The DePaul Prep Rams defeated the Notre Dame Dons 65-45 on Wednesday evening (Nov. 21, 2018) in the DePaul Prep/Lane Tech Battle of the Bridge Thanksgiving Tournament.
DePaul Prep Defeats Taft 60-15 in Battle of the Bridge
The DePaul Prep Rams played angry. The Rams defeated the Taft High School Eagles 60-15 in the season opener last night in the Tom Wienicki Gym. The game wasn’t as close as the score suggests. 24-2 at the end of the first and 34-5 at the half. Taft played hard; they just ran into talented team that wanted to play hard.
It did not seem to matter who the Rams were playing. They were focused. Not a lot of cheering or congratulations on the lopsided score—just focused, serious business.
Perry Cowen looks like he has added muscle. Sophomore Ty Johnson started the game at point guard and looks a foot taller that the last time I saw him in March. The Rams starting line-up of Cowen, Pantovic, Anthony, Mosley and Johnson is going to give a lot of teams trouble. Shower and Matthews off the bench can keep up the pressure. This team is poised to win a lot of games and make a deep run in 3A.
Based upon the Rams Super 25 rank at #21, Sun-Times Reporter Michael O’Brien sees the Rams obvious talent but doesn’t appear to believe at they have the mental toughness to be a top tier team. City Suburban Hoops Report’s Joe Henricksen does and puts the Rams in that top tier of his rankings at #10. I know it was Taft but last night at least, it looks like the Rams have what it takes.
The season has just begun 30 or so games to play. It will go quick. Stay tuned.
High School Basketball Starts Today!
The high school basketball season starts today.
I have been looking forward to this season for months now. Since the disappointing end to the DePaul Prep Rams season last March in the Sectional final.
The Rams come into this season ranked 21 in the Sun-Times Super 25 and 10 in Joe Henricksen’s Top 80 teams. Preseason rankings are all about expectations. So expectations for the Rams are high—very high. This will be the third season that this group of players have played together now at the varsity level. Each year they have gotten better and better. The Rams have one of the area’s top players—Perry Cowen. The Rams are among the favorites to win the Chicago Catholic League with Loyola, Leo and St. Rita.
The Rams are also seen by many observers as among the top teams in 3A with Morgan Park, Bogan, St. Viator and St. Rita. So the expectations are high for a deep run into the IHSA 3A playoffs.
It seems only a few short years ago that the Gordon Tech Rams had lost 33 Catholic League games in a row. Those days are long gone. Under Coach Tom Kleinschmidt, the Rams win games they should and pick off favorites here and there.
Personally, I am going to approach this like the 2016 Cubs season. Take the season in phases, enjoy every minute and not get weighed down by the expectations. God willing, we will all be in Peoria on March 16th for a matchup with can tell our grandkids about.
First phase, the Battle of the Bridge Tournament. So, see you at the Tom Wienicki Gym tonight at 6:00 p.m.
And I will also be shooting as many other games as I can get to while still remaining married.
Loyola Throttles Maine South 17-0 in 8A Quarterfinal
It is better to finish strong than start strong. Despite three losses Chicago Catholic League Blue early in the season, the Ramblers looked as dominant on defense Saturday against Maine South as any team I have seen this season.
Make no mistake about it. Maine South is a very good football team. Maine South came back in the second half to beat a very good Mount Carmel team. The Hawks made a believer out of me. Nevertheless, the Ramblers played a flawless game on defense and a brilliantly conservative and physical game on offense to shut out Maine South at Maine South.
Lincoln-Way East will have to go to Wilmette to face the Ramblers. Lincoln-Way has played some tough teams, Crete-Monee, Naperville Central, Thornwood. But they don’t play in the Catholic League’s Blue Division and they did not face Mt. Carmel, Brother Rice and Montini.
I am looking forward to this game. The semi-final should be a very good game.
Which brings me to a second subject—the dominance of the Catholic Schools in the football playoffs this year. In 8A, three of the four surviving teams are Catholic Schools: Brother Rice, Marist and Loyola. 7A has Nazareth and Mt. Carmel. 6A has Notre Dame. 5A has Joliet Catholic and Montini. 4A has Immaculate Conception and Bishop McNamara. 2A has St. Teresa (Decatur, Illinois). That’s eleven of the thirty-two teams. That’s basically 1/3 of all eight classes and half of the biggest classes.
How did this happen? Don’t know. I don’t even want to speculate.
What’s gonna happen? There will be some talk, in the usual quarters, about kicking private schools out of the IHSA. Don’t want to go there either. I’m sure we have all heard quite enough of the multiplier talk.
Personally, I think it will swing back. The DuPage Valley restructured. It will be back. And who knows what is going to happen with the Catholic Super Conference next year.
I am struggling about what to do about the finals. The football finals are the same time as the start of the basketball season. What is a photographer to do?
Notre Dame Defeats St. Ignatius 14-7 in Playoff Opener
It has taken me to long to get to this. There is a saying in the law, “justice delayed is justice denied.” I have delayed too long in posting these photos. Nevertheless, here they are.
