Curie wins CPL Championship with 59-50 Defeat of Lincoln Park

Went to UIC for the Chicago Public League’s City Basketball Championship game between Lincoln Park and Cure. Lincoln Park played hard as they always do but Curie is just too good, too talented and too well coached.

Condors 59, Lions 50.

The Public League does such a good job with this event. The place was packed. The light is good, not great but better than high school gyms. The CPS athletics staff makes it so easy for media to work. Maybe a little too inside baseball for most but I appreciate it.

There was a curiously large number of missed shots but that probably has to do with how physical the teams were playing. The refs called a lot of fouls. It’s hard for me to judge the officials’ calls. I mostly watch games through the lens of my cameras which don’t afford the widest view.

Mike Oliver had a much different view that I did yesterday. He was hot about all the fouls being called. I was sitting near the Curie bench and could see him riding the officials. He did it the entire game. So much so that it became a distraction. Maybe that helped his team, maybe not. I can’t say. But I got some good shots out of it.

Having seen Curie a bunch of times this year, I agree that the Condors are the third best team. Just slightly below Benet and DePaul Prep. That’s not to say they won’t be state as well as city champs. They may well be. They will have to get through Mount Carmel, St. Laurence, St. Ignatius, Kenwood and/or Whitney Young before possibly seeing H-F or Marist in the Super. Perfectly doable. But some great games to get that done.

Oh, and then there might be Benet or DePaul Prep waiting for Curie.

As for the Lincoln Park Lions, they are so much fun to watch. I interview Larry Harris after their loss to Whitney Young. Just a wonderful young man. He and his mates play as hard as any team I have seen. Coach Josh Anderson motivates like no other.

I spoke to Josh Anderson after the loss. He was remarkably positive.

“We achieved one of our goals,” he said, to reach the city championship. He was careful to add that their next goal was to beat Lane in the first game of 4A playoffs.

It’s the playoffs now.

Amundsen Defeats Lake View 57-52 in CPL Playoffs

[Preview of this week’s Inside-Booster article.]

By Jack Lydon

The underdog Amundsen Vikings came back to defeat the Lake View 57-52 in the Chicago Public League playoffs and land a spot in the City Championship Sweet 16. The Lake View Wildcats (11-10, 4-3) were rolling late in the second quarter. It didn’t look good for the Vikings (9-12, 3-4) after they lost an early 10-1 lead to trail the Wildcats 31-23 at the half.

Lake View was putting together a nice season with 11 wins against 9 losses coming into this playoff game with wins over Northside rivals Payton, Taft and Von Steuben. The Vikings were struggling a little at 8-12 but were coming off a big victory at Lake Tech. Coming into this Public League playoff game on a neutral court at Whitney Young, the Vikings had lost to Lake View at home 72-63. 

The second half as fast and furious.

“We called five out and I just had [our guys] attack,” said Amundsen head coach Nicholas White about his second half strategy.

“We would get it off the net, run secondary break. We got a lot of points off that. That’s just running the floor hard and kicking it up. Finding opportunities to the basket.”

That’s coach speak for running a fast break offence and scoring in transition. The Vikings scored the first seven points in the second half erasing Lake View’s halftime lead in under three minutes.

The Vikings had the Wildcats playing their game. The second half was up and down, back and forth. Amundsen was lead by senior guard Darius McKinney who led all scorers with nineteen points. But it was Vikings’ senior forward and Ravenswood resident Jessie Hornbuckle that provided the fourth quarter spark to lift the Vikings.

“All I do is grab a lot of boards, grab a lot of rebounds. I try my hardest in the paint. I make sure that I give the fullest effort that I have,” Hornbuckle said. It was Hornbuckle’s eight fourth-quarter point that sparked the Amundsen victory.

“Jessie got a lot of offensive rebounds. Jessie got a lot of opportunities from the drive. He was getting easy opportunities,” White said about Hornbuckle.

With the Vikings ahead by two midway through the fourth quarter, Hornbuckle sank two free throws then quickly added four more inside points. Hornbuckle’s final bucket, actually the Vikings’ final bucket, came with 1:27 left to make the lead seven points. Amundsen held on in the final seconds for a 55-52 victory.

