The following are posts related to specific shoots. And other things that I cannot stop myself from writing about.
Kenwood led 28-24 at halftime only to be outscored 28-4 in the third quarter. I don’t know what’s happened to Kenwood but they look like a whole different team from the one I saw play Thornton at the Chicago Elite Classic.
These are the photos. Curie’s gym is a great place to photograph a game. The light is pretty good. The gym in colorful. And otherwise a great atmosphere.
The Simeon Wolverines went to four overtimes, surviving four last shot chances by Curie to advance 64-60 to the Chicago Public League’s basketball championship on Saturday. Kenwood advanced as well with a deliberate but convincing 56-42 win over a newcomer to the City Championship final four, Perspectives-Leadership.
I have never seen four overtimes in a basketball game, until today. Four times Simeon had chances to put away the Curie Condors and four times Curie battled with a shot to win the game at the buzzer. Simeon’s defense wouldn’t allow it.
Curie’s head coach Mike Oliver called times out at that the ends of the second and third overtimes with under nine seconds giving his team not a lot of time to inbound the ball, crack the 1-3-1 pressure from Simeon’s Rubin twins to get up a game winner. Twice the Condors launched desperation shots that were nowhere close to going in, twice they didn’t even get up shots.
In the fourth overtime, Simeon managed to get a lead on Jalen Griffith and Miles Rubin’s free throws that Jeremy Harrington and the other Condors could not overcome.
Simeon’s Jalen Griffith finished with 21 points. Miles Rubin had 10 including two late free throws to seal the victory. Sam Lewis had 9. For Curie, Carlos Harris had, 17 Jeremy Harrington 16, Kros Barrett 13 and Shawn Brown 10. 64-60 was the final with the winner to meet the winner of the following game, Kenwood v. Perspectives-Leadership.
Mike Irvin and his Kenwood Broncos faced the unlikely upstart Perspectives-Leadership Warriors. On January 17th, the Broncos went into Perspectives’ gym and jumped out to a 31-7 lead after the first quarter on the strength of points in transition. The Warriors had no way to stop the lighting quick Broncos.
Until today that is. “We did a better job slowing down the game, playing a half court zone [defense] in the first half. It helped us out a lot. At home, we put a lot of pressure on the ball in half court. They got a head start on us. Today we were able to play a slower game. It worked in our favor in the first half. In the second half, it went the other way,” said Warriors head coach Mike Smith.
Even so, the Broncos were too much for the Warriors. The Broncos pulled away in the second had outscoring the Warriors 31-18.
Perspectives-Leadership’s impressive first half against Mike Irvin’s powerhouse Broncos squad bodes well for the upcoming IHSA 2A state tournament. The Warriors land the #1 seed in the Julian Sub-sectional B. Other top seeds in the Joliet (Central) Super-sectional include Phillips, DePaul Prep and Christ the King.
Perspectives has taken a big jump in its first year in CPL’s Red Division becoming the first charter school to make it to the City Championship final four. The addition of transfers Jakeem Cole (for Leo) and brothers Gianni Cobb and Kamarion Cobb from Bloom raised expectations. Gianni Cobb and Jakeem Cole lead the Warriors with 16 and 14 points respectively.
Kenwood’s leading scorer was Jaden Smith with 14 points. Darrin “Dai Dai” Ames and 13 points despite sitting much of the second period with two early fouls. Tyler Smith had 12.
Saturday evening’s City Championship at UIC’s Credit One Arena—the old Pavilion, will be a showdown between the old and the new. Simeon head coach is on his victory lap as he plans to retire after this season. Mike Irvin and his Kenwood Broncos fancy themselves the new rising powerhouse in CPS. Never at a loss for words, Mike Irvin said, “we are excited.”
“This is what we worked for all season. We told everbody, we are a great team. We will be here. We changed his name to Disco Dai Dai [Darrin Ames] because he was dancing tonight. We are excited to be here.”
We got the matchup of the best teams. I guess we see how it works out.
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
High school football started in more-or-less normal fashion last Friday with a double feature of DePaul College Prep vs Payton College and Lane Tech vs Kenwood at a sunbaked Lane Stadium. The near 100-degree temperatures and 90% humidity tested the stamina of the heartiest football fans. This reporter, for one, was thoroughly cooked by the end of the second game.
Despite the heat, a large crowd saw the Payton College Prep Grizzlies (0-1, 0-0) fall to the DePaul Prep Rams (1-0, 0-0) 49-0.
The Rams took the opening kick-off and methodically moved the ball down the field under the leadership of senior quarterback Chris Perez. A mix of short passes and inside running plays brought the ball down to the one-yard line where senior running back Vasco Sierra took a handoff from Perez right up the middle to give the Rams a 6-0 lead they would never relinquish.
On the next series, the Rams defense held the Grizzlies. Grizzlies punted. DePaul’s junior wide receiver and cornerback Shane Leonard fielded the punt at his own 38-yard line, cut up the left side line, broke a tackle and ran it into the North endzone. With both PATs good, the Rams opened and early first quarter 14-0 lead and never looked back.
Remarkably, the Rams hit seven out of seven extra points. I don’t recall ever seeing that in a high school.
The Rams look to take a leap forward as the program and bring themselves back into the football prominence once enjoyed by its processor Gordon Tech. In recent years, it has been difficult for Gordon Tech/DePaul Prep to achieve beyond Chicago Catholic League Red Division championships. Five wins are needed to qualify for the IHSA playoffs—a difficult task for Rams who have played an almost impossible CCL schedule.
