High School Confidential

Z-B to Jacobs

Mon, 05 Jan 2009 17:15:32 -0600

Zion-Benton, which finished second in Class 4A in March, signed a contract to play at the Jacobs Holiday Classic in 2009.

Z-B, which played at Proviso West last month, will replace Marian Central Catholic in the Jacobs' field.

North Lawndale. Foreman in title game

Sun, 04 Jan 2009 14:14:27 -0600

From the CPS Holiday Classic at DePaul

Phoenix knocks off Farragut 70-62 as Terry Johnson scored 26 and J. Mills has 16 points and 18 boards

Already a half hour behind and that's after only one game

Three techs on players and it seemed like 1,000 free throws

Marshall has an 18-point lead in the third quarter but Eriq Harris went down with an ankle and didn't return
A box-and-one in the second half by Foreman slowed down Marshall star Darius Smith

Foreman coach Terrance Head after the game said "[Smith] already has my vote for Player of the Year."

Foreman rallies for a dramatic three-point win, scoring four points in the last 17 seconds -- a baseline jumper Tommy Woolridge gave the Hornets the led, then two free throws with 0.2 seconds to play put it away

After Crane beat Payton for the consolation title, Farragut knocked off Marshall 61-53
Harris didn't play

The title game in coming up on ME-TV (Ch 23 or 223 if you have Comcast digital)

12 days of Christmas?

Sun, 04 Jan 2009 11:45:49 -0600

Perhaps it's the new math, but I just arrived at DePaul for the last five games of the Chicago Public League's Boys Holiday Classic.

The first Christmas tournament games I attended were back on Dec. 20th
That would make this is 15th day of Christmas.

Final at the Dipper

Tue, 30 Dec 2008 19:12:20 -0600

In the first overtime in the Big Dipper in 20 years

A three-pointer by Jamal Gray with 46 second to play gave Thornton a 71-69 play
Sumter goes to the line with 29 second to play and makes two to tie the game
Thornton calls time with nine seconds left in OT
Reggie Smith flys to the basket and scores with three second to go 73-71 Thornton
Final

Thornton had four players in double figures and Rich East had three

Rich South got 30 from Morse and upset Leo 68-64 in the third-pace game

Five seniors on McDonald's preliminary girls ballot

Fri, 26 Dec 2008 19:14:08 -0600

Five Illinois senior girls basketball players -- Young's Ashlee Anderson, Marshall's Adrienne "NuNu" GodBold, Lincoln-Way East's Kersten Magrum, St. Charles North's Kelsey Smith and Marian Catholic's Kaila Turner -- are on the prelimnary ballot for a spot in the McDonald's All-American game that will be played in Miami, Fla.

Anderson (Pitt) and Turner (Notre Dame) are headed to the Big East while GodBold and Magrum (Illinois) and Smith (Michigan State) are Big Ten-bound

Live from Winnetka, it's Friday night and it's over

Fri, 19 Dec 2008 19:37:10 -0600

First game for Waukegan (8-0, 3-0 Central Suburban South) since taking over as No. 1 in Michael O'Brien's Super 25 Monday

The Bulldogs came out on top 59-53 in a game in which neither team was up by more than five until the last two minutes

Despite some serious foul trouble Jereme Richmond led the way with 20 points for Waukegan, Colin Nickerson had 13 and Quan Conner 11
Sean Stanley led the Trevians with 19 points, Fred Heldring added 13 and Alex Rossi 11

Before the game I had a chance to chat with Waukegan coach Ron Askew
He told me that his team "was playing the way people didn't think Waukegan could play -- sharing the ball and playing together."
I agree
I've watched Waukegan play basketball for 45 years, since I was a high school freshman
This team is for real and should make a statement to the state at Pontiac

And I agree with OB
Save an unbelievable performance against Thornton by Simeon's Jeremy Jones, JR is the best player I've seen

Pontiac Tournament pairings...

Mon, 15 Dec 2008 11:56:20 -0600

Pairings for the 78th Annual Pontiac Holiday Tournament which runs Dec. 29-31:

8 am: Joliet vs. Curie
9:30 am: Simeon vs. West Aurora
1 pm: Lockport vs. Bloomington
2:30 pm: Warren vs. Niles West
4 pm: Plainfield North vs. United Twp.
6:30 pm: Waukegan vs. Danville
8 pm: Schaumburg vs. Pontiac
9:30 pm: Manual vs. Oak Park

If you've never visited the Pontiac Tournament, I would highly recommend it. The atmosphere and style of basketball is quite a bit different from Proviso West or the Big Dipper. Pontiac is about an hour and forty minutes from Chicago, straight down I-55. And for those who can't attend in person the semi finals will be broadcast live on Comcast SportsNet Chicago at 1pm on Dec. 31.