“They beat us in the conference but we beat them when it counted,” Hornbuckle said after the game. “I was thinking one game at a time. Now look at us. We are sweet 16.”

The Vikings have their work cut out for them in the City playoffs. They will face No. 3 ranked Curie on Thursday at Curie. Curie is clearly the top team in the Chicago Public League at 22-1 overall and 6-0 in the Public League’s Red-West. Curie’s only loss this season has come at the hands of No. 1 ranked Benet Academy at the Pontiac Holiday Tournament.

Amundsen senior forward Jessie Hornbuckle takes a shot against Lake View defender Tysean Davis.

DePaul Prep Defeats Lane 54-36 in National Women and Girls Sports Day Event

The seventh ranked DePaul Prep Rams girls basketball team (17-3) defeated the Lane Tech Champions 54-36 Saturday afternoon at Lane Tech’s National Women & Girls Day Event. It was a great event with many elementary school girls teams in attendance.

It was a very competitive game in the first quarter but the Champions had no answer for Rams star center Grace Lee who finished with 33 of the Rams 54 points. The Rams jumped ahead in the fourth quarter outscoring Lane 16-4.

The Rams have put together an historic season winning their first fifteen games under second year coach Corey Morgan. Interestingly, the DePaul Prep girls team has the same record, 17-3, as DePaul Prep’s reigning state champion boys teams.

The Rams have four games left in their regular season: Plainfield North, Providence (GCAC conference game), Taft and Simeon. DePaul Prep will host an IHSA 4A Regional playoff series. The move to 4A this year has landed the Rams is a very tough sectional which includes Loyola who the Rams lost to just ten days ago.  

St. Viator Takes on Alcott

After all these tournaments and shootouts, I feel like I have seen Curie a hundred times, and Benet, and Ignatius, and the rest of the top ten, not to mention the DePaul Prep Rams. So I was looking to see some teams I haven’t seen.

I haven’t seen St. Viator this year and I have heard some good things about the Lions from some commentators that saw them at Wheeling. I looked at Jack Gleason’s website, best website in America today, hsbball.com, and saw that the Lions were playing Alcott High School Tuesday evening.

I have been driving past Alcott High School at Wellington and Hoyne for decades. Frankly, I never really thought about its sports teams. It a little off the radar if not exactly off the map.

Alcott (1-11, 1-5) is in the Chicago Public League’s While North Division with teams such as Schurz, Uplift, Jones and Von Steuben. They don’t play at the school. They play at the Neighborhood Boys and Girls Club at the Lathrop homes. I was actually in that building once years and years ago but it was a polling place; no basketball that day.

Great light in that little gym even with two lights being out. The color of the light was pretty white and there was of it. Better than in many big time gyms.

Michael O’Keefe’s St. Viator Lions came into the game with a respectable 10-6 records and a young team. Only two seniors, juniors and a bunch of sophomores. It wasn’t a good game to judge the strength of the Lions. Frankly, the Wildcats only had eight players and struggled to compete. The difference was the shooting. The Lions were making shots inside and out. The Wildcats hurried shots very few of which fell for points.

I am glad I went. The kids, coaches and even the parents were there for the spirit of the game. Alcott had students and cheerleaders there. It was good because high school basketball can be just that. It doesn’t have to always be about winning state championships.

After the game, I drove up Clybourn a few blocks then up California to DePaul Prep’s Tom Winiecki Gym for the DePaul Prep game Chicago Catholic League crossover game against Providence St. Mel.

Interesting shift to top high school basketball in the state.

Whitney Young Survives Lincoln Park 65-62

[Preview of this week’s article in Inside—Booster.]

By Jack Lydon.

Lincoln Park High School’s gym itself is small with only three rows of seats on two sides of the court. It’s loud. It’s dark. It’s crowded. It’s half game and half concert. The fans are part of the game.

Seriously, the feet of the fans sitting in the first row are actually on the court. At one point, a Lincoln Park’s Marquis Clark stepped on the foot of a person sitting in the front row, stumbled and was called for traveling. The Lincoln Park bench started screaming. The referee responded, “It’s the same for both sides.”

