Glenbard West 60, Simeon 32

I keep thinking that Glenbard West has to stumble. Some team has got to get hot, hit a bunch of threes and break the Hilltoppers 1-3-1.

Hasn’t happened and isn’t likely to. They have taken on every good team out there and vanquished them. The Hilltoppers are gone on a break-away. The only thing left is to see if they can finish at the rim.

A nearly full house saw the Glenbard West Hilltoppers (30-1) take on the Simeon Wolverines (23-4) at last night’s Proviso West Classic in Hillside to close out the season. Put a cherry on top.

The Hilltoppers jumped out to a 17-4 lead and never looked back. Glenbard’s lead grew steadily culminating in 60-32 finish.

It’s not like Simeon played poorly. They didn’t. It was a physical game but there were not a lot of turnovers. It was just that Simeon did not get good looks at the basket. Every shot was contested. Every Simeon bucket was well earned. The first half felt like a Catholic League game with all the defense going on.

I wish I had the capability to both take stats and photos for my stories. That would probably reveal just how dominant the Hilltoppers are.

We will just have see if they can finish in Champaign. There is no evidence that any team can stop them, certainly not any high school team in Illinois—probably.

Clark Runs Away from Antioch 73-46

I went out to Michele Clark on Wednesday evening to see the 18th ranked Eagles (20-2, 7-1) take on Sean Connor’s Antioch Sequoits (11-17, 7-7). It was my first trip to Michele Clark and my first time seeing the Eagles this season. It happened to be senior night. I hadn’t planned to take senior night photos but given the chance, why not?

Clark has a big team. On its small court, it seemed like there wouldn’t be enough room on the floor for ten players. The Eagles came out in the 3/4 court press. The Sequoits struggled at first but they got the ball up and made some shots. Former DePaul Prep sophomore coach and varsity assistant has his Sequoits playing well.

What is a Sequoit you ask? No one seems to know. One alumnus said he had no idea. One parent said, “who knows?”

Me? I l think a sequoit is a mythical swamp creature that emerges from hiding deep in the lake region to menace unsuspecting flatlanders who wander north off the prairie.

But I digress.

The Eagles got an early lead on the strength of strong outside shooting and points off turnovers a held an eight point at the half.

But Sequoits were hanging around. Late in the third the Sequoits were close. Would it be a repeat of their last trip to the Chicago area last week when a late run and excellent free throw shooting lifted the Sequoits to a two point victory over Ridgewood?

Clark is not Ridgewood. It was Clark that went on the 4th quarter run. A couple of highlight reel alley-oop dunks blew up the gym. Clark coach Terry Head had his team peaking at the right time. Some turnovers, transition buckets and the Eagles had a 25 point lead early in the fourth and went on to a 73-46 victory.

I think the trips to Chicago have given the Sequoits some confidence. They never looked panicked or worried. They were having fun in the small Westside gym against a ranked team filled with large skilled players. I have no doubt Antioch will doing a lot of damage in the Northern Lake County Conference in coming years with Sean Connor at the helm.

Antioch Edges Ridgewood 48-46

The Antioch Sequoits (10-16, 6-7) traveled down to Norridge to take on the Ridgewood Rebels (3-21, 2-7) Saturday afternoon. Antioch’s first year head coach Sean Connor, former sophomore coach and varsity assistant to Chicago’s DePaul Prep, was looking to schedule a game to fill in for a game lost to COVID. Chris Mroz’ team at Ridgewood fit the bill.

Ridgewood worked up a lead slowing through the game. The Rebels led by eight early in the fourth quarter. A couple quick three points brought the Sequoits back. Foul shots erased the deficit and built a small lead.

I have seen Seen Connor coach quite a few games. I have never seen one of his teams blow a lead. Saturday’s game reminded me of Friday’s DePaul Prep game. Tom Kleinschmidt’s DePaul Prep Rams got a small lead on St. Rita in the third quarter. His Rams handled the ball well, killed clock and made their foul shots.

