The Lane Tech Champions fell to the Maine South Hawks 56-52 in their first round game on Wednesday evening. Great game but the Champions’ comeback came up a little short.
DePaul Prep Handles Lincoln-Way Central 53-25
The defending 2A state champions and #7 ranked DePaul Prep Rams (12-0, 2-0) handled the Lincoln-Way Central Knights (3-8, 0-3) 53-25 at the Hindale Central Holiday Classic.
The Rams jumped out to their characteristic early lead and never looked back. Junior point guard Makai Kvamme lead all scorers with 12. Gus Donohue had 9 points off the bench in 17 minutes. Jaylan McElroy and Rashawn Porter had 9 each.
The top seed Rams got the benefit of that top seed with a little lesser competition than the usually face in the Chicago Catholic League Blue and the fancy shootouts. That will change soon enough. They could easily face their neighbor, the Lane Tech Champions, that gave them fits in the Chicago Elite Classic. If they get past Lane, they might face the 5th ranked Brother Rice Crusaders in the championship game of the HC Squared on Saturday.
The Rams will likely face host and defending champion Hinsdale Central tomorrow at 7:00 p.m. The Red-Devils have a big lead as this item goes to live on the website.
Lots of basketball to play. I love this time of year.
Antioch 61, Boylan 41
The Antioch Squoits (5-5, 4-0) took apart Boylan Catholic on Friday night 61-41 in Antioch. The mythical swamp creatures have length and the 1-3-1 defenses employed by Coach Sean Connor takes advantage of that length.
Boylan was forced to shoot over that zone in the first half. A couple threes keep the Titans close but Antioch pulled away. The Titans rallied a little with great ball movement in the second half against the 1-3-1 and got some back door buckets but they could not keep it up.
The Sequoits are a true point guard away from being really good. As it is, they sit on top of the Northern Lake County Conference (not to be confused with the Northern Illinois Conference) at 4-0 heading into the Wheeling tournament next week where they can do some damage.
Keep on eye on Sean’s Antioch Sequoits. They are a team on the move.
DePaul Prep Rallied to Defeat Taft 50-38
After the Lane v. Chaminade game, I left for the Tom Winiecki Gym. Six minutes later I arrrived just after the second half of the DePaul Prep v. Taft game started. The game was tied. Both teams were running and gunning. A fast paced game.
In the fourth, the Rams defense got a bunch of stops. On the other end the Rams finished layups and free throws to build a lead and they won the game 50-38. An impressive finish against a talented Taft squad.
The Rams move on to the Loyola Christmas tournament next week.
Merry Christmas basketball fans!
Lane Tech Falls to Chaminade 64-60
Chaminade College Prep, the St. Louis Catholic high school with a nationally renowned powerhouse basketball program, came to Chicago to face Lane Tech at Lane Tech. Lane’s head coach Nick LoGalbo coaches with Chaminade’s coach Nick Bennett in the USA Basketball program. They have been wanting to make this game happen for a while now and it started today. Lane goes to St. Louis next year.
Chaminade is one of the schools that travels and plays a national schedule in big time shootouts. Frankly, our Lane Tech Champions are not on that level, at least not yet. But somehow after being down 40-28 at the half, the Champions battled back and near edged Chaminade in the end.
I continue to be impressed with the fight in the Champions. Not the biggest, the most athletic nor most skilled but I have not seen a team this year with more fight.
Final: Chaminade 64, Champions 60.
Lane Tech Defeats St. Ignatius 57-51
Preview of my article in the Inside Booster:
The Lane Tech Champions (8-4, 3-1) found their way back, back from an early season injury to a key player and back from twelve-point deficit at the end of the first quarter. The Champion defeated the St. Ignatius Wolfpack (6-6, 0-2) 57-51 at St. Ignatius on Tuesday.
If there can be an important game early in season, this one sure felt like one. Both the Wolfpack and the Champions opened the season as ranked teams, #10 and #20 respectively. Both have lost their ranking after losing some games.
A win for the Wolfpack against a quality opponent such as Lane would stop their slide after a brutally difficult opening season schedule resulted in five losses to ranked teams.
A win for the Champions would bring them back from a couple losses, including an unexpected conference loss to Payton College Prep, and the absence for key contributor junior center Dalton Scantlebury. Scantlebury suffered a foot injury prior to the Payton game and has missed a few games.
The Wolfpack opened the game looking like a top ten team. The 13-0 scoring run on the Champions at the end of the first quarter made the game appear that it might not be close and the loss of Scantlebury might mean more than it was hoped. 18-6 Wolfpack at the end of the first quarter.