The 25th ranked visiting Whitney Young Dolphins survived Thursday evening’s tense Chicago Public League Red-North division match at Lincoln Park 65-62. The Lincoln Park Lions (11-4, 3-1) are a top team in the Public League, the best team on the Northside. They are not ranked only for having suffered an early season loss to an underrated Hyde Park high school squad. There other losses are to No. 20 Kenwood and Whitney Young, twice. In a curious schedule anomaly, the Lions faced the Dolphins two games in a row because they played on December 30th at the Chicago Public League’s holiday shootout hosted at Whitney Young high school. The Dolphins prevailed in that game 69-61.

Although the Dolphins lead most of the game, it was never by much. The Lions came within one point, 55-54, with under three minutes to play. It seemed Lincoln Park might pull off an inspired comeback victory.

Unfortunately for the Lions and their cheering fans, they had no answer for the Dolphins’ transition offence. The Lions installed their full court press to force turnovers but the Dolphins, lead by their senior point guard, 6’1” and Tennessee commit, Marquis Clark, kept their cool and methodically brought the ball up court for layups and open three-pointers. Clark is considered by many the third best player in the state of Illinois. These were by no means easy layups but if they did not fall, the resulting in free throws were enough to maintain Whitney Young’s lead.

Another bright spot for the Dolphins was the emergence of freshman forward Travis Jamison II. Jamison finished with 18 points consisting of 6 out of 9 three-point shots.

Despite the struggles faced by the Lions, the inspired play of senior forward Larry Harris was an eye-opener. In the final minute of the game, Harris came up with two big dunks, one of which was taken away for hanging on the rim, and free throw. There was also an inspired rebound of a missed free throw where Harris split two Dolphin defenders grabbed the ball but missed had his put back shot blocked.

“I knew that I had to put way more effort in at the end. I always try to get the rebound after a free throw no matter what,” Harris said.

“They are not even really better than us. We just keep beating ourselves,” said Harris about Young. “The first game we had them down twenty at the half and we let them come back. We are a better team than that.”

“It’s always fun in the Lions den,” said Lincoln Park head coach Joshua Anderson.

“Just lack of focus from the first through the fourth. You have to focus through the complete game. We had lapses. We weren’t focused. We were not executing what we watched on film.”

There were also some key missed free throws at the end of the game.

“That’s been our Achille’s heel throughout the season,” Anderson admitted. “We are losing games by five or six points but we are missing ten to twelve free throws a game. You can’t win a game like that.”

“For us to get over the hump in the big games, we have got to do the little things. That focus has to be there from the first quarter through the fourth quarter. We can’t have lapses,” said Anderson.

Lane Topples Schurz 61-41

SPORTS SPOTLIGHT BY JOHN MONTGOMERY 

Lane is known as school of champions winning Public League titles in different sports, with one exception. basketball. Head basketball coach Nick LoGalbo believes he can build competitive program. 

Northside basketball teams haven't cut down the nets many times in Public League playoffs in decades. Roosevelt was the last Red North team to win CPL championship in 1952 while Foreman lost in 2010 Semifinals at UIC to Morgan Park. Only three basketball teams have advanced to the Public League final four since 1978. Taft, Von Steuben, and Foreman have come within 32 minutes of playing for the covered championship.

Only three North side teams Lane, Von Steuben, and Foreman have won a regional title in state basketball playoffs since 2003. Marshall has won the most boys basketball title with twelve. Simeon has eleven, including eight in this century. Recently retired Simeon coach Robert Smith who won six state championships as well.

Marshall’s queen of girls’ basketball Dorothy Gaters has won twenty-three city titles.

“It's hard to be successful in basketball for a long time at an academic school,” LoGalbo stated. 

There are some people who might dispute that statement, but Lane has more championship banners in baseball and football than basketball in its long storied history. Believe it or not Lane won Public League basketball banners six times before 1950. Neighborhood rival Schurz last won in 1919.

LoGalbo believes his school is at a disadvantage because it is a select enrollment institution. “We can’t recruit athletes like other schools because we are an academic school,” LoGalbo stated.