That’s what Sean’s Sequoits did on Saturday afternoon at Ridgewood. They got a small lead and kept it.

Sequoits 48, Rebels 46.

DePaul Prep Defeats St. Rita 41-32

Wow! Huge 41-32 win for the DePaul Prep Rams over a talented and big St. Rita Mustangs team. I try play it straight and not to be such a fan in these posts but with these top Chicago Catholic League games at the end of the season, I just give that up.

It was just great to see the Rams beat St. Rita last night in probably one of the last games in the Tom Winiecki Gym. The Rams are not going to be CCL champs this year but these wins over Loyola, Brother Rice and St. Rita in recent days sure are nice. That 20-4 overall record is pretty impressive. Three losses in the CCL hurts but these big wins at the end take some of the sting out of that.

St. Rita was without their star sophomore point guard Jaedin Reyna. They missed him. The Mustangs struggled even to take outside shots. And they still almost won the game.

There was a really cool moment early in the game. The Rams were passing the ball around looking for a shot. The gym fell a little quiet. The whole gym could hear Coach Klienschmidt yell to his team, “Michigan. Everything we talked about we are not doing. Flash to the ball.”

That was cool. You just don’t get that in other sports.

Like so many Gordon Tech and DePaul Prep teams lead by Tom Kleinschmidt, if they get a lead late in a game, it so hard to beat them. Tom’s teams handle the ball well and make their free throws—usually. They struggled a little with that early in the season but not anymore.

The Rams made their free throws at the end last night and won by nine points over the vary talented 24th ranked St. Rita team. The Mustangs are in second place in the CCL Blue at 10-2 with a 19-10 overall record. CCL Blue second place will be at stake on Tuesday. The Mustangs take on Brother Rice and the Rams travel to Leo. If the Rams win and the Mustangs lose, DePaul Prep will finish in second place by virtue of the head-to-head victory of St. Rita.

Leo and Marian Catholic are left for the Rams before the 2A playoffs. Leo is having an historic season and I am glad for them. They are CCL Blue champs and deserve to be. We will see if the Rams can go to Leo on Tuesday and come away with a win.

As for the photos, I have been working on my “Kirsten Stickney Reaction Shots.” Didn’t get many good ones but I am going to keep working on them.

Coach Kleinschmidt called for team photo after the game. He wanted to savor this last regular season home game in the Tom Winiecki Gym. The photos turned out well.

DePaul Prep defeats Catalyst-Maria on Senior Night

Tuesday was the DePaul Prep Rams senior night. DePaul Prep honored its Women’s basketball team seniors, Emma Jones, Amelia Bustamante, Sally Roe, Emma Moya, Gwen Totaro, Maddie Muldoon, Kelley Ellis and Ava Kisselburg. Also honored were the senior cheerleaders.

There was also a basketball game against the Catalyst-Maria Wolves. The Rams prevailed 80-20.

Senior Night for DePaul Prep MBB

It was a very successful senior night for the Rams. DePaul Prep honored its graduating seniors, Trevon Thomas, Alex Gutierrez, Julian Green, Ijeh Nwaezeapu, Cole Ceravolo, Will Brown and Dylan Arnett. The senior students defeated the faculty and the Rams beat the Friars.

As for the seniors, it may have been senior night but there is plenty of work in the season left to do. More on that in a few days.

At half time, a group of seniors took the floor for a quick basketball game against the faculty. Despite rumors of a substantial number of former NBA and WNBA ringers being brought in to put the students in their place, this reporter found no evidence of that.

The faculty opened an early lead. The students charged back with some fancy inside moves. It quickly became clear that the students controlled the boards. The faulty had no hope. Students win—as it should be. Hope and light prevail. All is right in the universe.

The second half of the varsity game seemed equally odd. Fenwick just came apart. The Friars could not hit a basket. I wasn’t keeping stats but the Rams got nearly all the rebounds and scored at will. The Rams 26-12 half time lead became 35-16 at the end of the third and then a 47-16 final. The Friars did not score in the fourth quarter.

