St. Ignatius Handles Lane on Friday afternoon 68-44

I had my story in for the week after the Whitney Young v. Lincoln Park game on Thursday. I was free to take in whatever game interested me on Friday. I hadn’t seen Lane in a while and the Lane/St. Ignatius game is alway fun so I went over to Lane.

The Champions are young and have struggled a little this year against top tier teams—DePaul Prep, New Trier, Whitney Young, Lincoln Park, Brother Rice. I saw them early in the season a couple times and I wanted to see how they are coming along.

And also, Lane’s Matt Szafoni and Ignatius’s Chris Bolte are similar players. They even look alike. How would they match up against each other?

The Wolfpack built a lead throughout the first half. The difference seemed to be that both teams were moving the fall effectively and getting open looks. The Ignatius players shots were falling and the Champions shots were not. Szafoni outscored Bolte 9-4 in the first half.

The Champions ball movement improved from early in the season. They matched up well against the No. 5 ranked Wolfpack. They were moving the ball with more purpose and confidence than they did in the early season. It was the shooting that come up short. Not enough shots were not falling.

The Wolfpack broke the game open in the fourth quarter. Ignatius stand out sophomore Amir Tucker piled up the points finishing with 21. Bolte got his points, 12. Ignatius junior Duke Ross had 12.

As for the Szafon/Bolte match up, Szafoni had more points (15) but Bolte (12) got the win.

“The greatest strength of our team, is our team. When we are at our best, we are playing for each. Playing together. We have a lot of guys that can step up and have really big days,” said St. Ignatius head coach Matt Monroe.

“We’ve got fourteen guys on this team that put winning first. The biggest agenda, the most important agenda is they all want to do well as a team.”

The Wolfpack will face some tough Chicago Catholic League games but the other ranked teams are behind them. They will need some help if they want to win the Catholic League. The DePaul Prep Rams will need to drop some games. Don’t hold your breath. The Rams are focused on the CCL at the moment.

After that, Ignatius will land in the toughest sectional the state. The 4A “TBD Sectional” of Southside teams including St. Laurence, Curie, Kenwood, Mount Carmel, Simeon and Whitney Young. Another one of teams is capable of an upset.

Stay tuned. Don’t be surprised if St. Ignatius gets back to the finals in Champaign.

St. Ignatius Stuns Unbeaten St. Patrick 46-32 to Win Jack Tosh Holiday Classic at York

SPORTS SPOTLIGHT BY JOHN MONTGOMERY 

St. Ignatius has been one of the surprising basketball teams to start the season. The Wolfpack are now 14-2 after upsetting unbeaten St. Patrick (13-1) to win championship game of the Jack Tosh Holiday Classic at York High School.

St. Ignatius has impressive resume with wins over reigning 4A state champions Benet Academy (17-1) and Metamora (10-4) while losing to titleholders DePaul Prep (14-2) and Curie (11-1). Benet beat Curie and DePaul Prep on the last day of the year to win prestigious Pontiac tournament for first time in school history. The realigned Chicago Catholic League should be competitive next season with all four teams competing against each other in regular season and postseason play. 

“I haven't seen the schedules of the other teams," St. Ignatius head coach Matt Monroe said after winning title of 32-team event at York.

“I would put our schedule up against anyone in the state. We have competed against some of the best programs in the state.”

In a matchup between two of the best teams and two of the best big men R.J. McPartlin and Chris Bolte, two sophomores stole the show for St. Ignatius. Amir Tucker led the Wolfpack with seventeen points including a championship game record five three-point baskets while sophomore D. J. Caldwell added thirteen points. 

McPartlin finished with fifteen points but was limited to only one basket in the second half by Bolte and his teammates. Bolte was eventually named MVP after collecting 74 points and 35 rebounds in five games while McPartlin had 80 points and 45 rebounds.

“I took it personal that first half,” Bolte said as he scored only three points in the fourth quarter but stood out with his defense against McPartlin in second half.

The Wolfpack had eleven long range hoops while forcing 13 turnovers as the Shamrocks shot only 12 of 41 against St. Ignatius.

Ignatius took over the contest in the final quarter outscoring Shamrocks 17-5 as Tucker had two more treys. 

“He is an amazing player,” Monroe admitted about Tucker. “He is going to be a star because he is a good basketball player and good person off the court."

St. Ignatius is probably considered the Northwestern of the Chicago Catholic League, but the Wolfpack went downstate in basketball in 2022 and 2023. 

The Wolfpack starts three underclassmen and have four sophomores on the squad.

“The future looks bright,” Monroe said.

Meanwhile it is back to drawing board for St. Patrick who will now prepare with Saturday showdown against Curie at Malcolm X College. The Shamrocks have had their share of success recently with back to back appearances in the Elite Eight before taking third place in 3A.

“This team expects to win,” Head St Patrick head basketball coach Mike Bailey said in the preseason. “This team knows how to win. This team has a chance to be a special group.”

St. Patrick will be ready for March Madness in 4A with five matchups at neutral sites. The new year will be challenging with contests against Benet and Marist (12-1), Hyde Park (10-4) and Loyola (15-2). These games will prepare team for postseason play while impacting seeding for upcoming sectional with potential playoff game against the Rams in sectional championship game.

“Our first goal is to as well as we can in the state tournament,” Bailey said recently.

The Shamrocks played a tough schedule last season with seven losses and still advanced to semifinals for first time in school history. 

Glenbard East (13-2) beat Perspectives Leadership 71-49 to take third place while York (12-2) (topped 8A football runnerup), Oswego 55-45 to win the consolation championship.