This season, Lane (7-7) is trying to compete in basketball starting four sophomores while playing a challenging schedule. Lane will face St. Ignatius (15-2) on Friday night. Lane has lost to some quality programs recently in early season play: DePaul Prep (14-2), Lincoln Park (11-3), Young (12-6), New Trier (12-3) and Brother Rice (11-4).

“We keep saying one day at a time and we are going to get better,” LoGalbo admitted. “We have a good sophomore class. We played a tough early schedule to get ready for city and state playoffs. It's a fun team to coach."

“This group has improved greatly since start of the season,” senior Matt Szafoni said. “They have only scratched the surface. The big thing about this group is their potential.”

The Champions had a good day at the office beating neighborhood rival on Addison Street, Schurz (10-4) 61-41. Szafoni led Lane with nineteen points while sophomores Cole Christian and Owen Zackaras each contributed combing for twenty-one.

Lane jumped out to a 21-9 advantage and the outcome was never in doubt.

Lane against Schurz was always a special and entertaining matchup especially in baseball and football. Neither school is in same conference anymore in football, basketball or baseball.

“It was the neighborhood rivalry,” LoGalbo admitted as a former Lane graduate.

Schurz faces a different challenge after starting 10-1 and upsetting East Aurora (8-6) in its holiday tournament before losing to defending Class 1A champions Chicago Hope Academy (8-5) in the tournament championship game. The Bulldogs who were off to their best start since 1988 and have lost three straight games. Schurz is currently 4-0 in the CPL White North Division and must now survive without leading scorer Michael Chaney who suffered a knee injury in loss at Tinley Park (2-8) on Monday night.

“It was very disappointing. We thought we could hang with them without Michael,” head coach James Shelton said after the loss. “No excuses. We missed free throws we missed layups. Lane did a great job with that motion offense.”

Kam Fagairo led Schurz with fourteen points. The Bulldogs trailed 45-13 at halftime and started the game by missing six free throws and five layups in the first half.

One thing that has never been in dispute about Lane. The school is one of the best academically in the state.

“It's a special place,” said Logalbo who is a former Lane student and basketball player. “I love working and coaching here.”

“We have a very rigorous academic schedule,” Szafoni said. “The school spirit is great and we get support from everybody.”

Lake View Defeats Antioch 56-49 at Elgin

[Preview of this week’s Inside—Booster article.]

By Jack Lydon

Lake View basketball is on the rise. The Wildcats defeated the Antioch Sequoits 56-49 at the Elgin Holiday Tournament Friday afternoon. The Wildcats (7-5) and Sequoits (2-10) started slowly. It was 8-2 Antioch at the end of the first quarter. That did not last.

“Whenever we pressure the ball, it opens up the floor. Whenever we are low energy, we pick it up with the press,” said Lake View junior Tysean Davis, a transfer from Uplift. The Wildcats dialed up the pressure with a smothering full court press on the Sequoits early in the second quarter and scored 43 points in the second and third quarters combined for a 15-point lead at the start of the fourth.

“We knew that was going to come. We played them in the summer. They turned the heat on in the second quarter. And obviously, we handled it with more poise in the second half,” said Antioch head coach Sean Connor.

Don’t let the Sequoits record fool you. Coach Connor, a long-time sophomore coach at area powerhouse DePaul Prep, has his Sequoits in a rebuilding year but they are tough, athletic and well coached.

The Wildcats had a 15-point lead at the start of the fourth quarter which the Sequoits cut to four with about two minutes to play. However, not only can the Wildcats play defense, they can finish. Senior leader LeDarrell Goss El, himself a transfer from Perspectives, drained three free throws at the end to seal the victory of Lake View.

An impressive win for the Wildcats. Tysean Davis, credited by Coach Patterson on being the team’s best defender, lead all scorers with 25 points. The one-two punch of Tysean Davis and LeDarrell Goss El promises to make in interesting combo for the balance of the season.

“LeDarrell Goss El has been a great addition. He is leading the Red-North now in scoring. He is averaging about 19 points a game. He has a couple 28, 29-point games, but he has also had a nine-assist game,” Patterson said.

