ESCC v. CCL All Star Game

I have to apologize for a previous version of this blog post. My remarks about Notre Dame College Prep's gym comparing the it light to light in some other gyms were, well, unfunny and ill-considered. I wrote:

Notre Dame "has a dated fluorescent lighting system. Clearly, one ought not judge the merits of a school by the quality of the light in its gym but maybe we ought rethink that a little. The light in DePaul Prep's and St. Viator's gyms is excellent. (Just a tip for you parents with kids in elementary school.)

I apologize. I wasn't trying to insult Notre Dame. The gym is just fine. It was a humorless attempt at some photographer inside baseball reference to different qualities and quantities of light in school gyms for the purposes of taking photographs. No other purpose than that. 

I feel especially bad from causing a problem for Coach Shea Boyle who I have been lucky enough to know for years now. He has always been so gracious to me. Forgive me. 

So, with written, back to the matter at hand.

Notre Dame College Prep hosted the all-star game on Friday, April 20, 2018. It was a typical all-star game--all shooting and no defense. But fun nevertheless. Nice to see these kids have some fun without all the pressure. I didn't really have a rooting interest. I attended St. Viator, a million years ago and my brother Dan teaches there now. But my kids went to Gordon Tech/DePaul Prep and I shoot a lot DePaul Prep events as you might have noticed if you looked at my portfolio page. 

The game wasn't exactly a true all star game. It was only seniors. And not all the schools sent players--DePaul Prep, Loyola, Mt. Carmel for starters, probably others but I didn't exactly keep count. 

I included more photos than I usually do so I could include as many of the players as possible. Some images might not be up to normal publication standards. I included a photo of the referees which I do not ordinarily publish. However, I wanted to honor these refs. Two of whom I see regularly working CCL games. They do excellent jobs. For the most part, all the refs that work CCL games are very good. On occasion, some are not so good but that's pretty rare. 

I hope you like the photos.

First Baseball Game of the Year; DePaul Prep v. Bishop Mac

Photographing high school baseball at night is a challenge. I went into this game looking to experiment more than usual. I wanted to shoot very high shutter speed and compensate with high ISO. The pictures turned out okay but I could have pushed the ISO even more for better exposure. The full frame cameras produce good quality images at very high ISOs. I was concentrating more on exposure than I was on capturing the action but I got a few good action shots. I retaught myself a couple more lessons about shooting baseball: 1) first base side is necessary to get good batter's box photos; 2) One has to pay attention to the game and anticipate the next play, particularly stolen passes and plays at the plate.

But the number one lesson that we all know, but can do precious little about--a 300mm f.2.8 lens is absolutely necessary. Too bad I don't have one and won't for a while yet. 

Hope you like the photos.

Palm Sunday Visit to Montrose Harbor and Loyola Campus

Fresh of the Loyola Ramblers' unlikely NCAA tournament victory over Kansas State, I got up early on the Palm Sunday morning (March 25, 2018) to drive some things down to my son Dan as he was going back to school after his Spring Break trip. 

On my way home, I detoured to the breakwater off Montrose Harbor and the Loyola campus and strolled around about 0700 taking some photos.

The early morning light at Montrose Harbor made everything look especially gray. I loved the chop on the grey water.  Some fishermen and geese happened into the shots which is always good.

I lot changed on the Loyola campus since I was there 33 years ago. I have been back many times since by never for the express purpose of taking photos. 

No one was out yet. Just me and the police. 

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.

DePaul Prep Falls to North Chicago 66-58 in 3A Sectional Final

It' is not surprising that the more interested I am in a basketball game, the crappier my photos are. I really wanted to see the DePaul Prep Rams advance to Peoria. These photos are pretty ordinary. Maybe it's just that I feel like I have taken all these shots many times this season.

The best are the North Chicago team photos. Those kids know how to pose for a proper team photo. 

I did not plan on the blurry one. I accidentally slowed the shutter speed and zoomed the 24-70mm out. I rather like the effect.

Maybe next year I will go to a game as a spectator and leave the cameras at home--well maybe just in the car. 

