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.

Loyola Edges St. Ignatius 40-37 to Win the Jesuit Cup

The Loyola Academy Ramblers (7-1, 1-1) came back from five points down at the half to edge the St. Ignatius Wolfpack 40-37 (5-3, 0-1) at Loyola University Chicago’s Gentile Center Friday evening.

The Gentile Center was jumping. I have never seen student sections as crowded and as vocal at a high school game in the 500 years that I have been going to games. But then again, this is my first Jesuit Cup game.

The Wolfpack jumped out to an early lead. The Ramblers dialed up the defense with combination zone, man-to-man and 1-3-1 trapping defenses.

“We were really calm,” said Loyola head coach Tom Livatino about falling behind 11-0 at the start. “They figured it out.”

“It’s something in our program that we take a lot of pride in this game,” Loyola Academy coach Tom Livatino said after the game. “We just been fortunate enough to come out ahead,” Livatino said of the Ramblers streak of winning ten of the last eleven Jesuit Cup matchups with St. Ignatius.

“We are a long way from who we are going to be,” Livatino contined. “Our football guys, the reason we were going offense defense, because they don’t even know our sets. We have a long way to go. It’s a great win.”

“We’ve always been a defensive team. We will never not be a defensive team. It might not be everybody’s taste. We were pretty successful. We didn’t do anything special. We trapped a little bit in the second half. It doesn’t matter; guys just made plays.

“We did a poor job of closing out the game and time and score stuff. We made some bad mistakes and bad decisions. We did not go to the free throw line and make two. We’ve got to be better than that. It’s early. Our guys persevered and we got a great win,” Livatino said.

“We got to 1-1 in the [Chicago Catholic] League.The game is huge for the Jesuit Cup and our community and our seniors. It means a lot. But we have to get to 1-1 in the League. We play in the best league in Illinois, maybe the best league in the Midwest. So we had to get to 1-1 and we did.”

“Our seniors wear this game as a badge of honor. It means a lot. [The team’s] legacy has something to do with this game,” Livatino said.

“They went to their 1-3-1 [defense]. We were expecting it but we did not adjust well to it. It got us a few times. But we also got away from some of the things that had gotten there in the first place. It was a combination of that adjustment they made with the 1-3-1, them kind of solidifying their stuff and us getting away from what got us there,” said St. Ignatius coach Matt Monroe.

“We are as prepared as we ever can be when we play them, and they still run their stuff really well,” Monroe said of the Loyola defensive style of play.

“For us, it’s important to keep perspective. The Jesuit Cup is really important. It brings two Jesuit communities together. It’s more of a celebration of what the Jesuit education and the Jesuit mission is all about. So when we have a packed house and we are playing in front of all of our family, friends and alumni, it’s a big deal to us. We want to bring that Jesuit Cup home. The the other side of it is our season’s a journey. If you look at our team the last four or five years, every journey has been different. Whether it is starting slow, hitting a dip in the middle of the season or finishing strong at the end. Big games, like the Jesuit Cup or other ones, are part of the journey. It’s dissappointing not to bring that home but we’ve got Homewood-Flossmoor on Sunday. We’ve got Aurora Catholic on Tuesday, Mount Carmel on Friday. It just keeps going.”

A long way to go in the season. The Catholic League Blue is up for grabs.

DePaul Prep Defeats Loyola 42-29

The Loyola Academy Ramblers visited DePaul Prep for a game that was originally scheduled to be played at Loyola. It seems the Ramblers’ gym was a needed for a parent fundraiser. The fundraiser worked out well for the Rams, not so much for the Ramblers.

There was an energy in the Tom Winiecki Gym on Friday that isn’t there at times. And there was a fire in the coach and players.

The Rams opened a 14-2 first quarter lead. Loyola had trouble getting shots up. The shots they did were not well taken. The Rams lead 21-10 at the half.

More of the same in the third quarter. The Rams held their lead. In the forth Loyola’s coach Tom Livatino put the Ramblers in a 3/4 court trapping press. The Ramblers cut the lead to eight midway through the fourth. That is as close as the Ramblers would get.