“Our goal when I got here was to move from the [Chicago Public League’s] White [division] to the Red. It took us four years to do it but we went undefeated last year in the White to advance to the Red,” Patterson added.  

Cognizant that Lake View High School is the oldest high school in the state of Illinois, having opened in 1874, and at that time with the City of Lake View was not even part of the City of Chicago, “I wanted to come to Lake View because they did not have a history of basketball excellence. I wanted to build that,” Patterson said.

The Wildcats are not just content with the move to the Red. They are right in the thick of things in CPL’s Red-North division with Lincoln Park, Whitney Young, Lane Tech, Payton, Amundsen, Northside and Taft. Despite losses to Lincoln Park and Lane, the Wildcats have the Payton, Amundsen and Whitney Young games circled on the calendar and are looking to firmly establish themselves in the Red. More than that, Coach Patterson is looking to build Lake View into a basketball school.

“I am looking forward to the second half of the season. And the Regional is in our favor. We are in 3A in the DeLaSalle Sectional. For our regional, we’ve got Schurz, King, and Hyde Park. None of those teams scare me,” Patterson said.

“It’s not like the past when we’ve had St. Ignatius, DePaul Prep. No way in the world were we gonna get past those guys but these teams, we feel like if we play like we are supposed to, we are going to be in the race. It would be the first regional championship in Lake View history.”

DePaul Prep Pastes St. Francis 67-22; Lane Handles St. Rita 71-32

[Preview of this week’s article in Inside—Booster.]

By Jack Lydon

It was a weekend of blowouts for Northside neighbors DePaul Prep and Lane Tech. The No. 1 ranked Rams (7-1) handled St. Francis (Wheaton) 67-22 Friday evening. The Champions (4-5) handled St. Rita 71-32 at the Team Rose Chicagoland Shootout early Saturday morning.

Despite the loss to national powerhouse La Lumiere at the preceding weekend’s Chicago Elite Classic, the DePaul Prep Rams are rolling. The Rams smothered the Spartans forcing outside shots and getting all the rebounds. Scoring inside and outside DePaul Prep’s size advantage was evident. They jumped out to a 19-0 lead on St. Francis (3-4) holding the Spartans scoreless until seconds left in the first quarter. And it wasn’t that close.

Despite the lopsided score, it was interesting to see the starting lineup for the Rams emerge after shifting starting lineups early in the season. The Rams have three returning starters from last year’s 3A state champions, Lashaun Porter, Rykan Woo and AJ Chambers. Rams’ sophomore forward Blake Choice and senior Sacred Heart—Griffin transfer, Zion Lee have grabbed the starting roles for the Rams. Even so, junior forward/center Magnus “Gus” Johnson and senior guard Pat Lovell are quickly off the bench.

Choice’ performance against St. Francis helped his effort to cement that place in the lineup with a big game that included four three-points field goals in the first half and five total in his three quarters of play. Rams’ head coach Tom Kleinschmidt confirmed he has settled on the starting lineup complimenting Choice on his improved shooting in recent games.

“I have been working on my shooting, it paid off today,” Humboldt Park resident Choice said.

“It’s a learning process,” Choice said of his starting role. “I am willing to do what my coaches tell me to do starting on defense and eventually my offense will come.

The Rams have some big games coming up this week with a late Sunday matchup against No. 3 ranked Kankakee and the Kays top rated players No. 1 ranked Lincoln Williams and No. 8 ranked EJ Hazelett at the Team Rose Chicagoland Shootout.   

The blowouts continued Saturday morning at Team Rose. The Lane Tech Champions rallied from string of tough losses against good teams, New Trier, Whitney Young and Lincoln Park, with a convincing 71-32 win over Chicago Catholic League White’s, St. Rita Mustangs.

“We have a lot of guys that can get to the rim and be effective. We have had a really tough stretch. Eight games and five top 25 teams. We told our guys, it’s gonna pay off. Today we showed that playing that tough schedule is helping us,” said Lane head coach Nick LoGalbo.