DePaul Prep Meets North Chicago in 3A Sectional Championship

Okay. This is it. Rubber meets the road. Go time. Put up or shut up. No tomorrow. Win or go home.

16 good teams left in 3A. Morgan Park, Bogan, Farragut, North Lawndale, Sterling, Metamora, Marian Catholic, Kankakee, Marion, East St. Louis, Lanphier, Springfield Southeast, DePaul Prep, North Chicago, Burlingto Central and Boylan.

After tomorrow, eight.

The DePaul Prep Rams come into the their game tomorrow against North Chicago with a record of 26-6. The Rams haven’t advanced this far into the IHSA playoffs since . . . well, last year. They lost to eventual 2A state champions Orr in the only game that Orr played in the playoffs that was even close. The Rams were within 5 or so most of the game and eventually lost 64-54 after taking some defensive chances at the end and giving up some easy buckets.

The North Chicago Warhawks come into the game 19-8 overall and 14-0 in the weak Northern Lake County Conference. The only common opponent that North Chicago and DePaul had was Antioch. Neither team had any trouble with Antioch. In fact, North Chicago beat them twice.

Max Preps has the Rams ranked 9th in 3A and the Warhawks ranked 41st. Those Max Preps don’t mean a great deal but it is does show that based purely on record and strength of schedule the teams are at much different levels. Even so, they are still going to play the game. Don’t look for a Tom Kleinschmidt coached team to stumble. They have been here before, last year. I have seen these Rams play most of their games this year. They did not lose a game to any team that did not turn out to be a regional champ, except Fenwick. Oh, and Fenwick was the Catholic League Blue champ and last year’s 3A runner-up. Plus the young men just look serious. The tough boxing matches that were the Catholic League regular season games were good preparation. The Rams have been all business in the playoff games. No goofing around, even against competition in the Regional that was not even close to top tier.

North Chicago won a state championship just a few years ago and rolled over Gordon Tech to get it. The Warhawks did not stumble either. 14-0 in conference. They took care of business.

A win over North Chicago and then, next Tuesday, a win over either Burlington Central or Boylan and then will be going to the State Tournament in Peoria.

Curiously, such talk just makes me more focused. I have been charging my batteries, cleaning my lenses, erasing my memory cards and packing and repacking my camera bag since I got home late Tuesday from the Antioch game. He even reset and practiced my auto-focus settings. I’m ready. Let’s play ball.

Lane Loses Heartbreaker to Lincoln Park

I guess I see this as a heartbreaking loss for the Lane Tech Indians but it's also the story of a great comeback win by Lincoln Park.

Lane played in very well in the first half, jumping out to a lead in the first quarter and expanded it in the second. They played to their significant size advantage grabbing nearly every defensive rebound. With Lincoln Park not shooting well, it looked good for the Indians at half time.

In the second half, Lincoln Park fought back, chipped away with some threes and some put-backs that they did not have in the first half. Lane got away from what served them well. The big men got in foul trouble and inexplicably stayed in the back court to help bring the ball up. Ya—just get out of the way.

Tied at the end of regulation.

Back and forth in OT. The Indians had a good shot with with less than a minute but it did not fall. Whatta ya gonna do? The Lions brought the ball up, lined up a shot from the corner, but still a two-pointer, and it falls with 2.0 seconds on the clock.

After clearing the floor, Lane still had two seconds to get off a shot. A three quarters court shot comes close . . . . no. Lincoln Park wins 58-56 in overtime.

Lincoln Park advances to take on Oak Park/River Forest in the 4A Lane Regional Championship at Lane on Friday at 7:00.

[And I found this eight year old photo of Lane's Michael Molloy from the 4th grade Championship of the Big Ten grade school league from 2010. I could not resist posting it.]

Simeon 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.

Rest in Peace Commander Bauer

Commander Bauer’s senseless murder hit me hard. Middle of the work day at the State of Illinois Building, a place I go often. I didn’t know Comm. Bauer but, by all accounts, he was a fine man and a dedicated public servant. When I learned Commander Bauer was from Nativity, I wanted to go to the wake and funeral. But I couldn’t because I had to go out of town with my wife.