Nevertheless, the Rams and the large crowd were having fun. The students section was cheering for the appearance of senior players with a little less than five minutes left in the game.

The senior night makes me a little sad. The group of seniors will be moving on. I reflect on the season that has been, the CCL games left to play and the IHSA playoffs to come.

The fun and games are over. Serious business from here on out.

As for the photos, I got the flash working just right for the senior photos. That’s like the first time ever.

Vincent D. Johnson from the Tribune was in the gym. Apparently, he took my advise to check out the Tom Winiecki Gym on his photographic tour of high school gyms. I had not met him before. We had a nice talk about cameras and lights. It seems we are both fans of the old but wonderful Canon 7D.

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.

Lane Tech Falls to Orr 66-59

I made my way over the Orr High School last Friday for the Lane v. Orr game. I have seen Lane a couple times this year and they are on the verge of some big victories against powerhouse teams. Could this be the day.

As usual, never a dull moment at Orr. For some reason there were only two referees. A questionable call exercised Lane’s energetic coach Nick LoGalbo to the point of a technical foul. Things just unravelled after that. There were excessive foul shots. They took two points off the board because the wrong player took the initial technical foul shots. I have never seen points coming for the board before that game.

The game continued. The Lane Basketball Team played well. Orr’s size just provided that extra boost with some inside dunks late in the fourth to left the Spartans to a 66-59 victory.

Now that Orr has new lights, it is not quite as challenging to take photos there was it once was. But I still love going there. It’s fun place to see a game. It was only about half full but it is a loud of a gym as one will find. I hope you like the photos.

DePaul Prep v. Providence Game Photo Gallery

On Tuesday, January 18, 2022, the Providence Catholic girls varsity visited DePaul Prep’s Tom Winiecki Gym to face the Rams. These are the best of the photos I took that evening.

Lane Tech Falls to Trinity 48-23 in National Women in Sports Day Shootout

The Lane Tech Women’s Varsity Basketball hosted a shootout in celebration of National Women in Sports Day. Four games in one day: Loyola Academy v. Westinghouse, Resurrection v. Payton, DePaul Prep v. Jones and Lane v. Trinity.

I have shooting so many games in recent days that I can’t work up even a nominal story on the games. I published a brief post and gallery about the DePaul Prep v. Jones game yesterday but it was all I could do to get that done. I have bitten off more than I can do with doing games during the weeks and one or two shootouts on the weekends.

I hope you like these photos from the Lane game. With the new lights in the Lane gym and the new camera, the exposures I get are so much better. I hope you like the photos.

DePaul Prep Rams Handle St. Francis de Sales 63-11

When I was a kid in the ‘70’s, St. Francis de Sales had one of the best football teams in the state. I remember going to Elk Grove High School to see them play St. Viator in one of the first IHSA playoff games. As I recall, the Pioneers beat the crap out of our beloved Lions. And that was no ordinary Lions team. They were good. The Lions won the ESCC in football every year when I was a kid.

Today, I am here in the Tom Winiecki Gym at Gordon Tech campus of DePaul Prep. The St. Francis de Sales sophomore team has 6 players.

It makes me kind of sad, but I understand that Catholic schools change with their communities. Hegewich of 1975 isn’t what it is today. For that matter, the 33rd Ward isn’t what it was in 1975.

I have learned over the years that Chicago Catholic League teams treat each other with respect (except for the Brother Rice football team and it current and thankfully outgoing coach, but that’s a whole other story).

I am glad St. Francis de Sales is here. Even though I was raised in the ESCC, I am a CCL guy. My dad was a graduate of St. Phillip, a long ago closed Catholic high school in Garfield Park. There was no high school at St. Benedict in the 1940’s. Even though he lived at Irving and Oakley, his widowed mother sent him to St. Phillip far away on the West Side so he could get a Catholic education. My dad taught me to love the Catholic League. I developed a healthy dislike for some of the fancy schools.