The Champions were led by 6’8” senior forward Matt Szafoni with 26 points in three quarters of basketball. Szafoni leads his Champions squad this year which contains seven sophomores. One of those sophomores is starter forward Cole Christian who finished with 18 points against St. Rita.

“Opening the game with a make definitely helps the confidence. That is something that I have struggled with the last couple games. But hitting a three with one of the new sets that we have just implemented is good for the team but also good for my confidence,” Szafoni said.

“[Matt] is evolving as a leader, him evolving as a playmaker and evolving as a rebounder are all things we are excited about,” LoGalbo said of Szafoni.

“We start four sophomores. But what’s really fun is that the sophomores are buying in and being stars in their roles. The seniors are leading and we are playing together.”

St. Ignatius Wins Prep Bowl 40-12

SPORTS SPOTLIGHT BY JOHN MONTGOMERY

There is no doubt that the Prep Bowl has lost prestige and importance with the football teams from Public League and Chicago Catholic League deciding to participate in the state football playoffs that began in 1974. It is unlikely that your current preseason goal in ChIcago is to win the Prep Bowl.

 “It was a great experience to play and coach in the Prep Bowl at Soldier Field,” Jay McDonagh said about the annual matchup which is now 95 years old. McDonagh played quarterback in the 1990 Prep Bowl for Gordon for Gordon and won two Public League pigskins with Curie losing to Loyola and Mt. Carmel in back-to-back seasons 2014 and 2015.

 The Catholic League has dominated the game winning 65 times. Mount Carmel is king of football in our state with 16 state championships and 15 Prep Bowl wins while Simeon has won twelve CPS championships and made 41 appearances in the state football playoffs. Mt Carmel won first matchup in 1927 6-0 over Schurz.

 There is football talent in the Public League, but only one city team Phillips has been able to win state football championship. The Public League football teams went 0-15 in the first round of this year's state series.

St. Ignatius (5-7) stunned Morgan Park (9-5) 40-12 to win this year's event before a small crowd on Black Friday at Hanson Stadium. The Wolfpack were delighted to be playing football after a 2-7 regular season.

“The Prep Bowl is a great tradition in Chicago,” St. Ignatius head coach Matt Miller said after winning his second straight Prep Bowl. Miller in in his tenth season and has now won 67 games.

St. Ignatius, who brought its football program back in 2005, certainly had challenges after sophomore starting quarterback Reid Hites broke his arm in a preseason scrimmage. St Ignatius was recently moved into the Blue Division of the Catholic League which is one of the toughest sections in the state featuring former state football champions St. Rita, Brother Rice, Loyola, and Mt Carmel. St Ignatius got moved up after losing in the 6A semifinals to Prairie Ridge 21-19 during 2022 football season. The Wolfpack who have made nine appearances in state playoffs lost in the quarterfinals the followіng season in 2023.

“I would love to play at Soldier Field,” Miller admitted after the game. “I heard the bill was pretty high. Playing the game at Soldier Field made the game special.”

Until 1974 it was the only football event on Thanksgiving weekend a game that aired on local television and drew large crowds. The biggest thing youngsters from the Public and Catholic League faced each other at Soldier Field home of Bears who had great players like Dick Butkus and Walter Payton. Many people today still talk about the 1985 Super Bowl Chicago Bears.

This season's game at renovated Hanson Stadium was close until the final quarter. Senior Rob Connor who scored three times and rushed for 90 yards helped St Ignatius build a 19-12 advantage heading into the fourth quarter. Connor who has been one of the top players in the new Catholic League for the last two years was named Prep Bowl MVP.

The Wolfpack capped their incredible season by forcing three turnovers in the fourth quarter as Charlie Klaas scored twice, and Hites added a touchdown toss in only his second start of the season.

Morgan Park (9-5) was hoping to finish season on a high note after avenging regular season loss to Kenwood by beating the Broncos 30-19 to win CPS football crown for fifth time in school history. The Mustangs won the the Prep Bowl in 2005 over Brother Rice with current head football coach Chris James at quarterback.

“We were there in the game at halftime,” James said after the loss. “We left some plays on the field. Our inexperience showed in the second half.”