When I was a kid, my uncle was pastor at Nativity of Our Lord Parish at 37th and Union in the 11th Ward, Bridgeport. The Mayor lived a block and half away. We would visit my uncle often. We had family parties in the basement of the church. My brother and I and my cousin Mike explored the church and the rectory. I have many fond memories of that place.

In December 1976 while my Uncle Father Jack was still at Navity, Mayor Daley passed away and was buried from there. My uncle left Nativity a little while later and he passed away in 1983.

So this evening, after today’s funeral, I stopped over at Nativity and took some photos. And paid my respects.

May God rest Comm. Bauer’s soul and the souls of all the faithful departed. Including Mayor Daley and my Uncle, Rev. John J. Lydon.

Whitney Young Edges Morgan Park 69-66

At Whitney Young this evening, the Dolphins battled Morgan Park battled to the last shot, Whitney Young's Jake Kosakowski's last second three pointer, giving Whitney Young the lead and the game, 69-66. Whitney Young advances to the Chicago Public League Playoff semi-finals at Chicago State. 

Here are some of my photos. The light at Whitney Young is challenging so be kind. 

DePaul Prep's Season . . . So Far

With DePaul Prep’s regular season in the home stretch, indulge us in a brief recap and look ahead. With five games to go, the Rams have a 18-4 overall record with quality wins over Notre Dame, Leo, Benet, St. Rita, St. Joseph and Evanston. The four loses have all come at the hands of ranked, or previously ranked, teams, Niles North, St. Rita, Lincoln Park and Loyola.

The Rams dominated opponents in the first part of the season except for the game against highly regarded Niles North. Lance Mosley’s last second three pointer sealed the road victory over Benet Academy. Another very nice road win in the Chicago Catholic League Blue division against the ranked Leo Lions impressed fans and critics alike.

Next came the Hinsdale Central Holiday Classic where the Rams scored wins over Crete-Monee and Stevenson. In what had to be the Rams worst game of the year, DePaul did not look good at all against St. Rita—a painful loss to eventual tournament champion. Next was a close loss to a hot Lincoln Park team in the consolation game (which pretty much does not count because it was a tournament consolation game).

The third phase of the season was the Martin Luther King Day tournament with some non-conference games sprinkled in. The Rams won the MLK Tournament with wins over St. Francis (Wheaton), Lindbloom, Riverside-Brookfield and Loyola.

The Rams scored a big CCL rematch win at St. Rita and took care of a very good St. Ignatius team next. The head scratch game of the year was Loyola. Just could not get a shot to drop against a red-hot Loyola team. Another head-scratcher at St. Joseph with only 10 points in the second half saved by a long gaming three-pointer from Raheem Anthony and brought home a key CCL Blue game.

An invitation to Joe Henrickson’s “When Sides Collide” Shootout brought a match-up with Evanston. The Rams scored another season defining 59-52 win over the Wildkits. Perry Cowen putting two 20 plus point totals up in two games.

Looking ahead a little, the Rams have games left against Fenwick, Brother Rice and DeLaSalle in the CCL Blue plus a CCL White crossover game against Montini. Fenwick can take the CCL Blue with two road wins against DePaul and Loyola. Fenwick travels to DePaul this coming Friday and Loyola on February 26th. If Fenwick falls to one of those teams, we may be looking a three way tie between Fenwick, DePaul and Loyola in the Blue.

Don’t hold your breath, Fenwick is ranked 7th and has looked good against the area’s top teams despite suffering some losses. The DePaul/Fenwick is Friday at DePaul. It will be a special night at DePaul’s Tom Winiecki Gym because DePaul is retiring current head coach, former Gordon Tech star and former DePaul University All American Tom Kleinschmidt’s #34. Coach Kleinschmidt enters the game with a 108-59 win/loss record at Gordon Tech/DePaul over the last six seasons.