Malcolm Hill-Bey not playing vs. Fenwick

Fri, 12 Dec 2008 19:01:42 -0600

Freshman sensation Malcolm Hill-Bey is in street clothes as the No. 10 Caravan warms up for a 7:30 game at Fenwick.

Haven't heard yet what the reason is. He looks healthy, so it could be a grades issue...

UPDATE: It's an ankle problem. Mount Carmel coach Mike Flaherty expects him to be back soon.

Came across this at edgytim.com

Wed, 10 Dec 2008 22:51:03 -0600

The 2009 Providence schedule which looks insane

Week 1 at Lincoln-Way East
Week 2 vs.. Joliet Catholic
Week 3 at Loyola
Week 4 vs. . Brother Rice
Week 5 at St. Laurence
Week 6 vs. . Fenwick
Week 7 at St. Rita
Week 8 vs. . De La Salle
Week 9 vs.. Mount Carmel

Matchups for McDonalds Shootout

Sun, 07 Dec 2008 09:14:11 -0600

19TH ANNUAL
GIRLS CLASSIC SHOOTOUT
Match-Ups / Times Below

January 16, 2009 - Friday

VISITORS - DARK HOME - LIGHTS
Regina Dominican 5:30PM Willowbrook.
Lincoln-Way East 7:00PM Warren
Washington - South Bend, IN. 8:30PM Lake Zurich

January 17, 2009 - Saturday

VISITORS - DARK HOME - LIGHTS
Sandburg . 11:00AM Buffalo Grove
New Trier . 1:00PM Lake Park
Loyola 2:30PM North Central -- Indianapolis, IN.
Oregon-Davis - Hamlet, IN. 4:00PM St. Ignatius.
Bolingbrook 5:30PM Washington - South Bend, IN.
Fenwick . 7:00PM Carmel, IN.

January 19, 2009 - Monday

VISITORS - DARK HOME - LIGHTS
Kokomo, IN. 10:00AM Driscoll
N. Central - Indianapolis, IN. 11:30AM Maine West
Carmel, IN. 1:00PM Hillcrest
St. Charles North. 2:30PM Marist.
Hinsdale Central . 4:00PM Marian Catholic
Montini 5:30PM Fenwick
Wheeling 7:00PM Whitney Young

Site: Willowbrook High School
1250 South Ardmore - Villa Park, Illinois 60181
Info: 630-834-9080 (KOST Broadcast Sales, Inc.)

Dundee-Crown pairings

Fri, 05 Dec 2008 11:51:33 -0600

First-round pairings for the 26th annual Charger Classic that starts Dec. 26

Prospect vs. Evanston, 10 a.m.
Mother McAuley vs. Hononegah, 11:30
Maine West vs. Buffalo Grove, 1 p.m.
Fenwick vs. Resurrection, 2:30
New Trier vs. Dundee-Crown, 4
Bartlett vs. Fremd, 5:30
St. Charles North vs. Regina, 7
Johnsburg vs. Naperville Central, 8:30

Surgery looms for Michala Johnson

Thu, 04 Dec 2008 16:43:54 -0600

Montini 6-3 junior center Michala Johnson is expected to undergo surgery to repair a ligament in her left knee.
Johnson first injured her knee in late July and after undergoing extensive rehabilitation was cleared to play.
But five minutes into her first game of the season, Johnson went down. After an examination, doctors recommended surgery as the best option for her future.

Proviso West and Big Dipper pairings...

Thu, 04 Dec 2008 11:25:38 -0600

Here are the pairings for the Proviso West Tournament, in bracket order:

St. Joseph vs. Homewood-Flossmoor
Young vs. Proviso East
Glenbrook North vs. Hillcrest
Morton vs. Von Steuben
Foreman vs. Fenwick
Proviso West vs. New Trier
Zion-Benton vs. TF North
Evanston vs. St. Patrick

A couple points:

-It is very likely that round two will feature two recent rematches, Young vs. H-F (which is happening Sunday night) and Evanston vs. Zion-Benton (which happened last week). Isn't the whole point of holiday tournaments to see games we don't get to see during the rest of the season? Something should have been done to make sure that half of the second round wasn't a rerun.

-I understand that Proviso West is the host, but matching them up against New Trier in the first round really weakens the bottom half of the bracket.

Big Dipper pairings:

Rich East vs. Hales
Seton vs. Morgan Park
Thornton vs. Rich Central
Leo vs. Marian Catholic
Bolingbrook vs. Fenger
Bloom vs. Shepard
Lincoln Park vs. Rich South
Crete-Monee vs. Tinley Park

-The second round should be a blockbuster, with possible matchups of Thornton-Leo and Bolingbrook-Bloom. I'd recommend taking in the first round at Proviso West and then heading to Rich South on the 27th. Overall, Proviso West has five ranked teams and the Big Dipper has seven, although three other Proviso West teams (Hillcrest, St. Joseph, Evanston) were ranked in the pre-season.