One example was beginning of game when all- stater Darrell Mattison for Morgan Park returned opening kickoff 88 yards for touchdown which would have been unprecedented in Prep Bowl history. Play was called back due to holding penalty.

Morgan Park lost this season in the opening round of the 5A playoffs to Wheaton St Francis (10-3) 35-28. The Mustangs will try to rebuild around sophomore quarterback Ronald Smith who completed 16 of 26 passes for 165 yards with two second quarter touchdowns and two interceptions in fourth quarter.

 Even though Morgan Park lost the game for fourth time the Mustangs were looking forward to playing in the Prep Bowl against St. Ignatius after losing in opening round of state playoffs.

 “It's special for me and the program to be playing in the Prep Bowl,” James admitted. “To be able to take the team to the Public League championship and Prep Bowl means something to me being a former player at Morgan Park.”

Lane Falls to DePaul Prep 53-24

[A preview of this week’s piece in the Inside-Booster.]

By Jack Lydon

Lane Tech had no answer for Rashaun Porter. DePaul Prep senior forward Rashaun Porter, a early candidate for player of the year, put up 26 points against Lane Tech in the finale of this year’s Batte of the Bridge Tournament at Lane Tech. The #1 ranked DePaul Prep Rams (3-0) defeated the Lane Tech Champions (1-2) 53-24 Wednesday night.

The Champions did a great job stopping DePaul Prep’s other Division 1 recruit Rykan Woo (Brown University) holding him scoreless in the first half.

“That was the game plan. But we did not do our game plan with Porter,” said Lane Tech head coach Nick LoGalbo.

“It was the exact opposite last year where we really cut out Porter, but we had Dalton [Scantlebury, playing for Penn this year] and [DePaul Prep senior guard Rykan Woo] really went off on us,” LoGalbo added.

“So I thought we did a pretty good job on [Woo]. That was our game plan to cut those two out as best we could and make others beat us. But Porter really killed us.”

With Lane bringing out the defense to stop Woo, the Lane opened up for Porter.

“It just opened up there really. I didn’t even notice that Woo was cold. I thought he was pretty good. He just did some things that just can’t be put on the stat sheet,” said Lashaun Porter.

Porter, a commit to Division 1 Toledo University, has become one of the top players in the City this season. He is ranked #5 in PrepHoops.com’s class of the 2026 players behind only Whitney Young’s Marquis Clark for top players in the City.

Somewhat unbelieveably, Rashaun Porter has been on state championship winning teams every year of high school. The DePaul Prep Rams won the 2A state championship in 2022 and 3A in 2023 and 2024. One might think he would be resting on his laurels, maybe looking ahead to college a little.

Not Rashaun.

“I lost weight over the course of four years. I've lost a lot of weight, trying to get slimmer and prepare for college and bulk up and using more strength instead of fat,” Porter said.

“It’s boosted my game tremendously. Made me quicker and faster. Then I got in the weight room, so I did get stronger.”

It’s early in the year and the Rams are still growing into their new starting line-up. Porter, Woo and senior point guard AJ Chambers return to the starting line-up from last year’s 3A championship team. Added to the starting lineup are juniors Gus Johnson who takes his brother Jonas’ spot. Jonas Johnson now plays at DePaul University. New to the line-up and the school is Zion Lee, a transfer from Springfield’s Sacred Heart—Griffin high school.

While obviously pleased with the win and the performance of his start player Porter, DePaul Prep head coach and Gordon Tech legend, Tom Kleinschimdt was circumspect about the early 3-0 for his Rams.

“We are we are not where we need to be three games in. We are usually a little bit better shape. I think you can see it in our woeful shooting percentage from three,” Kleinschmidt said.

“I think we left a lot out there today. I'm not sitting here knocking my team. I'm just saying I think we got a lot to work on, a lot to improve on. It's got to happen quick. We've got Hyde Park Sunday who's really good. We’ve got Loyola then we’ve got La Lumiere. So it better happened quickly.”

