The strategy for tonight was straightforward. Watch two teams with a chance of making the Super 25 and get a glimpse of two players who could earn All-Area honours at the same time. Because the season is so brief, each and every night is important.
Unfortunately, the strategy did not work out as expected. Waubonsie Valley completely dominated its match against Neuqua Valley. Ben Schwieger turned up a strong performance, but the Warriors didn’t have to lean too heavily on him in this game. Everyone on the team was shooting exceptionally well from beyond the arc.
On the other hand, things went the other way for John Poulakidas and Neuqua Valley. They are going to want to put this game out of their minds.
On Tuesday, Neuqua Valley will compete against DeKalb. The Barbs now hold an unblemished record of 9-0 and recently became part of the DuPage Valley, which is covered by the Sun-Times. That’s off to a fantastic start for the season.
Tonight, Eddie Carifio provided coverage of DeKalb’s victory versus Naperville Central. I have yet another school to add to the list of teams whose games I need to attend.
The day’s most important athletic events
No. 6 DePaul Prep won this game by a very comfortable margin, 69 to 38 against St. Ignatius. The Rams appear to be performing to the level of their high ranking thus far in this season. TY Johnson tallied 26 points, and Rasheed Bello contributed 13 of his own.
10th-ranked St. Patrick’s, 73rd-ranked Joliet Catholic The Shamrocks are able to get back on track thanks to the 22 points scored by Caleb Corro. Michael Hamilton’s performance was outstanding, as he finished the game with 15 points and 14 rebounds.
Matas Deksnys scored a career-high 26 points, leading Lockport to a victory over Lincoln-Way East by a score of 60 to 44. It’s possible that he’ll be one of the season’s most surprising seniors. Khari Carpenter’s contributions off the bench were crucial to the Porters’ success. Despite the fact that Lockport was playing at home, this is a really amazing victory.
Jesus Perez is an outstanding high school basketball player, and Morton beat Hinsdale South 60 to 58 in overtime. The previous year, I didn’t find out about that until way too late in the season. Tonight, he had 23 points, and Josh Dowdell contributed 12 of his own. Dakari Durham and Victor Garrett, both in their sophomore year, combined for 19 points.
Barrington 52, Number 24 Fremd 42: Earlier today, a reader mentioned Barrington to me and mentioned that they were really real in the mail they gave to me. Looks like it. Will Grudzinski and Damian Zivak each tallied 14 points to the team’s total. Eli Schoffstall had the most points for the Vikings, which was 21.
No. 4 Mundelein 70, Round Lake 48: The Mustangs keep rolling. Conor Enright had a double-double on the night, scoring 21 points and dishing out 12 assists. Scottie Ebube kept his hot streak going by scoring 14 points and grabbing 15 rebounds.
The Mustangs battled back from a 13-point deficit late in the third quarter to pull out a significant conference victory against No. 14 Rolling Meadows. They won 74-69. Max Christie finished with 33 points, and his brother Cam Christie finished with 21. Ethan Roberts had the most points for Hersey with 20.
Andrew 70, from the Lincoln-Way Central neighbourhood Jolo Amoranto had a fantastic game, scoring 29 points, and finished in position 58. Michael Bobber was successful in securing 15 boards. The Thunderbolts now hold a 3-1 lead.
Nojus Indrusaitis scored a career-high 21 points to lead Lemont to a 65–53 victory over Oak Forest, and Rokas Castillo contributed 16 points. Lemont was able to win despite Robbie Avila having a monster game (he scored 30 points and grabbed 16 rebounds).
The score was Downers Grove North 50 and Oak Park 44. Downers Grove North is off to a perfect 4-0 start. There are a huge number of fresh faces vying for one of the Super 25 spots all of a sudden.
No. 2 Young 68, Taft 41: Fenwick transfer In the Dolphins’ first game, Daniel Johnson led the way with 13 points, and Jaeshon Thomas contributed 10 points to the team’s total. Jewgrante Abraham, a sophomore, was in the lead for Taft with 11 points.