I know it is bad luck but let’s look ahead to the IHSA playoffs. DePaul Prep elected to move up to 3A where they have been assigned to North Chicago Sectional in the Hoffman Estates Super-Sectional. The Rams avoided the Joliet Central Super-Sectional with the other ranked teams in 3A. There are no Sun-Times Super 25 ranked teams in Hoffman Estates Super-Sectional. Other than DePaul, the best team is probably Carmel, a lesser light in the East Suburban Catholic Conference. DePaul also has the advantage of hosting a regional again this year.

There are some good teams in 3A has ranked teams. Morgan Park, North Lawndale, Hillcrest, Marian Catholic are all ranked. Previously, ranked teams include St. Laurence, St. Rita.

In terms of downstate 3A teams, MaxPreps has Champaign Central, Springfield Southeast and Centralia all ranked ahead of DePaul Prep. But none of those teams are in the Hoffman Estates Super-sectional. In fact, the highest MaxPreps ranked team in the Hoffman Estates Super-Sectional is Carmel ranked #18 in 3A and #78 in the state.

So, here is what’s left to do: take care of Fenwick, win the Catholic League Blue, win the home regional, win the North Chicago Sectional, win the Hoffman Estates Super-Sectional at the Sears Centre, go to Peoria, beat Marian Catholic, Morgan Park and/or Champaign Central and collect state championship trophy. See how easy that is?

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DePaul Prep Survives St. Joseph

The game started out fine. Rams played their game. Perry Cowen was hitting his shots and scoring most of the points for the Rams. St. Joes only scored 16 points at the half.

Gene Pinatore is not the winning coach ever for no reason. He put on a full court press and the Rams uncharacteristically obliged by repeatedly turning the ball over. The Chargers got easy layoffs off the turnovers. I have never seen the Rams, of any vintage, so unable to break a press. Even so it took St. Joe’s almost the entire second half to get make up the eight point deficit.

With about two minutes left, the Rams kind of came out of their funk. Perry Cowen drained a three to get the lead back. Another Ram turnover (so at this point I would like to write something about the officiating. I don’t normally complain about the refs but a team cannot be in such a successful full court press without committing way more fouls than were called in this game. Just saying.) and a layup for the Chargers. Back tied.

The Rams got the ball across the timeline. Timeout. Rams inbounded the ball with about nine seconds. Two chargers trap Rams junior guard Raheem Anthony from near the midcourt sideline he gets off a very long three point shot.

Nothing but net. Buzzer. Rams win.

Anybody who as ever been to the St. Joseph gym knows about the orange light. I have been there many times and taken a lot of photo there, even some video. Everything looks funky. It’s not the photos. It’s the lights in the gym.  

DePaul Prep v. Loyola

The Loyola Academy Ramblers handled the DePaul Prep Rams 48-38 at Loyola on Friday (Jan. 12, 2018). Very well played game by both teams. I have been to quite of a few of the matchups between these teams in recent years and I always leave feeling like it was more of a boxing match than a basketball game. 

This time we'll have a rematch real quick--like three days later. Both squads advanced in the MLK Tournament and will face each other again at Loyola on Monday. The last time the Rams lost a big game, they quickly avenged their defeat by dropping St. Rita. They will have yet another tall order on Monday against the red hot Ramblers.  

The Catholic League Blue is still wide open. The Rams have conference games remaining against St. Joseph, Fenwick, DeLaSalle, Br. Rice and Mt. Carmel. Loyola has a 2-1 record in the Blue with its loss coming to St. Rita. The Ramblers have remaining leagues against St. Ignatius, DeLaSalle, St. Joseph and Fenwick. Fenwick is 2-0 in the Blue with games remaining against St. Joseph, St. Rita, DePaul Prep, St. Ignatius and Loyola. 

Moved Some Older Photos into Portfolio

I wasn't happy with the photos in the portfolio. They were all photos from the last two years. I searched through some older photos and came up with some good ones. The search brought out some facts I lost track of. I bought my first DSLR in 2009. I started publishing photos on the Welles Park Bulldog in 2012. Jane Rickard encouraged me greatly and gave me a place to publish my work. I owe her a lot for reigniting a passion. 