The Rams got back to doing what they do—protect leads and kill clock.

Final—Rams 42, Ramblers 29.

I don’t know what’s next. I have just been enjoying this one. The Rams move to 7-2 in the Catholic League and 17-3 overall.

As for the photos, I moved around a little in the fourth quarter. I took some shots from the stage which I haven’t done in years. I hope you like the photos.

Basketball is Back at the Riverside-Brookfield Shootout

I love the R-B Shootout. Gets me back into basketball. I get to see teams and players I don’t ordinarily see during the season.

The games don’t mean much. One always wants to win but it is more about seeing what teams have and what they lost.

Last year I realized the R-B is not a good time and place for photos. It is more of a place to get to know teams and players. Although I do love the main gym. It has excellent light and lots of space to get a good position.

I took some photos more to capture the atmosphere than game action.

R-B has 56 teams. A mix of traditional powerhouses, teams with standout players and just average teams but more of the former than the latter.

I hesitate to comment upon and evaluate players for want of proper bone fides for such an endeavor. My basketball credentials don’t get much past coaching my son’s grade school basketball team. But I am sticking with my decision to report because more coverage is better than less coverage. (Mike Clark encouraged me. So blame him if I get it all wrong.) So, in the venerable words of the late Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart, “I know it when I see it.” I can recognize a good player, or maybe just a good play, when I set it. So here goes.

The first game of the day was St. Ignatius vs. Timothy Christian. I wanted to check out Timothy Christian’s 6’8” senior center Ben VanderWal. I also wanted to see how Chicago Catholic League contender and likely top ten team St. Ignatius looks.

VanderWal is the real thing. He has size and length. He can shoot. He plays defense. He will carry Timothy Christian.

St. Ignatius is very good. They move the very well. They make layups. They play defense. It seemed like they are much bigger than last year. Kolby Gilles, Richard Barron and A. J. Redd all looked bigger and faster. I do not remember big junior Jackson Kotecki from last year but I should have. He is the piece that rounds out this group. And they have a player named Emmett O’Shaughnessy. How can one not love that?

Next was Rolling Meadows vs. Ridgewood. I wanted to see Cameron Christie. He didn’t play much so I can’t draw any conclusions. It seemed like Rolling Meadows coach Kevin Katovich wanted to see what the rest of his squad could do. Interestedly, when Christie was in, he brought up the ball like his older brother incoming Michigan State freshman, Max Christie.

Without too much of Christie to be contended with, Coach Chris Mroz’s scrappy Ridgewood squad made a game of it. Tons of effort in this game even without the East Gym packed with college coaches.

Next were the DePaul Prep games. First Oak Forest, then Glenbrook South. Oak Forrest has Robbie Avila. That kid is just big. He he can handle the ball, he can score and he can blot out the sun. But I have to say, DePaul Prep’s Dylan Arnett played him well. I would say Arnett got the better of him.

From the frying pan and into the fire for Arnett. Glenbrook South’s Nick Martinelli followed immediately. It’s no secret to even casual observers that Martinelli is one of the best players in the state but I had never seen him until today. He did not disappoint. Arnett played well but at times, many times, Nick Martinelli could not be denied.

Glenbrook South, last year’s Central Suburban League Champions over Evanston, is a much better team than Oak Forest. Glenbrook South held the young Rams in check. One noticed the absence of DePaul Prep’s scoring machines TY Johnson and Rashid Bello in this game. The Rams stayed close but lost 43-34.

Then Glenbard West vs. St. Rita. I had to see Glenbard West and I wanted to see how the young St. Rita team was coming along.

Glenbard West is the best high school basketball team I have seen in a long time; certainly the biggest. The 1-3-1 zone had St. Rita stymied in the first half. The Mustangs did not score for a long time at the beginning of the game. The Hilltopper’s 6’10” forward Braden Huff has length and nose for the basket. He just took the ball to the hoop. Caden Pierce, Paxton Warden, Bobby Durkin and Ryan Renfro rounding out an all 6’3” or better starting five. Oh, and they are athletic too. Fast. This team has to be a favorite to make it to the 4A finals.  