CPS SHOOTOUT

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 11:32:50 -0600

Here are the matchups this weekend
Five games each day AT DIFFERENT VENUES

SATURDAY
At Attack Athletics
Farragutvs. Hillcrest, 1:30
Von Steuben vs. Richwoods, 3
Marshall vs. New Trier, 4:30
Curie vs. Seton,6
North Lawndale vs. Mount Carmel, 7:30

SUNDAY
At Chicago State
Crane vs. Payton, 1:30
Hyde Park vs. T.F. North, 3
Brooks vs. Glenbrook North, 4:30
Simeon vs. Thornton, 6
Young vs. Homewood-Flossmoor, 7:30

Football's Super 25, the final chapter for 2008

Sun, 30 Nov 2008 18:29:07 -0600

Time to come in out of the cold and watch some basketball.
The Super 25 is a ranking of teams in the circulation area of the Chicago Sun-Times. To the fans of East St. Louis, Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin and Bloomington Central Catholic, your teams all performed like champions and that's why they won championships, but to rank teams that are out of our area that we don't cover on a regular basis wouldn't be fair.
My own thoughts are that the IHSA should scrap the multiplier. I can understand football enrollment, which went away this year. The problem with the multiplier is that larger schools move up a class or two. But when small numbers are multiplied, thet still produce small numbers.
Was it fair that Immaculate Conception played in Class 2A when its schedule for the nine game regular season consisted of 4A and 5A schools, with one 6A (Marmion). Multiplying their enrollment might have moved them up from Class 1A, but football enrollment would have moved them up more.
And what about IC's opponent Casey. Three or four times an exchange of game films fell through. We held up our end of it every time," IC coach Bill Schmidt said.
With the multiplier, non-boundaried schools won four of the eight classes in football, a far higher percentage than the number of schools that have no attendance boundaries. And it wasn't that far-fetched to think that Mount Carmel or Brother Rice could have been in the Class 8A title game -- both lost on last minute field goals to Hinsdale Central -- or that St. Rita could have been in the 7A final, after all, the Mustangs had a 28-7 lead at East St. Louis. And the Flyers won the 7A championship.
In my opinion, the answer is simple, either have two or three non-boundaried school classes and five or six for public schools; or keep the current eight classes, can the multiplier and go to football enrollment.
My final word on the Catholic League vs. DVC debate -- this year's winner as the top conference goes to Suburban Catholic, which produced two state champions in St. Francis and IC. Funny thing, every preseason prediction I saw had Marian Central (before the Jon Budmayr injury), Driscoll and Montini as the top three teams in the SCC.
Even though Montini lost to St. Francis in a quarterfinal rematch, the Broncos beat three state champions -- Sacred Heart-Griffin, St. Francis and IC -- during the nine-game regular season.
The DVC had no team in the quarterfinals and the Catholic League had two teams in the semifinals, Mount Carmel and Providence, and they both lost. Funny thing, every preseason prediction I saw had Marian Central (before the Jon Budmayr injury), Driscoll and Montini as the top three teams in the SCC.
The Mount Carmel jinx continued. Only one team that defeated the Caravan in a state semifinal, Providence, has gone on to win the state title.
Now, it's time for football's second season, recruiting. Before long the seniors will have their colleges picked and it will be time to look at the juniors. Just wondering, does anyone have directions to Johnsburg?

Here are my final rankings of the season:

STEVE TUCKER¹S FINAL SUPER 25
(Preseason ranking)

1. Maine South 14-0 (2)
2. Glenbard West 12-1 (21)
3. Hinsdale Central 11-3 (16)
4. Geneva 13-1 (12)
5. St. Rita 10-2 (4)
6. Mount Carmel 10-3 (1)
7. Bartlett 12-1 (NR)
8. Brother Rice 9-3 (15)
9. Naperville North 10-1 (7)
10. St. Francis 13-1 (NR)
11. Lemont 13-1 (NR)
12. Wheaton Warrenville South 8-2 (9)
13. Bolingbrook 10-1 (14)
14. Antioch 12-1 (NR)
15. Loyola 11-3 (NR)
16. Aurora Christian 13-1 (NR)
17. Providence 8-5 (NR)
18. Crystal Lake South 10-3 (NR)
19. Lincoln-Way East 9-2 (13)
20. Immaculate Conception 10-4 (NR)
21. Cary-Grove 11-1 (NR)
22. Carmel 10-2 (6)
23. Marist 9-3 (NR)
24. Montini 11-1 (NR)
25. Lane 11-3 (NR)