DePaul Prep Rallies to Come Back and Defeat Trinity 50-47

That was a bad a first half as I have seen a DePaul Prep/Gordon Tech girls varsity team play. Turnovers, traveling, fouls, missed shots, no rebounds, you name it. Somehow, by the grace of the Almighty, they were only down 24-17.

Whatever the DePaul Prep Rams coach Sarah Zarymbski said to her team at halftime, she should write down and sell it.

It worked. The Rams were a whole new team in second half. The energy was 100% better. The started playing defense. They got most of the rebounds offensive and defensive. They starting shooting. The shots started falling. They all but erased the deficit in the third quarter. Down 31-30 entering the final frame.

The fourth quarter was back and forth. Trinity is good. No quit in the Blazers.

The Rams had the ball after a time out with 42.9 to play and the score tied. Moving the ball around looking for a shot with the clock running down, junior guard Maliah Wood got the ball. Square to the basket lining up the three-pointer, she finished the half the way she started it—a three-pointer that was never in doubt. Nothing but net.

Eight seconds on clock. Curiously, down 50-47, the Blazers moved the ball into the paint for a two point bucket. Even so the shot did not fall. Rams come back from a terrible first half to win 50-47.

New Canon RF 100-300mm, f2.8 Telephoto Lens Tested

I rented the new Canon RF 100-300mm, f2.8 telephoto lens (from lensrentals.com—shameless plug) to shoot basketball this week and at the Chicago Elite Classic. So here are my thoughts on using it to shoot basketball.

I know this is all inside baseball for all but the nerdiest sports shooters. The Canon 300mm 2.8 is a staple, a legend. Ubiquitous one might say. Sun-Times photographer Allen Cunningham told me several years ago that when he got a 300/2.8, it changed for his photography. It made him feel like and shoot like a pro. That’s pretty damn high praise from maybe the best sports photograher in the State of Illinois.

I recently got a Canon R3, the flagship mirrorless camera, the best sports camera that I have used. So the new RF (meaning Canon mirrorless) lens 100-300mm would be nice.

Word is that Canon no longer manufactures its iconic 300mm 2.8 prime. If one wants that legendary, life-changing lens, it will have to be one like the new RF 100-300mm, 2.8 telephoto zoom that I rented.

Except it costs like $9,000. I know, it will last a lifetime and change your life, make you into a pro-level shooter. But . . . $9,000? Plus tax. That’s a lot of money. Like a car. The first car that I bought was a lot less than that, new.

I own a Canon 300mm zoom but it is not f2.8. It’s a good useful lens, especially for daylight football, but it is not razor sharp like the legend.I have use the EF 300 prime quite a few times. I rented the 300mm 2.8 prime when the occasion called for it.

So, is the new 300mm zoom better than the old 300mm prime?

Sure seems to be it is to me. It’s just a razor ship and quick on the auto focus as the legend. No issue there. It’s seems a little longer and a little heavier. Not an issue when it comes to the old versus the new.

But that is not the comparison that interests me. The question now is does the new 300/2.8 take out the other legend, the truly ubiquitous Canon 70-200mm/f2.8 lens that everyone needs, everyone has and everyone loves. It is the basketball lens. One cannot shoot a basketball game without one. One cannot hardly live life without that great lens. It is the most, and I write this without the slightest bit of exaggeration, the best and most important lens in the history of the world.

What if one just extends the reach of the GOAT another 100mm? Does the new lens to that? Does this lens give one the fully reach to the other end of the court for the tight shots without the unacceptable crop factor? I thought to myself, I am a big guy heavy lens have not bother me before. The significant weight should not be an issue.

Could this new lens revolutionize the world of photography. A revolution, even at the cost of $9,000, might be worth it.

I shot seven games with it, and parts of a couple other. It was big and heavy to use for basketball in place of a 70-200mm. I found that I really needed the 24-70mm for right under the basket. I also found the 70-200 is indispensible for the near court action. the 70-200 is quicker to pick up, point and shoot than the 100-300.

Admittedly, the 100-300 was great for the far court action. I got some shots in the Kenwood v. Thornton game at the Chicago Elite Classic that I have never gotten before.

So the conclusion? The 100-300 is just too heavy and the throw from 100mm and 300mm is just to slow.

So I guess the long and longer of it is that for basketball the 100-300 is a bit of a luxury. It has an application on a big college-sized court. I might and probably will rent one for a state championship finals. But for $9,000, at this stage in my career, such as it is, it is just too expensive of a piece of glass.

But for football, I could definitely use one. Just no way around it. If one is going to shoot a high school football night game, one must have one. But I already knew that.

This was about the impact of the lens on basketball. So no. The new lens does not take over basketball.

I guess when I win the lottery I will get one to use for football, soccer and lacrosse and occasionally for basketball. The 70-200 is safe.

#2 Thornton Takes Down #1 Kenwood 52-45 at Chicago Elite Classic

Coming off an upset loss to Bloom, #2 Thornton rallied to take down the #1 Kenwood Broncos at the Chicago Elite Classic.

This was the biggest matchup of this year’s Chicago Elite Classic. One v. two. I thought I knew what we had with Kenwood. Big, talented and well coached. I didn’t know what we had in Thornton. It’s a whole new team pieces from other teams. We know those pieces are player but would they, could they play together as a team against the only other team ranked high than them?

