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.
DePaul Prep Basketball Season 2017-2018
I thought I might put together a gallery of photos from DePaul Prep mens basketball last season, 2017-2018. Last year's Rams were the best group in many years. Very fun to watch. It has only been a few years and Tom Kleinschmidt and the rest to the DePaul Prep coaches and staff have brought the Rams back to the top of the Catholic League and rest of high school basketball. Interestingly, moving up from 2A to 3A improved the Rams playoff chances. This next season with this formidable group of seniors will be fun indeed.
Marian Catholic Wins IHSA 3A 3rd Place over North Chicago 58-48
Third Place games never very interesting. I didn't even watch the 4A third place game. I shot this game mostly because I was there. It was a well played game. North Chicago rebounded from its historically poor shooting performance in Friday's semi-final. Marian Catholic made a case for being the second best 3A team.
Whitney Young Defeats Evanston 62-56 in 4A Semi-Final
The Whitney Young Dolphins handled the Evanston Wildkits in the 4A semi-final 62-52 on Friday, March 16, 2018.
Belleville West Defeats Whitney Young to Win 4A Championship
Belleville West and Mr. Basketball EJ Liddell defeat Whitney Young to take 4A State Championship.
Read MoreSimeon Wins CPS City Championship
I photographed the Simeon v. Orr CPS championship game today (Feb. 18, 2018) at Chicago State's Convocation Center. Great game. Great venue. Great light.
The Sun-Times' Michael O'Brien wrote a very good account of the game which I won't try to best here. I have seen Orr many times over the past three years and, of course, I read Rick Telander's wonderful series last year about the team. So I was kind of hoping they could continue the Cinderella story by knocking off powerhouse Simeon. Ya, that didn't happen. Simeon is good. Really good. Workmanlike. Never-in-doubt kind of really good. Great even.
Here are my photos. Of two state championship teams.