I don’t dislike the fancy schools anymore. I, myself, am Jesuit educated at the university level, but I still want to beat the crap out of their CCL schools.

I covered the DePaul Prep v. St. Francis de Sales game and not some other games today, like Lane at Lincoln Park, that I could have, and ought to have—the Jesuits taught me the importance of the word, “ought”) so I could get some shots of DePaul Prep players that don’t play much.

I’m glad I did. The young men at St. Francis de Sales should also have their effort recorded. No matter what else happens in their lives, they can always say, I played varsity basketball in the Chicago Catholic League.

I told that to my son some years ago. He rolled his eyes. But I suspect he will take some pride in years to come for having played varsity football and basketball in the Chicago Catholic League.

St. Ignatius Edges DePaul Prep 42-41

The No. 25 DePaul Prep Rams (3-2, 11-3) travelled down to Roosevelt Road to take on St. Ignatius (3-2, 10-7) in a Chicago Catholic League crossover game. I tweeted earlier in the day that it was too early talk about must-win games but it felt like it this evening in St. Ignatius’ Gentile Gym. CCL teams cannot afford conference losses in pursuit of a championship. Both schools had large and loud student body contingents in attendance.

This was a well-played and well-coached game. Not many fouls. Not many turnovers. Tons of passes. The teams matched up well. They know each other. Precious few surprises. Just tough quality basketball.

As these CCL games usually go, there was not much scoring in the first quarter. It was 9-6 after one quarter. DePaul sophomore guard Payton Kamin had four of his thirteen points in the first quarter to pick up a struggling Rams offense. The tight bucket for bucket matchup continued in the second quarter as the teams traded scores. 18-17 at the half.

In the third quarter, the Wolfpack were able to open a little margin on the strength of inside buckets off the dribble by Senior forward Kolby Gilles.  

“Kolby (Gilles) is a really tough matchup for a lot of guys because he has perimeter and post skills. So if he has a smaller guy on him, he is able to post up and score around the rim but if he’s got a bigger guy on him, he is able to stretch the floor, create off the bounce and shoot the three a little bit,” said St. Ignatius coach Matt Monroe.  

The Wolfpack stretched the margin to nine points at one point in the third quarter. But the Rams were not going away. Tom Kleinschmidt and his team are too good and too experienced for that. It was a two-possession game most of the fourth.

With 1:20 left the Rams pulled within three points. Under a minute, it was two points. With 18 seconds the Rams were only down one—42-41. Excellent foul shooting and a key turnover gave the Rams the ball and a chance to win on a final shot. Senior guard Alex Gutierrez took a good shot. It rimmed out.

Final: Wolfpack 42, Rams 41.

After the game, Monroe spoke highly of DePaul Prep.

“I knew that these guys were going to be very well prepared. They run a great system and are very effective in what they do. For us the game was making sure we knew are scout coverages. We were able to navigate all the sets that they run. And that we were able to team guard (Dylan) Arnett because he is really, really effective post player. He is a fantastic player.”

But it is the Wolfpack that are clawing their way back from a disappointing start to the season. After opening the year ranked No. 4 in the Sun-Times Super 25, Monroe’s squad dropped 5 of their first 11 games.

“Five of our losses have been by 2 or 3 points and they have all come down to the final possession of the game. When I was talking to our guys after some of those close losses, we talked about how our struggles were going to be the reason for our success later. I think going through that gauntlet, playing some incredible teams and falling short a few times, has prepared us to be in that situation again.”

Richard Barron and Kolby Gilles each had 15 for the Wolfpack. Payton Kamin led the Rams’ scoring with 13; Dylan Arnett with 11 and Jaylan McElroy with 7.

DeLaSalle Defeats DePaul Prep 40-37

The DePaul Prep Rams (3-1, 10-2) fell to the DeLaSalle Meteors (0-3, 4-13) Friday evening (January 7, 2022) 40-37 at the Tom Winiecki Gym.