It’s early in the season, but I think we know the answer. Thornton will be a top team all year.

St. Laurence Falls to Marist 49-44 in OT

The Vikings hung around and hung around and hung around. When that happens, you know what happens. This time it was overtime but the Marist Redhawks survived 49-44.

St. Ignatius Falls to Riverside-Brookfield 50-49 in Chicago Elite Classic.

The St. Ignatius Wolfpack (4-2, 0-0) lost to the Riverside-Brookfield Bulldogs (5-1, 1-0) 50-49 at the Chicago Elite Classic Saturday afternoon.

The Wolfpack just could not buy a bucket at the end after going back and forth with the Bulldogs all game. The Wolfpack pushed their lead to seven points with less than three minutes to play. And that would be it. The Bulldogs rallied to score the last eight points and win the game.

“We had a couple of good shots that did not go in. A couple of missed layups but also we were very inconsistent with how we share the basketball. We don’t screen off the ball consistently. When you have lapses in those two areas, you make it a lot harder on yourself to win,” said the St. Ignatius head coach Matt Monroe.

“Mike Reingruber is a great coach. Certainly they made adjustments but I felt that it was us being inconsistent.”

“Like coach said, if we didn’t have lapses and screen off the ball, sharing the ball consistently, we would have had a bigger run,” added Reggie Ray, St. Ignatius senior guard who finished with nine points.

They were too hard on themselves. R-B 6’11” senior center had late blocks under the basket that stopped the Wolfpack. The defense of R-B and rebounds at the end won the game. That and scoring the final eight points of the game.

St. Ignatius moves on to Catholic League play with St. Francis De Sales, Loyola Academy and Aurora Central Catholic before Christmas, plus a side trip to play Homewood-Flossmoor at the Team Rose Shootout.

“Winning the Catholic League Blue is probably the toughest thing any one team can do in the State of Illinois,” added Monroe.

“We are looking forward to the challenge. We are happy to be amongst the best. We are also one of the best. Certainly every game is a learning experience. We are looking forward to that competition. Playing against the best brings out the best in you. It’s a tough slate of games. I know these guys have everything it takes.”

DePaul Prep Defeats Lane Tech 60-49 at Chicago Elite Classic

A preview of this week’s article in the Inside Booster:

The DePaul Prep Rams (6-0, 1-0) defeated the Lane Tech Champions 60-49 in the Chicago Elite Classic on Friday night at UIC’s Credit Union 1 Arena.

The Rams fell behind big time to a Champions squad that was firing on all cylinders. Lane Tech head coach Nick LoGalbo had his Champions were ready to play. Playing aggressive defense and taking to ball inside to Lane’s standout junior center Dalton Scantlebury, who had nine points in the first quarter alone and finishing with a team high sixteen points, the Champions could do nothing wrong. They held a 22-5 lead until DePaul Prep’s Gus Donahue drained a three-pointer from the baseline to make the score 22-8 at the end of the first quarter.

“Our energy coming into the game was obviously very high. DePaul being about 500 feet from our campus, there is a bit of bad blood there,” said Scantlebury. 

“We did some things with our scouting that was different from what they have seen on film and that was by design. We were locked into what we needed to do to attack them,” said Lane head coach Nick LoGalbo.

The Champions went right at the Rams. They got the ball into Scantlebury who scored three straight buckets. That freed up the Champions’ star player Shaheed Solebo who poured in eight points of his own. The Rams were on the ropes.

Lane and DePaul Prep, the successor to long time Gordon Tech high school which was just across the Chicago River from Lane, have been neighbors for decades but not exactly rivals. Now with Gordon becoming DePaul Prep and moving from the Fr. Gordon Campus into the old Devry College building immediately south for Lane, it may be that the rivalry is growing.

DePaul Prep is in the Chicago Catholic League and Lane is in the Chicago Public League. Their paths don’t cross often in competition. They have met in basketball only twice in recent years with DePaul coming out on top in 2015 and 2018 in the championship games of the Battle of the Bridge Thanksgiving tournament, a tournament jointly hosted by the two schools.

It wasn’t always that way. The schools faced off in the 1980 state playoff semi-final game at Lane which the Rams won 15 to 8 going on to win the Gordon Tech’s only state championship in football. The schools played in basketball a few times in the early 2000’s in tournaments with Lane winning three in a row. Before that it was Gordon Tech had the edge winning eight of ten matchups dating back to 1961.

Given Scantlebury’s comment and the fact that the players know each other pretty well from playing with and against each other during the summer, have a rivalry growing. Plus the fact that the Rams won a state basketball championship that last year doesn’t appear to sit too well with the Lane players. The rivalry looks to be heating up.

The Chicago Elite Classic has spice things up in an early season marquis matchup pitting the two programs which are gaining some attention.

This huge early deficit is not part of the typical game plan for Tom Kleinschmidt formula wins. His teams are supposed to grab an early first quarter lead, survive a second quarter comeback by the opponent, build a lead in the third quarter and finish the fourth quarter with rebounds and free throws.

The plan had to be different on Friday night but not the result.  

“We weren’t ready to play. Defensively, which is our strong point, we were not is sync. When they started making shots, we got shook. We got punched in the face. We had to regroup a little bit in the second quarter,” said DePaul Prep head coach Tom Kleinschmit, himself a Gordon Tech grad well acquainted with the neighboring city size school across the Chicago River then and now across a parking lot.