Lane Tech did not panic. Too well coached for that. They started playing defense. Funny how when a team starts playing defense, their shots start to fall. The Champions put together a run of their own. 25-21 St. Ignatius at the half.
Back and forth through the third and into the fourth. With time ticking down late in the fourth quarter, big players come up big. Lane’s senior Shaheed Solebo, who is considered one of the top players in the class of 2024, poured in two three-pointers from the baseline that landed like bombs erupting in the gym and put the Champions ahead for good. The Wolfpack continued to battle with plenty of time left to get the lead back but only managed three more points. The Champions made their free throws and won 51-51.
“Something just turned on. I knew we needed to win the game. Those threes might be the best [three-pointers] I have’ve had all season. I was ready to shoot. I knew those were going in,” Solebo said of the three-pointers.
Of the defensive gem pitched by the Champion, Solebo said, “Coming out after the half, we knew that stops (pointless possessions by St. Ignatius) would win us the game. We knew they were overloading the weakside. We started talking more. We started calling out screens and switching more. We played more aggressive with hands up. We just locked in on defense.”
“It’s a big win, a team in our sectional, great program. We talked about just trying to find our identity. Dalton [Scantlebury] was such a big part of our identity early for the first six games. Now we have had six games without him. We’ve had some guys step up and do different things for us. Zack [Mazanowski] who is a wing plays [center]. Dylan [Pepper] who’s a wing plays [center,]” Lane head coach Nick LoGalbo said after the game.
Big win for sure but the season is just beginning. The Champions will face St. Louis, Missouri powerhouse basketball program Chaminade College Prep next.
“Frank Bennett, [Chaminade’s] head coach, and I coached in USA Basketball Nike Hoops Summit this past spring. We have run camps together in USA Basketball for years. We are two very like-minded individuals. We have been talking about doing this for a while. We finally got it in the books. We are going to see them next year,” said LoGalbo.
Then onto the Hinsdale Central Holiday Classic for the Champions. This will be the first appearance at Hinsdale where they could face a rematch with neighbor and newfound rival, DePaul Prep Rams on Friday, December 29.
DePaul Prep Handles Loyola 40-18
The DePaul Prep Rams are for real. They just keep passing test after test. The #9 ranked Rams (10-0, 2-0) defeated the #25 ranked Loyola Academy Ramblers (8-3, 1-2) 40-18 at DePaul Prep on Friday.
If defense is Loyola’s calling card, DePaul Prep handed it right back to them Friday night at DePaul Prep’s Tom Winiecki Gym, and then some. The Ramblers has only managed to score nine points against the Rams until well into the fourth quarter. That’s not a typical high school even for the notoriously low scoring Catholic League games. The Ramblers managed to double that output in garbage time finishing with 18 points.
The Rams had struggled against the ‘Blers in recent years dropping four out of the last five games they have played with scores typically in the thirties and forties. Last year’s score was the lowest of the last five with a 39-36 Loyola win.
DePaul Prep’s man-to-man defense denied open shots to the Ramblers. Rams’ guards PJ Chambers, Makai Kvamme, Rob Walls and AJ Chambers were defending everything. The shots the Ramblers did manage to get up, didn’t fall. Rams forward Jaylan McElroy, Jonas Johnson and Rashawn Porter battle on the boards preventing easy second shots for the Ramblers.
Junior forward Jonas Johnson led the scoring for the Rams with ten points including to three-pointers that lifted the Rams late in the first quarter. Senior guard PJ Chambers had nine points despite missing significant minutes because of some early foul trouble. Senior forward Jaylan McElroy finished with eight points.
The Chicago Catholic League Blue is largely regarded as the best conference in the state this year. Six of its nine teams have been ranked this year: # 4 Mount Carmel, #5 Brother Rice, #9 DePaul Prep, #13 DeLaSalle, #25 Loyola and formerly ranked St. Ignatius. The win over Loyola lifted the Rams to 2-0 in the conference. Mount Carmel and Brother Rice also remain undefeated in conference play with Friday night wins over St. Ignatius and DeLaSalle respectively.
“Lane was ranked in the pre-season. Lane tested us. Niles North tested us. Those teams are good. We haven’t been Catholic League tested. Loyola was on the road at Br. Rice. They were [tested] and we weren’t. I was nervous about that,” Rams’ head coach Tom Kleinschmidt said. His Rams passed the test handling the Ramblers like they haven’t in recent years.
