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 Handles Clark 62-42 in 2A Sectional Semi-final

The DePaul Prep Rams (19-12) defeated the Michele Clark Eagles (19-7) 62-42 Wednesday evening in the 2A Christ the King sectional semi-final.

It was so nice to see Payton Kamin and Jaylan McElroy playing at a high level again. The Rams meshed into the team we hoped we would see when the season started. The injuries to Payton and Jaylan put all that on hold. Until tonight.

Payton had twelve of his twenty-eight points in the first quarter. The Rams really needed that. Getting down in the first quarter hasn’t work out well in recent games. Tom Kleinschmidt teams always play better with a lead. I suppose all teams do. I just mean that I cannot recall the Rams blowing a lead of eight or ten points. And I have seen most of the Gordon Tech/DePaul Prep games since 2013 or so.

Jaylan MeElroy was back too. I had him with eleven points. I don’t know how many rebounds but it was a lot. He was a presence in the lane on defense. Again, I don’t know how many blocks but a good number. A really nice job.

Terry Head’s Clark Eagles are good. Senior Cordy Johnson is a force and not afraid to drive the lane into Jaylan McElroy. The Eagles were taking it to the Rams in first quarter. The Rams were in the bonus not too long into the first quarter. Five of the Rams’ sixteen first quarter points were from free throws. No one is going to out physical the Rams; not with McElroy and Kamin back in the lineup. Such a strategy just sends them to the line. Usually not a good idea.

Ultimately, it was Payton Kamin’s emergence as a dominate scorer that buried the Eagles. Kamin’s twenty-eight on top of the usual production from Reece Thomas, PJ Chambers and Makai Kvamme worked out well. Sophomore point guard Makai Kvamme’s performance deserves a mention. Although Kvamme didn’t lead the scoring he reliably brought up the ball against the Eagles determined full court pressure. He gets better every game.

Eight fourth quarter free throws from Kamin didn’t really seal the victory; the game was mostly decided by the Rams’ third quarter defense. But Kamin’s free throws just took the life out of the Eagles. And it pushed the Rams lead to twenty points.

The Rams face North Lawndale (15-11) on Friday for the sectional championship. The North Lawndale coaches in attendance got a look at a Rams team they might not have expected to be back at full force. The only common opponent for the Rams and Phoenix is Clark. North Lawndale defeated Clark 61-55 in December.

Nice to be playing one’s best basketball going into the sectional championship.

See you Friday.

IHSA Playoffs Preview—Lane Hosts Neugua Valley, Amundsen Hosts Harlem, Payton Hosts ITW Speer

By Jack Lydon

The IHSA released its football playoff pairings Saturday evening. Five area teams made the playoffs: Lane Tech, Amundsen, Payton, Lincoln Park and Senn.

In 8A, the Lane Tech Champions (7-2, 6-1) will play the Neuqua Valley Wildcats (7-2, 5-1) from Naperville at Lane Stadium on Friday night in 6A football playoffs. Neuqua Valley comes out of the DuPage Valley Conference, perhaps the top conference in the state with powerhouse programs such as Naperville North, Naperville Central, Metea Valley, Waubonsie Valley and DeKalb. Neuqua has 3522 students, a little smaller than Lane with 4273. The Wildcats last made the playoffs in 2018; Lane in 2013.

Lane’s coach Dedrick Dewalt knows his team of Champions have their work cut out for them.  “We got a tough draw. I pretty familiar with what they are and who they are. They have been a pretty stout program for years. Very well coached. They have a history of winning. They play in a very tough conference probably tougher than the Catholic League in some respects,” Dewalt said.

“It will definitely be an electric atmosphere,” Dewalt said of Friday evening’s home game. “We’ll get the student body to support us. I am so happy for these kids. A lot of these kids have endured losing seasons for so long. It kind of makes everything worth it.”