At the start of the second quarter, Kleinschmidt dialed up a three-quarter court press that took the Champions out of what they were doing. 

“They went without a bucket for about six minutes. [We] cut it in have and we had a enough will in the second half to hang on,” Kleinschmidt say.

The Rams did more than cut the lead in half, they all but erased Lane’s huge lead in the second quarter outscoring the Champions 20 to 9 trailing 31-28 at the half.

“Early they were loading up on Dalton [Scantlebury] and we had really good weakside action. Once we started seeing the pressure, we weren’t as aware and probably a little tired. The weakside action stopped happening. We had some turnovers and just not great shots,” LoGalbo said.

It was more than just dialing up a press. Kleinschmidt new his advantage and played it.

“We thought we were a little deeper at the guard spots and we wanted to wear them down. They came out excellent; fantastic job by Lane coming out. But with our experience at guard and out depth at guard, if we could pressure them for 32 minutes, I thought we could get our hands on some live ball turnovers and that’s what happened,” Kleinschmidt added.

That experience and skill at the guard position showed in the end. Rams senior guard PJ Chambers, a product of Bell School, just a few blocks from both Lane and DePaul Prep, came alive in the second half. He led all scorers with twenty-two points including nine free throws in ten attempts that put the game out of reach in the fourth quarter. Part of that guard advantage was AJ Chambers, PJ’s sophomore brother, who had three points.

The Rams’ senior center Jaylan McElroy, who survived a little foul trouble in the first half but was ably spelled by sophomore forward Rashaun Porter, finished with twelve points.

I would tell you what is next for these two programs but I haven’t thought much past this game. It’s been fast and furious start to season. Time to take a breath.

But stay tuned. The season just started.

DePaul Prep 59, St. Rita 14

The DePaul Prep Rams entered Catholic League play Thursday evening at St. Rita High School with a 59-14 victory over the Mustangs. The Rams improved to 5-0 and 1-0 in the Catholic League.

Tomorrow is the Chicago Elite Classic where the Rams will face neighbor Lane Tech in the final game of the night.

Mount Carmel Defeats Fenwick 55-25 to Open Catholic League Play

The Mount Carmel Caravan are for real. Period. They handled Fenwick, a pretty good team. The score was 32-8 at the half.

I wanted to see Mount Carmel this year to see if the high rank was deserved. It is. They can play defense. They can score. Angelo Ciaravino is as good as advertised. He finished with 26 points sat much of the third and fourth quarters. He seems very much improved since last season—bigger, stronger and faster than I recall he playing last year.

Mike Clark teases me about my comments on the quality of the light is area gyms. I stand by my frequent citation to universal truth codified in the third law of basketball—the most important factor in basketball is the quality of the light in the gym. I think we all know it’s true; we just don’t talk about it.

With that said, I must say the light in the Mount Carmel gym is not the best. Not enough of it and color is a little too yellow. Perhaps a capital campaign is in order. Just a thought.

I was testing out a lens just released by Canon, the RF 100-300mm, f2.8. It’s a beast. I have used the legendary Canon EF 300mm, f2.8, telephoto lens many times. It is a classic.

Canon’s new lens looks to improve that staple of sports photography by making a 100 to 300 millimeter zoom lens instead of a 300 millimeter prime lens. A zoom lens that reaches out to 300 millimeters might just take out the other staple of sports photography—the beloved 70-200mm, f2.8, telephoto lens. Basically the best lens there is.

This new 300 is heavy. Many people use old version on a monopod. I haven’t because I have mostly used it for football so I can put it down between plays. Plus I don’t like monopods. I like to sit when I shoot.

Shooting basketball with a big heavy Canon 300mm is different. One needs to hold it up a long time. If I would use it every time I shoot basketball, it would take a while to get used to it and build up the right muscles.

This new 300mm telephoto is every bit as razor sharp as it predecessor. The “throw” (the distance and time it takes to move the lens from 100 millimeters to 300 millimeters) is a little long for basketball. The throw seems to take longer that the 70-200mm.

This is not scientific testing by me. It is my initial impressions for using for an hour and a half. I will keep using it over the next few days and at the Chicago Elite Classic. I am guessing that it will work very nicely on the bigger court at UIC’s Credit 1 Arena.

Good start to the season. I am looking forward to the race in the Chicago Catholic League Blue. Mount Carmel, Brother Rice, DePaul Prep, DeLaSalle, Loyola, St. Ignatius, St. Rita, Leo, and Fenwick. These teams know each other. The winner is likely to have at least two conference losses. But we will see. Maybe one teams run through the schedule. Maybe Mount Carmel.

St. Viator Wins Comeback 78-71 OT Victory over Libertyville

The St. Viator Lions (3-1, 0-0) came back from ten points down with 3:30 to go to defeat the Libertyville 78-71 in the final game of the St. Viator Thanksgiving Classic.

Through the first three quarters of this game, the story of the game was how St. Viator just could not handle the size and inside game of Libertyville’s sophomore forward Bryce Wegrzyn (23 points) and senior forward Ben Van Lyssel (15 points).

Somehow, some way, It all came together for the Lions tonight on the last night of the St. Viator Holiday Classic. The Lions rallied in the fourth to force overtime. Four three-pointers and five free throws is part of the recipe for a fourth quarter comeback. The other key ingredient is tough players who don’t give up and coach calling the right plays. Oh, and of course, a supportive alumni photographer.