The Rams were without their head coach Tom Kleinschmidt but were ably led for the evening by assistant coach Michael Sneed. Coach Kleinschmidt is expected back for tomorrow’s Steve Pappas Shootout.

The Meteors came out shooting well and jumped out to an early first quarter lead on the strength of three three-pointers. At the start of the second quarter it looked like the Rams might do what they usually do—pull ahead but despite taking a 19-16 lead, the Rams could not hold their lead.

DeLaSalle’s coach Gary DeCesare is just one of those coaches that can impact a game by the shear force of his will. Maybe it’s just me, but he is as much fun to watch as the action on the court. He returned to coaching in the Chicago Catholic League this year after coaching out of state last season. He formerly coached at St. Rita where he met with considerable success during his tenure. I caught up with him after the game.

“DePaul’s a great program. They were the number one team in the state last year and those kids that played tonight were on that team; so they know how to win,” DeCesare said.

“For our program, taking over, trying to change the culture, we are learning how to win. We played some really tough competition. Our last seven games have been out-of-state. We played in [Las] Vegas and Arkansas. We went 0-7. I told the kids when you come back, you are going to meet teams just like we played. Everybody in the Catholic League is good and well coached. We’ll be prepared.”

As so they were.

They came ready to play. There were precious few inside buckets for the Rams. DePaul’s senior center Dylan Arnett had difficulty getting the ball inside. And when he did, he was mobbed.

“Dylan’s a really good player. We have some bigs and I told everybody, ‘Use your fouls. Use all five fouls.’ We have three guys that are 6’6” or better. We gotta put a body on him and be physical. We know he is physical. Every time he touches the ball, he has to earn his points.

Despite Arnett being roughed up, the Rams were always within striking distance. With 10 seconds to go and only down two, the Rams got a turnover and had a chance to win with a three or to tie with a bucket in the paint.

It wasn’t to be. The Rams turned it over with a few seconds left without getting up a shot. A foul with 1.8 to play lead to a DeLaSalle made free throw making the final 40-37.

The Rams host the Steve Pappas Shootout on Saturday (January 8, 2022) and will take on Homewood-Flossmoor.  

As for the photos, I tried something a little different. I used a 50mm, f1.8 prime lens on a second camera body instead of the usual 24-70mm, f2.8. I wanted to do something different. I don’t think it made any difference. At least know I know.

Glenbard West Survives Glenbrook South 57-54 at Ridgewood Shootout

The Ridgewood shootout featured top teams and top players: No. 1 Glenbard West, No. 5 Glenbrook South, No. 19 Yorkville Christian, Branden Huff, Caden Peirce, Nick Martinelli, Bobby Durkin, Paxton Warden, Jade Schutt and Timaris Brown.

This shootout did not disappoint. The marquee matchup between Glenbard West and Glenbrook South was one of the most well played games that I have seen in a long time. The teams moved the ball well, shot well and hit free throws. I was at the Chicago Elite Classic on Friday and Saturday and I was struck how poorly everyone was shooting. I suspect it was because it was in an arena venue as opposed to a gym setting. The first quarters tended to be brutal but the teams settled into more normal play.

I saw Glenbard West at the Riverside-Brookfield summer event. They impressed as one might imagine. The summer events are interesting and informative but not like a real game. This game against Glenbrook South was a real game.

Glenbard West’s full-court trap was something to watch. It was passing the ball through a forest of moving and attacking trees. The sheer size of the Hilltoppers was daunting.

Nevertheless, Glenbrook South managed it and got the ball up court without many turnovers. But I was exhausted just watching. The Titans then had to try to score.

Despite Glenbard West having a comfortable lead most of the game, the Titans pulled within three within three points at the very end on the strength of three-point shooting by Cooper Noard and inside points by Nick Martinelli.

With five seconds left, the Titans got off two three pointers but missed both.

Very entertaining. I will have to get out to see both of these teams a couple times more this season.