“When you are playing teams like Neugua Valley, you get the total package. You get the athletes, you get the disciplined football player, you get the strong football player, you get the special teams, the outstanding coaching. You get everything,” Dewalt added.

Maybe so, but Lane’s double wing offense requires a special discipline to stop. Lane will add in plays its been practicing but don’t appear on film. Stopping the four plays that Lane runs can be taught but Neuqua Valley will see more than those four plays Friday.

“I have plenty of things up my sleeve that we were going to use [against Simeon], but I thought we were just going to hold for for next week,” said Dewalt.

In 6A playoffs, the Amundsen Vikings (7-2, 5-1) will play the Harlem Huskies (6-3, 5-2) from the Rockford area next Saturday. The final details of when and where still needs to be worked out but the game will probably be next Saturday afternoon at 2:00 p.m. at Winnemac Park.

The Harlem Huskies from Machesney Park, Illinois, are something of a mystery to Chicago coaches and fans. Located just north of Rochford, Machesney Park has 22,000 residents, 1739 of whom are in Harlem High School. The ten team Northern Illinois Conference placed five teams in the playoff. Harlem is coached by Robert Moynihan, one time star defensive lineman at St. Viator High School who went on to play at Southeast Missouri State. In his three seasons, Moynihan’s Huskies have only lost five games.  

Amundsen comes into the IHSA playoffs for only the second time. The Vikings only previous appearance was in 2018. The Vikings put together an amazing season with only two non-conference tough losses to area schools Lane and DePaul Prep. Moynihan’s Harlem Huskies better not overlook the Vikings which features top area prospect wide receiver Adam Muench and talented linebacker John Norton.  

The Payton Grizzlies (7-2, 5-1) will host Noble/ITW Speer (6-3, 5-2) in the 5A playoffs at a time and place to be determined. The Grizzlies may have the best chance of any of the area teams to advance without having to face a suburban powerhouse. Although the Payton program struggles for numbers, they have very good players lead by senior wide receiver Charlie Newton and senior quarterback Kyle Osterman. Noble/ITW Speer is a charter school located on West Grand Avenue in Chicago. Speer finished second to Maria-Catalyst in CPS’s Red-Central Conference.

In 7A, the Lincoln Park Lions (7-2, 6-1) will face Downers Grove North Trojans (6-3, 3-3) from the West Suburban Silver Conference. The Trojans only losses to top teams in their conference: #4 York, #6 Glenbard West and 8A #14 seed Lyons. The talented Lincoln Park Lions were have their paws full.

In 6A, the Senn Bulldogs (5-4, 4-3) travel to Grayslake North to take on No. 3 seed Knights (8-1, 6-1) from the Northern Lake County Conference.

Lane Tech’s double wing offense approaches the line of scrimmage.

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

DePaul Prep Wins IHSA 2A Third Place

The Nashville Hornets (28-4) defeated the DePaul Prep Rams (26-6) in double overtime in the IHSA 2A Semi-final in Champaign Thursday afternoon. The Rams rallied to defeat Rockridge Rockets 41-22 in the third-place game.

 The Nashville/DePaul Prep game was a defensive battle of historic proportions. Reputed to be the lowest scoring game in IHSA finals history. It was the Rams lowest point total of the season.

 The Nashville Hornets from far southern Illinois, about fifty-five miles east of St. Louis, play defense. Hornets’ coach Patrick Weathers described their style of basketball as “winning ugly.”

 “[DePaul Prep] executes very differently than a lot of teams in the City. I think that help us. We are not built for a track meet. When they want to keep the game in the thirties and forties, and we don’t have to score fifty or sixty points to win the game that is an advantage for us. It gives us a change. Keep the game close at the end and give ourselves a chance to will at the end, that’s all we can ask for,” Coach Weathers said.

 Nashville’s defense was remarkable. The double overtime game was the equivalent of five eight-minute quarters. The Hornets held the Rams to five points in the final two quarters combined.