The ball movement and inside game of Libertyville in the first half was skillful. The Lions had no answer. Wegrzyn had 17. Even so, the Lions were only down six at the half.

It grew to nine at the end of the third and then 10 down 53-63 with 3:30 to go.

The Lions were a whole new team in the fourth. The quick guard centric line-up turned up the urgency. Two quick threes. Still down five at 1:48, the Lions added a field goal and five free throws.

Did I mention defensive rebounds. I don’t know what happened to the Libertyville big men they didn’t get any rebounds when it counted. The Lions got them.

Onto OT.

Overtime seemed no problem for the Lions. A couple more free throws, a timely three that felt like a game-winner when it came with a minute left making the score St. Viator 72, Libertyville 68.

And then it was about the four free throws and a late Henry Marshall lay-up for the win.

Nicely done.

DePaul Prep Wins Battle of the Bridge Tournament with 67-50 Victory over Niles North

Defending 2A State Champions, the DePaul Prep Rams (4-0, 0-0) defeated the Niles North Vikings 67-50 in the championship game of the Battle of the Bridge Thanksgiving tournament at DePaul Prep Friday night.

The frustration on the face of Niles North coach Glenn Olson was palpable. His Vikings were close, but the DePaul Prep Rams were just too solid in every phase. Niles North has suffered four loses to DePaul Prep in the Battle of Bridge championship game dating back to 2016 and one in a semi-final.

A quick 6-0 lead for the Rams to open the first quarter was part of the formula for a Tom Kleinschmidt victory. Get lead in the first quarter, survive the inevitable bounce back, build the lead in the third quarter, handle the ball and make free throws to win. It was a textbook Tom Kleinschmidt win—even if it didn’t feel very safe and any point until the end.

The Rams can execute in every phase and did on Friday. They can run and score in transition. They can the drive the lane, taking it to the rim or hitting the floater. Rams’ junior guard Makai Kvamme has stepped up his game on the point taking over where graduated senior Maurice Thomas left off.

Senior guard PJ Chambers was scoring inside and out, leading all scorers with 20 points, even with being occasionally spelled by his little brother AJ Chambers. And we are not even talking about Jaylan McElroy yet. The big man got in a little foul trouble and spent the second quarter on the bench. No worries. Sophomore forward LaShawn Porter filled right in. Jaylan dominated the boards throughout and was money with the key free throws in the fourth quarter. Junior Jonas Johnson hit a three on the Rams 15-2 run late in the second quarter and some free throws at the end.

This year’s Battle of the Bridge Thanksgiving tournament was one of the early season’s marquis events featuring two ranked teams, #13 DePaul Prep and #20 Lane Tech. Niles North is right there too. In fact, the Vikings were singled out by Joe Henricksen of the City Suburban Hoops Report as a team likely to break into the Super 25.

“How many teams have the opportunity to play two ranked teams in two road games at a Thanksgiving tournament?” Olson said after the Lane game.

The other teams were Lane, Notre Dame, Englewood Stem, Francis Parker, Jones and Prosser.

The Lane Tech v. Niles North game played on Wednesday also a marquis matchup of excellent teams. A packed and noisy gym at Lane saw the Champions edged by the Vikings 63-61. Match up featured two top players in the area: Lane’s Shaheed Solebo and Niles North’s Yaris Irby.  

“The close of the second half was one of the best that I have seen. We wanted to spread them to get some fouls,” said Rams coach Tom Kleinschmidt.

The fourth quarter Rams defense particularly on Niles North star player Yaris Irby who had only two points just closed out the game.

“The constant pressure and switching [players to cover Irby] was part of it. We don’t put one guy on one guy where they both get tired. We kind of share the load. And I think that kind of help us in second halves. Everybody can guard whoever. They have to guard whoever. It keeps us fresh at the end of the game.

“That was fun and nerve-racking. I was never comfortable and never am.”

The Rams open Chicago Catholic League play on Thursday at St. Rita. The Rams then make their first appearance in the Chicago Elite Classic with a game on Friday, December 1, 2023, against neighbor Lane Tech at UIC’s Credit 1 Arena.

Niles North Edges Lane Tech 63-61 at the Battle of the Bridge.

This was a game. The ranked against the should be ranked. Lane came into the game ranked at #20 in the Sun-Times Super 25. Niles North is ranked but the topic of discussion in the “No Shot Clock'“ podcast this week was that they will be. Maybe sooner rather than later.

Niles North junior guard Yaris Irby was a revelation. He was every bit as impactful as Lane’s D1 prospect senior guard Shaheed Solebo.

Niles North came out doing what they wanted to do. They played up tempo and scored in transition. Lane’s length gave the Vikings fits. No problem; they just had Irby and Reid Olson pour in some threes and you’ve got a ten lead at the end of the 1st quarter.

“And we were playing the pace we wanted to play at. Playing fast. We were getting up and down. That was in our favor. The game slowed down in that second quarter,” Niles North coach Glenn Olson said after the game.

Yes it did. If there is anything Lane’s head coach can to it’s fire up his Champions. It was like the Champions turned up the speed and intensity 100%. No more full court offense for rhe Vikings, The Champions used there inside size and seemed to score helped by a couple threes from Dylan Pepper and one from Shaheed Solebo.