This year may well be different. The CCL has combined with the East Suburban Catholic Conference for football. The Rams will not have to play CCL Blue powerhouses like Loyola, Brother Rice or Mt. Carmel. Conference games for the Rams this year are St. Viator, Leo, St. Laurence, Notre Dame, St. Ignatius and Marian Central Catholic.
“The biggest goal right now is just to get in the the playoffs. If we make the playoffs, we don’t have the multiplier on us so we are playing in 3A. We just came out here and beat a 5A/6A [team], one of the better CPS schools in the area,” said DePaul head coach Mike Passarella.
Five wins is very doable for DePaul. Once in the playoffs, the Rams can do some damage in the 3A playoffs.
The Payton College Prep Grizzlies struggled against DePaul suffering some injuries during the game and having lost some productive players to graduation.
“We played a really tough team that played well,” said Payton coach Craig Knoche after the game.
“We will find out [what happens with this season] on Monday/Tuesday of next week. We have got to respond to what just happened. They usually respond well.”.
In the second game, home team Lane Tech fall to the Kenwood Academy Broncos 27-9. This much more competitive game saw Lane Tech hang with the Broncos most of the first half.
Lane took an early 3-0 led. The Lane defense impressed with an early goal line stand against a big, fast and athletic Broncos’ offense. Eventually, the Lane defense cracked under the pressure of Kenwood’s speed giving up a long early second quarter touchdown run by the running back Taylen Goodwin.
The Lane offense struggled to move the ball only adding its only touchdown in the fourth quarter bringing the score to 21-9. Kenwood answered with the touchdown making the final score 27-9.
Lane travels to Lansing, Illinois for game against a game against a tough TF South team looking to rebound at home from a shellacking at the hands of Chesterton, Indiana high school.
It was a busy weekend of basketball. Whitney Young v. Lincoln Park and DePaul Prep v. Providence on Friday night. Then the Team Rose Shootout on Saturday and Sunday.
I love the Team Rose Shootout. It has a real gym-rat feel. The Chicago Elite Classic is fancy. Wintrust has fabulous light. But for pure basketball pleasure, the Team Rose Shootout is it. So many knowledgeable people to talk to. So many good players and good teams. Had some blowouts but all well played games.
Of the 900 games (14 actually), I got to see six. I really wanted to see Bloom and Orr, neither of whom I had not seen yet this year. Bloom is something—big and athletic. Well deserving of their #1 status. Orr looked really good. Evanston was just too good for the Spartans. The Wildkits handled Orr’s pressure. Not many others could. Orr will be there for the CPS championships.
I got to see Leo in advance of the Friday’s Chicago Catholic League game against DePaul Prep. And St. Laurence too. I like to see as many Chicago Catholic League teams as I can. I still haven’t seen Fenwick. It will be strange to see St. Joe’s without Gene Pingatore.
Notre Dame amazed me with a huge win over an extremely talented Bogan Begals squad. I still don’t know how they did that. Troy D’Amico played two positions at once. He was bringing the ball over the time line and then passing it to himself under the basket to score.
Okay, I know everybody contributed—Louis Lesmond, Jason Bergstrom, Jimmy Murphy, Frank Lynch and Mac Ross all made it happen without Anthony Sayles.
And the inspired coaching from Kevin Clancy and Shay Boyle. They had the Dons ready and did not fold under the intense pressure from Bogan. It was an interesting move to put D’Amico at point guard after the rash of turnovers. And the murderer’s row schedule too. As a St. Viator grad, I am not one to say nice things about the Notre Dame Dons if I can help it. But I have to take my St. Viator baseball cap off to them. It was very gutsy to put this schedule together and even more impressive to go out and back it up with high quality wins.
I couldn’t speed a lot of time there on Saturday so I missed OPRF and Stevenson. I will get to see Stevenson at the Hinsdale Holiday Classic coming up.
Michael O’Brien wrote in the paper today (or maybe it was Twitter) that the season is one quarter over. It seems like it just started to me. It has been very enjoyable so far.
Well, on to the Christmas tournaments.
Photos from:
Tinley Park v. Schaumburg
Bloom v. St. Laurence
Leo v. Kenwood
Notre Dame v. Bogan
Orr v. Evanston
I saw three really good games on Sunday (December 9, 2018). It was the first time I saw Leo this year. They looked really talented if a little undisciplined. The Lions came back and beat Bloomington. Bloomington is talented by not closers.
Kenwood v. Hillcrest was next. Those were two big, strong and talented teams. It was great to see them. It gave a some great perspective on the good teams out here.
The third game I saw was Orr v. Oak Park-River Forest. It was my first time seeing Orr this year. It is not the same Orr team as it has been for the last few years, but still very talented—and entertaining. The same Lou Adams. Lou has to be my favorite coach to photograph. I have talked to him a few times over the years. He is a very nice man.
Oak Park is good. They caught Orr in the last to minutes and then quickly closed the deal. Wasn’t even close at the end. I was impressed. It was a bit of a sloppy ending. Technical fouls, officiating screw-ups, pissed off coaches. Nevertheless, it was very entertaining.
I experimented with the settings on my camera. I changed around the auto-focus settings to see what works best for basketball. I moved the ISO around. The photos seem quite grainy to me but look okay on the webpages.
These are not my best photos. Not sure why. I have to keep working at it.