Then Loyola vs. Bogan. Loyola is always good. Tom Livatino gets a bunch of athletes, coaches them up and turns them into a winning basketball team. Just always expect Loyola to be very good. Nothing different with this group. I don’t think he has any D1 prospects but they will contend for the CCL for sure. As always.

Finally, Joliet West vs. Whitney Young. The last that I saw Whitney Young, TY Johnson put forty points on them and DePaul Prep upset the Dolphins at St. Patrick’s last March in the Chipolte season ending tournament. Coach Slaughter has his team hitting on all cylinders. Just a group of big, fast athletes. They are excellent shooters. Gotta be another favorite to win 4A.

I also learned today that DePaul Prep sophomore coach Sean Connor got the head coaching job at Antioch High School. Sean is a great coach. Seriously, this guy can coach. His teams won the sophomore division of the Chicago Catholic League for, I don’t know how many years in a row, eight, nine? And he won it with the best freshmen and sophomore playing up a lot of the time. Antioch will love Sean. Just a wonderful person. I am happy for him that he will be fifteen minutes away from his home and won’t be so far from his growing family. I am also happy he didn’t land at a Catholic League school.

There you go. I am so happy basketball is on again.

Hope you like the photos.

Inside Article Preview--CPS Basketball Getting Underway—Catholic League Opens with DePaul Prep Win and Loyola Loss

The Chicago Public Schools announced Feb. 8 that high school basketball could begin Feb. 11. Coaches are expecting to work through tryouts, start practices on Feb. 12 and start games on February 19. The IHSA announced is extension of the CPS season to March 20, a week longer than the March 13 limit with applies throughout the rest of the state. This gives CPS teams one month and one day to play as many games as can safely be scheduled.

“We have 10 teams in our league [Red West-North]. So it’s nine games that CPS has given us for a league schedule,” Lane Tech Coach Nick LoGalbo said. Lane will play Clark, Farragut, Lincoln Park, Marshall, North Lawndale, Orr, Schurz, Westinghouse and Young. The dates and time have not been finalized.

“What the non-conference schedule looks like, I don’t know. Are they going to allow us to schedule and extra game per week or are they going to cap it? I don’t know,” LoGalbo said.

“Unfortunately, all the Catholic League and 30-mile radius teams have their schedules pretty locked up already. We were going to play DePaul and Pat’s and Ignatius. I don’t know if we are going to be able to get those teams in.”

“I wish I knew more. When [the IHSA] extended [the season] a week, I really thought they were going to do a regular season schedule and then a conference tournament that last week. But based upon the preliminary schedule I received, the regular season goes all the way to deadline. So I don’t think there is going to be any playoff or tournament.”

The preliminary CPS rules given initially to coaches do not allow spectators at all. Each team is allowed 20 people--15 players, two coaches and three others. There would also be two people at the table, three officials, one administrator and a maintenance person. There is not specific allowance for press. However, that may change after coaches have their meeting scheduled for Feb. 11.

Sixth ranked DePaul Prep played its first game Monday, Feb. 8, defeating St. Joseph 54-37 in St. Joseph’s nearly empty gym.

The Rams came out cold. Suffering jitters from the nearly year-long layoff, both teams missed shots and turned the ball over.

After a St. Joseph 7-0 run to open the game and about half of the first quarter, DePaup Prep coach Tom Kleinschmidt dialed up the pressure having his Rams trap the ball handler.

 “Slow start coming out. You have to hand it to Joe’s. They were way more physical than us. They came and punched us in the face . . .. It’s a Catholic League road game so you have to be ready and we weren’t. For whatever reason. I’m not making any excuses. We picked up pressure and started getting some live ball turnovers. We started getting some baskets,” Kleinschmidt said.

Midway through the second quarter the Rams opened a 12-point lead and it never was close after that.