The second half was back and forth battle. Very even half with two excellent teams. Niles North had just a little bit more.

Vikings 63, Champions 61.

Prospect 52, Antioch 20 at St. Viator Thanksgiving Tournament

I made it out to the Rev. Patrick Cahill, CV, Gym on Tuesday to see Sean Connor’s Antioch Sequoits take on the Prospect Knights. Prospect is solid. Junior guard Ben Schneider is a player, #118 ranked in Illinois by Prep Hoops.

Sean’s Sequoits, the fabled mythical swamp creatures of Northern Illinois, hussle and play defense. They struggled to get shots up in the first half. They struggled to get shots to fall in the second half. I have no doubt Coach Connor will whip them into shape by the middle of the season.

I have gotten away in recent posts from commenting on the quality of the light in gyms. Not that I would write anything critical of my beloved St. Viator High School, but the current administration has very good lights in Cahill. Fr. Cahill was the athletic director when I started at St. Viator decades ago.

Lane Tech Handles Jones 60-40 in the Battle of the Bridge Opener

The Lane Tech Champions opened the season against the Jones College Prep Eagles with an impressive 60-41 victory at the 2023 Annual Battle of the Bridge Tournament.

The Champions come into the season as a ranked team, #20 in the Sun-Times Super 25, for the first time that I can remember. There are high expectations for the Champions who feature two of the top rated players in the area, senior guard Shaheed Solebo and junior foward/center Dalton Scantlebury.

I wasn’t planning a full story on this game. We will have to save that for Friday’s championship game. I also took some photos at the barnburner between the Champions and the Niles North Vikings. I will post those photos shortly.

Basketball Season is Here

Basketball is here. From now until the state finals on March 16th next year, we’ll have four and a half months of tournaments, high-profile shootouts, league play, non-conference matchups and basically just fun and excitement.

This year is a little different than most. I do most more my shooting and coverage of the DePaul Prep Rams who are coming off a 2A state championship. This is new for me. No team that I have ever regularly covered or even been a fan of has won a state championship.

What makes this really interesting is that the Rams haven’t should still be very good. Gone are Maurice Thomas and Payton Kamin. But Rob Walls and Jonas Johnson both of whom had championship experience should fill in nicely.

And the other team I cover often, the Lane Tech Champions, look to have their best season in a long time. Led by Shaheed Solebo and junior power forward Dalton Scantlebury, the Champions and their coach Nick LoGalbo are ranked #20 in the Sun-Times Super 25. The expectations are high for the Champions.

We will get an early chance to figure out the Champions. They will face good teams in Niles North and either DePaul Prep or Notre Dame in the Battle of the Bridge, the Thanksgiving tournament hosted by Lane and DePaul Prep. Maybe this will be their year to take home a win in the tournament.

The Battle of the Bridge Tournament dates back to 2014, the first season after Gordon Tech changed its name to DePaul Prep. I could only find the results of the Battle of the Bridge going back to 2018. The 8 to 18 website is offline after its purchase by another company so the old Gordon Tech records are only longer easily available.

So here we go. Enjoy. It goes by fast.

DePaul Prep Rams 72, Jones Eagles 41 to Open the Season

The high school basketball season opened this evening with the DePaul Prep Rams women’s basketball team beating up on the Jones College Prep Eagles 72-41. As games go, it was quick, an hour and twelve minutes. The running clock in fourth quarter helped but the game seemed closer than the final score.

I wasn’t able to give the game full treatment. This was a last minute addition to the schedule. I didn’t keep stats or do any interviews.

Nevertheless, I got a look at this year’s Rams. Coach Sarah Zarymbski has three sectional champions in her four years at the helm of the women’s varsity team, except there was no IHSA playoffs in the COVID year. So three sectional victories in three tries. This group has a lot to live up to. And by the looks of tonight’s game, they seem up to the task.

The two new starters, Miliah Wood and Grace Lee, will fit right in as starters. Returning seniors Charlotte Collins, fresh off a successful volleyball season, London Walker-George and Casey Galloway return and round out the starting line up.

Coach Zarymbski played the whole bench today too and there didn’t seem to be much let down. The Rams played well in all phases but only lead by ten at the half.

The Rams blew the game wide open in the third quarter with defense and scoring in transition. They pushed the lead to thirty points at the start of the fourth quarter causing a running clock in the fourth quarter and speedy conclusion to the first game.

It’s going to be a fun season. With the boys team receiving a pre-season 13th rank in the Sun-Times Super 25 rankings, DePaul Prep students, faculty, parents and supporters should be treated to some high quality basketball in what may or may not be the final year in the Tom Winiecki Gym.

Stay tuned. March will be here before one knows it.

Morgan Park Falls to St. Francis in 5A Quarterfinal

In a game marred by constant penalties, the last remaining Chicago Public League team, the Morgan Park Mustangs, fell to the St. Francis Spartans 37-14 in IHSA 5A quarterfinals Saturday.

Turnovers and penalties throttled the Mustangs in the first half. The Mustangs had a sixty-two touchdown called back. On the next play, Morgan Park QB Marcus Thaxton throw a side arm pass late down the middle of the field. A big no-no. St. Francis easily picked it off. The Spartans worked the ball down to the Morgan Park nine yard-line and scored on a quick slant to the slot receiver, senior wide receiver Ian Willis. Even so, it was 13-8 St. Francis until late in the second quarter.