 Even more remarkable is that the Hornets five starters played the entire game and two overtime periods. There were no substitutions. The same five players Saxton Hoepker, Kilton Gajewski, Carter Schoenherr, Holan Heggemeier and Isaac Turner played the whole game at a historic defensive level. 

 “It’s obvious. We didn’t shoot well. We didn’t score. We took them out of a lot of things. At the end of the game . . . We didn’t get some loose balls. There were two offensive rebounds we did not come up with. There were just a little quicker to the ball late and they made plays. It was a battle. All the credit goes to Nashville. Really well coached team. Kids really play well together,” DePaul Prep Coach Tom Kleinschmidt said after the game.  

 If there is a good part about losing in a semi-final, it’s that one gets to play in a third-place game with a chance to go out a winner. The DePaul Prep Rams did that in the last state 3A finals in 2019. They lost to Bogan in the semi but won third-place against Peoria Manual.

 This year, the Rams drew Rockridge (26-8) from Taylor Ridge, Illinois, a few miles west of Moline, in the third-place game. Rockridge lost in the first game to Monticello.

 The Rams and Rockets traded buckets in the first quarter but in the second, the Rams edged ahead with points off the bench from Maurice Thomas.

 The third quarter proved the difference. An 8-2 run in the third put the Rams ahead for good as they inexorably extended their lead to a 41 to 24 final score to win third place in the state in state for the second time in three tries.

 Does winning third place take the sting out of losing in the semi?

 “Well, ya. The kids went out winners. [They can say] their last game was a win. We set a school record for wins. For this group to be around for two trips downstate and last year’s number one ranking, that’s a hell of a three years,” Kleinschmidt said.

 Dylan Arnett lead the scoring for the Rams with ten points. Every Ram played. Junior Maurice Thomas had 7. Sophomores starters Payton Kamin and Jaylan McElroy each had 6. Senior Will Brown had 5, including a big three early to open the scoring for the Rams. Henry West had 3 points. Seniors Julian Green Trevon Thomas had 2 each.

 Only three months until the Riverside-Brookfield Summer Tournament.

DePaul Prep Going Downstate after 50-43 Victory over Leo

The DePaul Prep Rams (25-5) defeated the Leo Lions (25-5) 50-43 in overtime at Joliet Central High School on Monday evening to punch their ticket to the IHSA 2A State Finals starting Thursday.

The Rams graduated all five seniors after last year’s COVID season that saw the Rams end the season ranking #1. That meant five new starters including two sophomores, Jaylan McElroy and Payton Kamin, that would lead this year’s Rams. It was those sophomores that stepped up when it counted in overtime against 6th ranked Chicago Catholic League champs Leo to send the Rams to Champaign.

Leo came out of the gate in the first quarter hitting on all cylinders. Their full court press stymied the Rams forcing turnover that turned into points. Leo star player Cam Cleveland hit outside shots. The Lions crashed the boards. It was all Leo, in all phases. 22-7 at the end of the first quarter.

That’s actually been a thing lately. Orr had a lead. Clark had a lead. The Rams have just been starting slow.  

But star they did. A quick three to open the second quarter and it continued. The Rams outscored Leo 14-5 in second quarter making it 27-21 Leo at the half. It had turned into a game, anybody’s to win.

 It was the third quarter that turned the game around. The Rams turned up the defense, cut down on the turnovers and hit shots outscoring the Lions 12 to 3 in the third going into the fourth quarter with a 33-30 lead.

 When the Rams get a lead, even a small one, they are tough to overcome. But the sixth ranked Lions are no ordinary team. The Lions rallied, tying the score at 39 with 1:09 to play.

DePaul Prep’s star center Dylan Arnett picks up two questionable charging calls in quick succession and fouled out.

“That’s the first time I have fouled out this year,” Dylan Arnett said.

“You can’t really argue with the refs. If they make the call, they make the call. You just have to dial back the aggressiveness a little bit and play as hard as you can.”