I always loved the Gordon Tech stripped pants warm ups. Love the photo of Stephan and Ty in pregame warm-up. I like the middle linebacker picture too. The photo of Mayor Emanuel really captures him. 

I confess I don't know if these photos are good; I just know I like them. Feel free to tell me what you think. 

DePaul Prep Rematch with St. Rita Goes to the Rams

I arrived at halftime of the game. There were lots of people and press there. Must have been the only game in town. I didn't get any good shots just average ones. I was hurried and out of position. I was more of a spectator at this game. That's fine. If I'm not feeling it, I don't want to force it. I was not covering the game for anybody. 

The game itself was terrific. Nice to see the Rams rebound and take down the ranked Mustangs in a rematch after their lose to this same St. Rita team one week ago. Rams prevailed in a squeaker, 46-43.  

Rams started fast with 11-0 run and 18-6 first quarter. Mustangs came back in the second quarter. DePaul's long time scorekeeper Johnny Maz told me that he could not remember a time when the Rams did not score a field goal in the second and fourth quarters--only free throws. The Rams last field goal was with 3:03 left in the third quarter.

Which brings me to free throws. Or more particularly, fouls. What was up with the St. Rita fouls? Gary DeCesere must have decided that he was just going to pressure the Rams and that he did not care about fouls. The Rams were in the double bonus in the third quarter. I have said it before and I will write it again here children, "Free throws and layups win games." The Rams did not make a single field goal in the fourth quarter because of the massive pressure by the big St. Rita team. The Rams did however, go 16-20 on free throws in the second half and 20-28 in the entire game. Guess who won the game.

Hinsdale Central Tournament is in the Books!

The 2017 Hinsdale Central Holiday Classic is in the books. Here is what I learned:

·       Tournaments are fun.

·       Bolingbrook is very good.

·       Lincoln Park is also very good.

·       The newspaper rankings are pretty accurate—at least as to the highly ranked teams.

·       DePaul Prep has not entered the top tier of teams in the City—yet.

·       St. Rita rebounded from its early season struggles.

·       Hinsdale Central Tournament is well run but could improve.

I immersed myself in the HCHC. I saw 11 of 32 games, most of the winner’s bracket games and parts of others. I saw 14 of the 16 teams. I enjoyed the adventure. Next year maybe Proviso or Pontiac. Or maybe take in some games at each tournament.

Bolingbrook can overpower you. But they are obviously not invincible.

Lincoln Park was a surprise. Tons of heart. Tons of talent. Good shooters. Very, very athletic.

Looking at the bracket, the ranked teams rose to the top—Bolingbrook, DePaul Prep, St. Rita and Lincoln Park. St. Rita is in that group because of its early season high rankings. 

DePaul Prep came into the HCHC with an 9-1 record with quality wins over Notre Dame, Benet, St. Laurence and Leo. Rams had nice wins over quality Crete-Monee and Stevenson teams. St. Rita handled them. The Rams played with Lincoln Park just couldn’t make enough shots. The lopsided score was the product of late scoring by Lincoln Park when DePaul went to a trapping defense. Maybe the Rams youth caught up to them in the grind of a tournament. We will see how they rebound against Rita on Friday.

Congratulations to the St. Rita Mustangs on winning the tournament. They beat four very good teams, Westinghouse, Maine South, DePaul Prep and Bolingbrook, four days in a row after coming off a rough stretch to open the season. Now we will see how they can do in the Chicago Catholic League conference play with games left against DePaul, Brother Rice, Fenwick, Mt. Carmel, DeLaSalle, St. Joseph, and St. Ignatius.

Hinsdale Central runs a nice tournament. Well lite gym. Excellent program. Live stats. Live audio internet broadcast. Good concessions. If I might make one suggestion, it would be nice to have a couple of tables in the gym where reports and photographers could sit and work while games are going on. Just a thought.

391 words. Almost too many.