Morgan Park (10-1, 7-0) came into the game as the 4 seed with a 10-1 overall record. Its only loss this year was to second ranked Mount Carmel 22-12 in week two.

The Mustangs were 7-0 in the Chicago Public Leagues’ new super-conference, the new Red Division. Before the season, CPS Sports Administration combined the top teams in the Red Division into one sixteen team super-conference. Seven other teams from the conference made the IHSA playoffs the season, Whitney Young, Kenwood, Amundsen, Lane, Simeon, Phillips and Taft. Morgan Park was the last surviving team. It was Morgan Park’s twenty-fifth appearance in the IHSA football playoffs since 1985.

St. Francis in Wheaton came into the game on a hot streak. After getting pummeled 47-0 by Loyola in early October, the Spartans have put together a four-game win streak at the right time. The Spartans come out of the Orange Division of the CCL/ESCC joint Catholic Conference in football this year. The Orange also has two other surviving playoff teams, IC Catholic Prep and Nazareth Academy.

St. Francis is no stranger to playoff football having qualified sixteen time since 1997, winning a state championship in 2005 and advancing to the 4A semifinal game last year.

The game turned late in the first half with St. Francis quarterback Alessio Milivojevic’s eleven-yard touchdown run.

“I like getting hit once or twice on a run. Then I get locked in, clicked in,” said St. Francis senior quarterback and Ball State recruit Alessio Milivojevic. It was the Milivojevic’s 11-yard touchdown run sparked his game on Saturday. Sun-Times Reporter Michael O’Brien captured a video and included it in his Twitter feed. https://twitter.com/michaelsobrien/status/1723424427335925919

After the Milivojevic’s touchdown to make the game 19-8, Morgan Park’s quarterback gave up another interception with under a minute to go. The Spartans worked their way down the short field for a twenty-two yard field goal making the half time score 22-8.

In the second half, Morgan Park scored on a quick bubble screen out to senior wide receiver and Montana recruit Chris Dorr who took it up the sideline 40 yards for the score.

But the second half was just about St. Francis and Milivojevic being able to drive the ball with the run and the pass. Morgan Park gave up two more touchdowns and fell 37-14.

St. Francis advances to play conference rival Nazareth next Saturday in the 5A semi-final. Curiously, the two other surviving 5A teams, Joliet Catholic and Providence Catholic, are also from the CCL/ESCC conference.

DePaul Prep Falls to St. Ignatius in Sectional

Preview of my story this week in Inside Publications:

The DePaul Prep girls’ varsity volleyball team fell to the St. Ignatius Wolfpack on Monday in the IHSA 3A sectional semifinal at St. Ignatius. A large crowd filled the St. Ignatius Gentile Gymnasium for the match. This high-level volleyball was action packed. The teams were never separated by more than five points in either match. The Wolfpack were just that little bit better at defending the attacks by the Rams. Ignatius topped the Rams in two sets, 25-20 and 25-22.

The Rams and their fourth-year head coach Caroline Gajzler came into the sectional fresh off their first regional since Gajzler took over the program four years ago. Gajzler, an assistant athletic director at DePaul Prep and former physical education teacher, was gracious, if not clearly disappointed after the game.

“Kudos to St. Ignatius. They played a hell of a game. They are very scrappy, in terms of defense. [St. Ignatius sophomore Skyler Greene] #10 on the right side gave us issues the entire match. Congratulations to them. On our side, we broke down in our serve and passing games. In the first set, we missed four serves and we were not passing like in our typical game,” Gajzler said.

“We started off the season inconsistent in our match play. We were having difficulty finding the court offensively. Throughout the season our attackers found consistency. Our back row found consistency. With that our confidence grew. We found a good line up that was meshing well together. And then we won some big matches. That really gave us the confidence boost,” Gajzler continued.

Rams’ “libero’ senior Charlotte Collins was a leader on the Rams squad.

“This was our best season yet. We finally clicked as a team. Everyone really wanted it this year,” Collins said after the game. Collins noted the improvement of the Rams squad from last year.

“We really found our rhythm. We learned how to play with each other and connect. Our setters connected with our hitters better. And just effort. We stepped up the game. We wanted to go farther this year and we did,” Collins said.

“Having a bond with everyone and being able to trust your teammates is just so important. If you don’t have that, everyone can be amazing on the team, but if there is no trust and support, then you can’t do anything,” Collins continued.

It was a successful season for the Rams; a 29-9 record with a thirteen-match win streak going it the St. Ignatius sectional match. With the dramatic increase in enrollment at DePaul Prep, the Rams moved up from 2A to 3A in the IHSA four level volleyball classification system. This actually helped the Rams advance through the regional finals. They did not have to face powerhouse teams like IC Catholic and Timothy Christian that defeated them in recent years.

Last weeks’ regional championship over North Grand at Prosser was a milestone for Gajzler with her first regional championship. Last year Gajzler’s Rams suffered an emotional close loss to powerhouse IC Catholic in the regional championship at DePaul. Before that was the lost COVID year with no playoffs. Before that was another close lose to powerhouse Timothy Christian in a regional final.