Of his defense, Kleinschmidt said, “I think we switched up on them. We took them out of their first and second options. We stayed home on some shooters. The ball was not falling for them. We had a little bit to do with that. There we some shots that they would make on other teams.”
Loyola’s coach Tom Livatino is as good as it gets and dialed up the defense at the start of the second quarter going to his high-pressure trapping one-three-one defense.
“We had some unforced turnovers that we were not real happy with but the way we were guarding we forgave that a little bit,” Kleinschmidt continued. “We practiced the one-three-one. We have seen it on film and we were prepared for it.”
Coach Kleinschmidt was all business after the game with little time to celebrate a dominant Catholic League victory. That might have something to do with the fact that the Rams will face #6 ranked Bloom Township (5-2) on Sunday.
“They are big and strong. We haven’t watched them. We put all of our eggs in the Loyola basket. We will watch it tonight and tomorrow morning and then we will have practice. It’s the last game before [Christmas] break. We will go play our ass off and give it shot,” Kleinschmidt said of Bloom.
Lane Falls to Lemont 60-57 at Team Rose Shootout
The Lane Tech Champions lost to Lemont 60-57 at the Team Rose Shootout on Saturday.
The Champions battled and had a chance to tie at the end but the shot did not fall.
Loyola Edges St. Ignatius 40-37 to Win the Jesuit Cup
The Loyola Academy Ramblers (7-1, 1-1) came back from five points down at the half to edge the St. Ignatius Wolfpack 40-37 (5-3, 0-1) at Loyola University Chicago’s Gentile Center Friday evening.
The Gentile Center was jumping. I have never seen student sections as crowded and as vocal at a high school game in the 500 years that I have been going to games. But then again, this is my first Jesuit Cup game.
The Wolfpack jumped out to an early lead. The Ramblers dialed up the defense with combination zone, man-to-man and 1-3-1 trapping defenses.
“We were really calm,” said Loyola head coach Tom Livatino about falling behind 11-0 at the start. “They figured it out.”
“It’s something in our program that we take a lot of pride in this game,” Loyola Academy coach Tom Livatino said after the game. “We just been fortunate enough to come out ahead,” Livatino said of the Ramblers streak of winning ten of the last eleven Jesuit Cup matchups with St. Ignatius.
“We are a long way from who we are going to be,” Livatino contined. “Our football guys, the reason we were going offense defense, because they don’t even know our sets. We have a long way to go. It’s a great win.”
“We’ve always been a defensive team. We will never not be a defensive team. It might not be everybody’s taste. We were pretty successful. We didn’t do anything special. We trapped a little bit in the second half. It doesn’t matter; guys just made plays.
“We did a poor job of closing out the game and time and score stuff. We made some bad mistakes and bad decisions. We did not go to the free throw line and make two. We’ve got to be better than that. It’s early. Our guys persevered and we got a great win,” Livatino said.
“We got to 1-1 in the [Chicago Catholic] League.The game is huge for the Jesuit Cup and our community and our seniors. It means a lot. But we have to get to 1-1 in the League. We play in the best league in Illinois, maybe the best league in the Midwest. So we had to get to 1-1 and we did.”
“Our seniors wear this game as a badge of honor. It means a lot. [The team’s] legacy has something to do with this game,” Livatino said.
“They went to their 1-3-1 [defense]. We were expecting it but we did not adjust well to it. It got us a few times. But we also got away from some of the things that had gotten there in the first place. It was a combination of that adjustment they made with the 1-3-1, them kind of solidifying their stuff and us getting away from what got us there,” said St. Ignatius coach Matt Monroe.
“We are as prepared as we ever can be when we play them, and they still run their stuff really well,” Monroe said of the Loyola defensive style of play.
“For us, it’s important to keep perspective. The Jesuit Cup is really important. It brings two Jesuit communities together. It’s more of a celebration of what the Jesuit education and the Jesuit mission is all about. So when we have a packed house and we are playing in front of all of our family, friends and alumni, it’s a big deal to us. We want to bring that Jesuit Cup home. The the other side of it is our season’s a journey. If you look at our team the last four or five years, every journey has been different. Whether it is starting slow, hitting a dip in the middle of the season or finishing strong at the end. Big games, like the Jesuit Cup or other ones, are part of the journey. It’s dissappointing not to bring that home but we’ve got Homewood-Flossmoor on Sunday. We’ve got Aurora Catholic on Tuesday, Mount Carmel on Friday. It just keeps going.”
A long way to go in the season. The Catholic League Blue is up for grabs.
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.