“When Dylan fouled out, I just knew I had to rebound and box out and help my team win,” DePaul Prep sophomore Payton Kamin said.

McElroy too was matter of fact about the end of the game. When Dylan fouled out, “I had no other choice. It was either that or go home. I choose to stay,” said McElroy.

1:09 to play, tied at 39 and Leo had the ball.

DePaul’s senior guard Julian Green came back in for Arnett. This was the time for the sophomores to step up. 6’9” sophomore Payton Kamin moved down low on boards to fill-in for Arnett. The Rams defense held. The Lions failed to get up a shot to win the game.

Overtime.

Five straight points from Jaylan McElroy—including a huge breakaway dunk—to open the four-minute overtime put the Rams ahead for good.

The “hail mary” pass off the inbound was a designed inbound play. “Coach wrote it up perfectly for me to go down there and get it. I just got it,” McElroy said.

The sophomores picked up their team. They did what needed to be done. They lived up to standards set by last year’s five seniors that won it all.

How did they do it?

“Defense. We gave up twenty-eight points in the first half. We give up thirty-three a game. We gave up three in the third quarter and then we got on the glass,” DePaul Prep coach Tom Kleinschmidt said after the game.

“As bad as we played in the first half, we missed six or seven free throws. If we make half of those, it’s a three-point game. We went in the locker room happy down six nothing.”

 “A big part of it was our two sophomores Jaylan and PK. They did a great job on the boards being really physical. They really stepped up today.”

Next will be Nashville at 4:00 p.m., on Thursday in State Finals at the University of Illinois’ State Farm Center in Champaign.

“I haven’t thought about [where we go from here]. We will find out who we are playing. We have tape on everybody. We will go home tonight and cut it up. And then we will have a good game plan tomorrow and practice. Then walk through and then we will go,” Kleinschmidt said after winning the Super-sectional.

“Thirty-two years ago, I was down there playing as a junior so I am looking forward to that.”

DePaul Prep Opens Season with 76-18 Win Over Lake View

In the opening game of the 2021 Battle of the Bridge Thanksgiving Tournament, the DePaul Prep Rams defeated the Lake View Wildcats 76-18 at DePaul’s Tom Winiecki Gym on Monday (Nov. 22, 2021) evening.

Opening what feels like a relatively return to normal, the Rams fielded five new starters after their number one ranked finish of the COVID season last spring. Gone were TY Johnson, Rashed Bello, Brian Matthews, Cam Lewis and Jabari Sawyer, not to mention coach Kenny Gryzwa.

That’s not to say we haven’t seen the new starters already. Dylan Arnett, Trevon Thomas, Julian Green and Alex Gutierez all played plenty last year. Plus Payton Kamin and Jaylon McElroy impressed at the R-B Tournament in June. The Rams came into the game #14 in the Sun-Times Super 25, so it’s not like no one had any idea what to expect.

But I was still wondering what we would get. How would they play together? Would the shots fall? Would the punishing trapping defense be there? (TY Johnson and Rashed Bello were beasts on defense.)

What we got was typical opening quarter domination by a Tom Kleinschmidt team. It was 23-7 at the end of the first.

In the second quarter Coach Kleinschimdt put in the second line. This is what impressed me. This is what I didn’t know about. When the new line came in, they dialed up the defense. Jaylon McElroy, Maurice Thomas, PJ Chambers and Ijeg Nwaezapu played defense like their lives depended on it. And scored too.

Something of a signature moment occurred late in the fourth. Granted the game was out-of-hand with the clock running; the Wildcats were struggling. But Junior forward Dane Barkley came to the line. He sunk his first free throw. He put up his second shot; the Lake View players seemed to defer to each other on the rebound. Barkley charged down the lane and grabbed the rebound under the basket. Just pure hustle. He wanted the ball. His head was in the game. It showed me something.

It's gonna be a fun season. And the Rams are in 2A this year. Just saying.