St. Ignatius went on to advance to the State Finals in Bloomington this coming weekend with wins in the sectional final over DeLaSalle and St. Lawrence in the Super-sectional, both teams that DePaul Prep beat in the regular season.

Amundsen Falls to Belvidere North 38-20

By Jack Lydon

 

The half time score was Belvidere North 17, Amundsen 0.

With the halftime score Belvidern North 17 and Amundsen 0, Amundsen head football coach Nick Olson said on the sideline just before the start of the second half, “Twenty-one to seventeen. Write it down, twenty-one to seventeen is the final score.”

He said it such conviction, and given the enthusiasm of his players, this reporter wasn’t sure he was wrong.

He was right about the Amundsen part, just not the Belvidere North part. The Amundsen Vikings lost to the Belvidere North 38-20 on Friday night in IHSA 6A first round playoff game.

As has been the case in recent games with the Vikings, early mistakes put them behind. Behind 7-0 after Belvidere North scored on 27-yard run around the left end by Belvidere North senior running back Joseph Brown, the Vikings were moving the ball when mishap struck.

With first and ten on their own thirty-seven, Amundsen sophomore quarterback Smith Beeson took the snap and handed the ball to the receiver in motion, except the receiver didn’t take it. Beeson dutifully continued with his fake dive up the middle. But the ball was left behind by both would be runners. No one on field seemed to notice the ball lying on the turf at midfield.  

After what felt like a prison sentence, the Belvidere North defenders noticed and jumped on the ball.

It wasn’t the end. The Vikings defense held after the turnover but they couldn’t hold on the next drive. The Blue Thunder scored a second touchdown on a two-yard quarterback sneak with 3:27 left in the first quarter. The Vikings drove the field late in the second quarter but missed a field goal try.

Getting the ball back with under a minute to go in the half, the Blue Thunder and moved into Amundsen territory for their own field goal try. Alan Perez’s 38 yarder was good making the halftime score 17-0.

The third quarter was all Belvidere who brought the score to 31-0.

The remarkable part about this whole game was that there was no quit in Amundsen at any point. Down 31-0 late in the third quarter and the game clearly out of reach, Nick Olson’s Vikings were playing with the same focus and energy they had when they off the bus.

The wind died down a little in the fourth quarter and Amundsen junior quarterback Elmir Gjeka connected on a beautiful deep ball to junior wide receiver Edwin Soto who raced up the Amundsen sideline for a 68-yard touchdown.

The Vikings were not done and added two more touchdowns bringing the final score to 38-20.

The mood of the Amundsen Vikings and their fired-up coach Nick Olson after the game was parts angry, respectful, defiant and wanting a rematch, like a boxer wanting to keep fighting after having been knocked down.

“They came out and they executed. We were just sloppy on tackling tonight. Another week of poor execution,” Olson said after the game.

“I felt really good about the week of practice. The kids really responded from the lost [to Lane] last Friday night. My fellow coaches and I had a really good game plan. Tonight came down to missed tackles and missed opportunities.”

Belvidere North made few mistakes and knew what they wanted to do—run the ball. That they did.

“They passed it a hand full of times. We knew they ran a Wing T offense. They wanted to pound the rock and run it down our throat,” Olson continued.

“We felt like we had a really good game plan to stop it. Our players were there. Their players made the plays. That’s what it came down to.”

The Vikings have a bright future. “We finished in fifth play [in the sixteen team] Red Division, just behind Lane. They thought we would just come [into the Red] and get walked on. We played a lot of Blue and White [division] football over the last ten years. We are playing against 7A and 8A schools, Taft and Lane Tech, that have almost triple our enrollment,” Olson said about moving up into the CPL Red Division.

“But we are not scared of hard work here at Amundsen. Our message in the off season is ‘close the gap.’ We know other teams are going to have more players. We know other teams are going to have better athletes. We are going to close the gap by working really hard.”

Belvidere North moves on to the second round and will face either Wauconda or Grant.

Amundsen moves on to the Prep Bowl playoffs next week.

One can find another story and photos from the game at: https://www.rrstar.com/picture-gallery/sports/2023/10/28/photos-belvidere-high-school-football-defeats-amundsen-38-20/71357151007/

DePaul Prep Wins IHSA 3A Regional with Victory over North Grand

The DePaul Prep girls’ varsity volleyball team defeated North Grand high school in the IHSA 3A Prosser Regional on Thursday evening in straight sets, 25-9 and 25-4. The Rams finish the year with a record of 27-8 and 4-2 in the GCAC, with a ten-game win streak at the end of the season.

The eleventh seed North Grand Eagle Owls, with an overall record of 8-10 and 4-5 in conference, came in a little overmatched against third seed DePaul Prep. The Rams took the match in straight sets, 25-9 and 25-4.

This was the first IHSA Regional title for Rams’ head coach Coach Gajzler in her four years at DePaul Prep.

“We took over the program four years ago. There wasn’t much built in terms of a system or a culture or a program. The past four years we have just been focused on building a program and sustainability,” said a beeming Coach Gajzler after the match.

“I remember Bobby [Hughes] telling me that it is a real testament when your first freshman become seniors and that is this group. We have had them for four years. They only know Coach Hughes and I.”

The DePaul Prep volleyball program is on its way. With fifty-four girls in the program at all levels, volleyball is emerging as a powerhouse at DePaul and in the Girls Catholic Athletic Conference.