DePaul Prep Wins Battle of Bridge Defeating Notre Dame 66-51

The DePaul Prep Rams (4-0, 0-0) defeated the Notre Dame Dons (3-1, 0-0) at DePaul Prep 66-51 at DePaul Prep’s Tom Winiecki Gym to win the Battle of the Bridge Thanksgiving Tournament.

The Battle of the Bridge, a combination of the traditional Lane Tech Thanksgiving tournament and the then Gordon Tech Thanksgiving Tournament started in 2014, featured Lane, Notre Dame, Jones and Englewood STEM at Lane and DePaul Prep, Niles North, Lake View, and Legal Prep at DePaul. The winners of each division, DePaul Prep and Notre Dame, faced off Friday evening (November 26, 2021) at DePaul.

DePaul Prep is coming off one of its most successful seasons ever—sort of. The COVID season of 2021 saw the Rams end the season winning the only prize available, the Chipotle Clash of Champions, a season ending invitational tournament organized by Rick Malnati and Joe Henricksen and hosted by Notre Dame College Prep and St. Patrick. The Rams finished the season ranked No. 1 in the Sun-Times Super 25. Not a state championship but as close as one can get in the COVID year.

The Rams graduated all five starters from the championship team. Although entering the season ranked 14th, it was still something of an unknown as to how these players would mesh. The first test for the new Rams was Niles North. Niles North is always tough. Glenn Olson always has his time ready and motivated. The Rams eventually overcame the Vikings’ pressure winning 62-50 on Wednesday evening.

On the Lane side of the bracket, Lane and Notre Dame also faced off on Wednesday evening also. Similarly, despite a hard fought first half by Lane, Notre Dame’s shooting and relentless defense subdued Lane with the Dons winning, 67-44.

Friday evening the Rams faced the Dons, a clash of the two teams that had historic seasons earlier this year. The Dons also graduated an historic team including three division one players, perhaps the three best players in school history, Troy D’Amico, Anthony Sales and Louis Lesmond. While the Dons did not come into the season ranked, they have one the top players in the region, Sonny Williams. They are also extremely well coached by former Don, Kevin Clancy. And they also beat the Rams in this tournament championship in 2019.

With these two defensive minded and not terribly experienced teams, the game started as one might imagine—some tentative shots, missed layups and makable inside shots missed. The Rams opened a modest lead in the second quarter which the Dons closed with three free throws by ND’s Sonny Williams to end the first half with a 25-24 lead.

The third quarter was entirely different. The Rams defensive pressure and methodical ball movement put a 24-7 run on the Dons. Tom Kleinschmidt teams usually do this to teams in the second quarter. It might have been a little late but it got done. The Rams opened 48-32 lead at the end of the third quarter. Once the Rams get a lead, they rarely give it up on the strength of excellent foul shooting. Another test passed by the young—well, new—Rams.

“This is a good tournament for us,” said Kleinschmidt.

“We played two physical really talented teams in Niles North and usually Notre Dame every year. We set it up that way because we feel we are prepared every year having played those teams win or lose.

“This is a new team with a starting new five. They have been in practices for two years against some talented kids but the lights haven’t been on them. So the lights were on them a little earlier. We made some hiccups. We didn’t have our division one player out there, which makes me even more proud. We were down one at halftime. We fouled a three-point shooter at the half. So to be up or down one going in showed me a lot.

“[Jaylon McElroy] is unbelievable. He is the most talked about person this week on our team, with Gutierrez. He has a very high ceiling.

“They are groomed well. For [last year’s team], Perry [Cowen] and  Raheem [Anthony] did it for them. And then Tyler [Johnson] and Rasheed [Bello] did it for these guys. Hopefully, these guys are going to do it for Jaylon and Payton and those guys.

The Rams face Evergreen Park on Friday at home and start Catholic League play against Marmion on Tuesday.

Lane Tech pulled off an impressive win over Niles North to take third place in the Battle of the Bridge. Lane faces Bulls Prep on Tuesday, and then another high-profile appearance in the Chicago Elite Classic against Taft on Friday at 9:00 p.m. at UIC’s Credit One Arena.

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.