Lane's Vernon Cole Carries Champions into Second Round of Playoffs

SPORTS SPOTLIGHT BY JOHN MONTGOMERY

Not even an eight-man defensive front could stop Lane running back Vernon Cole last Friday night on Halloween in the opening round of the Class 8A state high school football playoff. Cole, who has been recovering from an ankle injury, saw limited action but rushed for 77 yards and one touchdown, added a 36-yard punt return and briefly ran a Wildcat offense in a 34-6 victory over Perspectives.

“I would have to say honestly that he is our best football player,” said Deshon Conley, Lane’s first-year head coach. “And he is a better person off the field than he is a football player.”

Cole, who was a wrestler in elementary school, didn’t start playing football until he enrolled at Lane. As a senior, he has done it all to become one of the best players in the city, rushing for 855 yards and 11 touchdowns. He also has completed two passes in the Wildcat offense. And he also plays defensive back.

“He can play college football one day,” Conley said. “Some coaches like to see him play on defense. Some coaches would like to see him play on offense.”

Cole, a 5-9, 165-pounder who won the Public League’s 165-pound wrestling championship as a junior, has his own game plan. “I want to play offense. My dream is to play for (coach) Deion Sanders at Colorado. My favorite running back is Jaymyr Gibbs of the Detroit Lions (of the NFL).”

Lane (9-1), who have never won a state football title, recorded its first playoff victory in 21 years.The Champions will try to advance to the quarterfinals when they host Oswego (8-2) at 1 p.m. Saturday at Lane Stadium.

At the same time, Lane hopes to change the Chicago Public League’s statewide image in football.Last weekend, Public League teams went 0-15 against non-city competition in the opening round of the state tournament. Phillips is the only Public League school to win a state title, 4A in 2015 and 5A in 2017. Robeson was 6A runner-up in 1982.

“We know it is going to be difficult to win a state championship because of the schools in Class 8A and the competition,” Conley said. “However, I am confident the coaching staff can come up with a game plan against any opponent. I look forward to the challenge.”

One thing opponents must prepare to defend against is Lane’s Wildcat formation. The offense made popular by former Florida quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow.

“It was my idea to use the Wildcat,” Cole said. “I told the coaches that the holes were there. It has been a big part of our playbook.”

On Friday night, Perspectives tried to contain Cole. The first half was a nightmare as Lane was shut out, then fell behind 6-0 when Perspectives’ Herman Yancy scored on a 51-yard pass interception return in the third quarter. But junior quarterback Blake Perkins, who recently earned a starting position because Conley wanted to improve Lane’s passing attack, stepped up in the second half with touchdown runs of 37 and 30 yards and a 20-yard scoring pass to Aidan Andrich.

“I told the kids at halftime that when you are ready to make plays and block, you will win the game,” Conley said.

“I think I just panicked in the first half. I just rushed myself,” Perkins said.

While Perkins and Cole are the keys to Lane’s offense, the defense has been even more effective, recording five shutouts while not allowing an offensive touchdown last Friday. Cole should know about Lane’s defense. He sees it every day in practice.

“I think this defense has to be one of the best in the city and state,” Cole said. “The record speaks for itself. I don’t think anybody can really score on us.”

Against Perspectives, the defense was led by 6-3, 280-pound senior linebacker Daniel Howard, who is committed to Iowa State, and 5-11, 260-pound junior end Kanye Williams. They will be tested this weekend by Oswego (8-2), which is averaging 30 points per game.

This has been a rewarding, turn-around season for Lane, which was 3-6 a year ago. The players have responded very positively to Conley’s coaching philosophy.

“He has a great football IQ,” Cole said about his coach. “He is a leader on and off the football field.”

So is Cole.

“Lane is one of the top three schools in the state,” he said. “It is great being a student-athlete at Lane. Balancing academics and athletics make you a better person. It is always school first for me.”

“I am very proud of him,” said Mike Smith, Lane’s head of security.

So how far can this team go in the state playoff. Old-timers argue Lane’s 1980 team that lost to Gordon Tech in the Class 6A semifinals might have been one of the best teams never to win a state championship.

What will be the legacy of the 2025 squad? Saturday’s game against Oswego should provide some answers.