DePaul senior guard Tyler “TY” Johnson lead all scorers with 26 points. DePaul senior guard Rasheed Bello finished with 9 points but had an end-to-end monster dunk in the first half that fired up the Rams.

Senior center Brian Matthews did not play until the start of the fourth quarter. “Brian hasn’t practiced yet. That’s the only reason [he didn’t play]. We brought him in in the fourth to give Dylan a little plow and that’s it,” Kleinschmidt said.

Postponements and cancellations have crippled the Chicago Catholic League schedule. The Rams were scheduled to play Marmion on Feb. 10. However, St. Joe’s had a player with a positive test within 48 hours after DePaul game, and after contact tracing, DePaul Prep determined that the majority of their varsity team would have to quarantine for 10 days. The Rams will miss the Marmion, Montini and Providence St. Mell games. The Rams next scheduled game is Feb. 17. at DeLaSalle Academy.

Loyola Academy opened its season at home Friday, Feb. 5, against Maine South. The Ramblers lead going into halftime but fell behind in the third quarter and could not recover eventually losing 47-36.

Despite the loss, Ramblers’ coach Tom Livatino was upbeat. “It felt normal in an abnormal time. I always thought we would play. It was all good. It was so phenomenal to be back.

As for the game Livatino said, “[a]n inexperienced team lost to an experienced team. That’s what happened. All credit to Maine South. We have a long way to go. We haven’t had a practices to iron the kinks out. We have chosen to play games. I guarantee that we will get better.”

And he was right. After two postponed games, the Rambler hosted #13 ranked St. Ignatius on Feb. 11. The Ramblers edged the Wolfpack 34-31 winning the Jesuit Cup (both schools are run by the Society of Jesus order of Catholic priests).

The Ramblers replaced their Feb. 12 game postponed game against St. Joseph with a game against Glenbrook North.

It’s a strange season. The schedule is fluid. Teams are just going to play as games work through issues during games. With no playoffs, postponed and cancelled games on a daily basis, we should all just enjoy any game we can see. For most fans, that will have to be through a live stream. Most schools are making such arrangements. Check school websites and social media for live stream information.

DePaul Prep v. Loyola CCL Blue Showdown Preview

Frequent viewers to this channel will recall that I have this practice of breaking the basketball season into parts; early season Thanksgiving games; Christmas Tournament, Chicago Catholic League play and IHSA Playoffs.

We are at the end part three and the CCL title is on the line. The annual showdown against rival Loyola Academy Ramblers and then the pesky and always dangerous St. Ignatius Wolfpack.

Loyola comes into tonight’s game against DePaul Prep atop the Chicago Catholic League Blue Division with 24-4 overall record and 12-1 conference record, ranked #20 in Sun-Times Super 25. Our Rams are ranked at #19 with 21-4 overall and 11-2 in the CCL.

The Ramblers are always tough. Tom Livatino’s teams are skilled and disciplined. They always give me fits. I always have an pit in stomach in advance of those games, no matter the records, no matter the stakes. The stakes are high today. And so is my anxiety.

Pat Mahoney expressed confidence last night at the girls sectional semi-final victory stating that he thought DePaul would beat Loyola tonight. His confidence did little to relieve my trepidation. I pretty much have to think our Rams are the underdog.

It would be a huge win if the Rams can find a way to win, giving them a share of the CCL Blue title with Loyola and Fenwick (assuming a victory over St. Ignatius, you’ll have to indulge here). A victory would also give the DePaul Prep two CCL titles in a row.

The Chicago Catholic League Championship is what I like to see. My dad used to talk about winning the Catholic League. He attended the long-ago closed St. Phillip High School on the west side. St. Phillip won the CCL in 1945 after my dad graduated and while he was in Europe during WWII. Before that they won a few times and he talked about it a lot. His high school winning the Catholic League was a big deal for him. And so it has become with me.

The third part of the season basically ends tonight with a deciding game in the CCL Blue. The Sun-Times identified this game as a key game of the season in a season preview. For me, as accomplishments go, winning the Chicago Catholic League and then win the state championship are the top goals. It all builds up to tonight’s game.

Go Rams.

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