a layup. Molloy scrambled for the ball and dashed up court. Weaving way through defenders Molloy dropped in a right handed layup being fouled in the process with 20.2 seconds remaining.

Sean added the free throw giving Lane a 40-37 lead. There it would end.

“You know the Molloy boys; those kids are tough as nails. Sean gonna be obviously a really good player for us. We knew he would make those plays. The charge was questionable, but how about a junior responding like that? He wanted the ball right back,” Logalbo said of Molloy.

Sean’s older brother Michael Molloy was Lane’s starting point guard several years ago. Brother Neil Molloy played football at Lane from 2011 to 2015, later playing college football at Illinois Wesleyan.

Sean Molloy had 14 points. Lane’s senior center Aaron McQueen finished with 10 points. Justin Brown had seven.

Jones’ Rosich also with 14 points. Jones’ Devin Boston had 11 points.

One can view the entire game, include Lane Tech sophomore Alex Burstein’s play-by-play, on Lane Tech Athletic’s You Tube channel at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxdhVaJI8sQ&t=53s