Hinsdale Central Holiday Classic Semi-finals

My plans changed so I quickly drove out to Hinsdale to catch the Hinsdale Central Holiday Classic semi-final games. DePaul Prep v. St. Rita of Cascia was first. Then Bolingbrook v. Lincoln Park.

I arrived at the half of the DePaul game but listened to the first half over through HCHC’s website—a fabulous feature. The Rams jumped out to a quick lead early in the first quarter and it all went wrong from there.  Mustangs ripped off a 9-0 run with help from some three-point shots and gained control for good.

St. Rita looked much better than they have during the unexpectedly disappointing season so far. St. Rita played very well. Inside. Outside. Defense. Boards. The Rams just struggled in every phase. You can find all the details here: http://www.hcholidayclassic.com/2017stats/17hchc23.htm

The Rams had their first real clunker of, to this point, what has been a great 11-1 season. I see this team so much that I forget how young they are. They start one senior, three juniors and a sophomore. The bench has two seniors, five juniors and three freshmen. Maybe they just stumbled. Maybe they are just not seasoned enough to play at the top level of area high school basketball. Interestingly, the Rams visit St. Rita next Friday that ought to be an interesting rematch. And this is a conference game.

I knew what to expect from Bolingbrook. I had not seen Lincoln Park and know only knew that it knocked off Whitney Young. Seeing the teams next to each other suggested that LP would have some difficulty with the size of Bolingbrook. And they did. But they made up for it. The first half felt like a very entertaining prize fight. LP went blow for blow with a bigger, stronger fighter. Even so LP trailed 28-26 at the half because of two untimed free throws.

In the second half, Bolingbrook played its inside game and lead the whole way. Lincoln Park went into a spread, drive and kick out for a three-point shot offence. Despite going 5-27 on three-point shots, the offence worked well enough to keep them close. With 3:09 left in the fourth, Bolingbrook opened a nine-point lead but Lincoln Park would not go away. The Lions fought the whole way. The outcome was in doubt to the very end. At the buzzer, Lincoln Park didn’t want to leave the floor. There is no quit in Lincoln Park. There isn’t even any stop in Lincoln Park.

http://www.hcholidayclassic.com/2017stats/17hchc24.htm   

2017 Hinsdale Central Holiday Classic

For me, the high school basketball season has four parts, the Thanksgiving tournaments, the Christmas tournaments, the conference games and the IHSA playoffs. We are in the Christmas, post-Christmas really, tournaments now--the beating heart of the season. Four games in four days. At the top tournaments, the best teams and their fans see each other and play each other. The dedicated fan can see eight games in one day.

I went to the first day of the 2017 Hinsdale Central Holiday Classic. DePaul Prep opened the tournament against Crete-Monee. I got some good shots but not really good ones. I saw my beloved Rams handle a dangerous Crete-Monee team for the second year in a row.

Next was Homewood-Flossmor v. Stevenson. I was more of a spectator for that game. I wanted to see DePaul's next opponent in the next game and not work at getting photos. And I wanted to tweet the result to my dozen followers (okay 315 followers, but who is counting).

St. Rita v. Westinghouse was next. I got some good shots in this game. I used a new approach. I just sat down and shot from the same spot. One lens. One camera. Let the game come to me. I got some good shots. I have seen Quinn Harris, Patrick Gorski and Worsom Robinson (real photographers who know what they are doing) do this. It seems to be an effective way to get a few really good shots.

Maine South v. Richards after that. I didn’t really watch this game. I was processing my my photos and having some lunch. I took some quick iPhone videos and attached them to tweets reporting the final score.

The next game was the most interesting game of the day. I wanted to see highly ranked Bolingbrook. I saw them at last year's HC Holiday Classic. I was really impressed. Big, athletic and skilled. They finished third in the state. I wanted to see how this year's number 8 team compared. And I want to see one of the top players in the state, Bolingbrook’s Joseph Yesufu.

I couldn’t stay for the final two games. It was a long day and I needed to get home. Next year I think I will take the whole week off and take in a different tournament all day, each day. Proviso, Hinsdale and Pontiac. High school basketball heaven.

www.hcholidayclassic.com