“We are ready for the challenge of moving up from 2A to 3A. I packed our schedule this year. Our schedule was very competitive from start to finish,” said Gajzler.

“Starting with ICC, we had three crossover matches into the GCAC Red [Division]. We are the only White [Division] team that played three cross over matches into the Red. Obviously, we won two of the three with St. Laurence and DeLaSalle. That gave us the confidence going into the playoffs.”

This is the third regional title in girls’ volleyball for DePaul Prep. The previous years were 2017-18 and 2018-19. Gordon Tech won regionals in 2007-08, 2008-09, 2011-12 (my daughter Mary’s senior year) and 2013-14.

DePaul Prep has never won a sectional championship. Now is the chance. The Rams will face St. Ignatius on Monday at St. Ignatius at 7:00 p.m.

The Rams come into the Sectionals as the number 3 seed behind DeLaSalle #1 seed and St. Ignatius #2 seed. The Meteors and the Wolfpack are also GCAC members, both in the Red Division and come into the Sectional finals with records of 26-7 and 22-9 respectively. The Rams defeated DeLaSalle in three sets on October 10th. The Rams have not played the Wolfpack this season.

Lane Beats Amundsen 7-3 for Northside Bragging Rights; Both Move on to IHSA Playoffs

“We still run the north,” was the refrain of the Lane players after the game. Last Wednesday’s newspaper and television stories of the ascendence of the Amundsen football program on the Northside were on the minds of the Champions before and after the game.

The Lane Tech Champions made their case for that claim Friday evening with a victory 7-3 over a very good Amundsen Vikings squad at Lane Stadium.

This was about as close as games get. Both teams evenly matched. Both moved the ball at times. Amundsen Sophomore running back Reginald Mitchell was able run for some yards in the middle of the field. Lane junior quarterback Noah Mayra had a sixty-yard touchdown run called back on a penalty but still provided the Campions with a ton of rushing yards. Both defenses stiffened around the goal line.

 With the Vikings up 3-0, the turning point came at the 10:32 mark early in the fourth quarter with Amundsen deep in their own end. The Amundsen punter bobbled the snap and could not get the punt away. The Lane rushers tackled him at the seven-yard line where the Champions took over on downs.

 “We call it the brotherly shove,” Lane junior quarterback Noah Mayra said of the next two plays. The Champions lined up in their best imitation of the Philiadelphia Eagles now famous quarterback sneek play. Mayra carried, or was actually pushed forward from the Amundsen seven down to the two-yard line. Lining up quickly, the Champions ran the same play in from the two for the game’s only touchdown.

“We have been running that all year. We’ve gotten like four or five touchdowns on it. Two-point conversions,” continued Mayra after the game.

There was still plenty of time left for the Vikings to come back. The Vikings moved the into Lane territory but gave up an interception. The Champions gave up an interception of there own with under four minutes.

 Holding penalties plagued the Vikings as they struggled to rally for the win.

 “We must have had seven or eight holding penalties that really stalled drives. It’s hard to overcome penalties when you are playing good teams,” Amundsen head coach Nick Olson said after the game.

 “I fell like we just didn’t execute tonight, poor execution on the offensive side. Football is a game of inches. We had a bad snap on a punt deep in our own territory and that was the difference. They ran two quarterback sneaks and got the easy touchdown. We kind of just gave this game away. Our defense did a really good job. Our defensive coordinator and coaches had a really good game plan. We moved the ball at times and we kept stalling out before we punched it in. We had a big drop in the endzone before halftime. It just continued to spiral down. Great play; bad play. Great play; bad play. We really have to work on our consistency. Inconsistency is what cost us tonight.”

 Olson was a little hard on himself and his team. They played very well but make no mistake, Lane came in ready.

“We have a pretty good gauge on these guys from Amundsen. We kind of know what they like to do. We kind of know how to cut off the water to the things they like to do the best. That’s what we did tonight,” said Lane head coach Dedrick Dewalt.

“We kept a corner in the box, up in the flats the whole game. It disrupted what the wanted to do. We know they are not going to through the ball down field. So we liked to take way the screens and play well against the run. They may be a little bigger than us up front but we are quicker so we just looked to beat them to the punch.

A jubilant Noah Mayra continued after the game, “We lost Antonio [Bombe] our senior running back. We have our freshman running back Sam [Boadu]. He is great but we can’t give him the ball every time. He is still developing. He is still learning. So I am trying to take it upon myself to run the ball and get the ball to my teammates. Some I should have thrown. Some I should have just given to Sam but we pulled it off.

 The game was a fitting cap to good seasons for both teams, a really exciting game for both teams with each team finishing 6-3 and earned playoff appearances.

The Vikings will face the Belvidere North “Blue Thunder”, 7-2, third place in the Northern Illinois Conference behind Hononegah and Boylan Catholic. Amundsen’s playoff opponent from last year, Harlem, came out of that same conference. Amundsen lands the thirteenth seed in the 6A northern bracket. Belvidere with the fourth seed.

The Champions on the other hand are in 8A by virtue of being one of the largest schools in the state. They will face South Elgin on Friday night in South Elgin, which I learned is its own town interestingly. Who knew? The South Elgin “Strikers” were 8-1 in the Upstate Eight Conference (which actually has 10 teams). The Champions land the 26th seed out of the 32 teams in 8A. South Elgin comes in with the seventh seed.