DePaul Prep Defeats Loyola 55-45

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

By Jack Lydon

It was an electric atmosphere in DePaul Prep’s Tom Winiecki Gym Friday night. The #1 ranked DePaul Prep Rams hosted the #5 ranked Loyola Academy Ramblers in the first Chicago Catholic League Blue game of the year for each squad. The Ramblers brought a big crowd into the City and the usual DePaul Prep students and supporters showed up en masse. The band was playing. It was high school basketball at its best.

DePaul Prep jumped out to a second quarter lead as they often do. Loyola (4-1) could not catch them. The Rams won 55-45 improving to 5-0 on the young season but more importantly grabbing a big advantage in the struggle to win the Chicago Catholic League’s Blue division, always the Rams’ first goal of a season.

The story of the game has to be DePaul Prep’s impressive defensive effort in the second quarter. Trailing 10-9 at the end of the first, the Rams just dialed up the defense holding Loyola to just two buckets and five points. The lead moved up and down a little from there but the Rams would hold that ten-point lead at the buzzer.

That defensive effort denied the Ramblers the outside shots they would need if they wanted to beat the bigger DePaul Prep team. Loyola got its first points of the second quarter on a three-pointer from senior Charles Ellis two minutes in but the only other points came on an inside putback by senior Broderick Munsey-Johnson with under 10 seconds to play in the half.

“We got down to guarding. It's a tough guard with all that movement and excellent switching. We prepped for it. We had a three-day prep. We feel confident with three days prep but we also have anxiety trying to play Loyola. It’s the toughest guard all year,” said DePaul Prep’s legendary coach Tom Kleinschmidt. 

Defense is great but a team needs to score too. The Rams outscored the Ramblers 17-5 in the quarter. Senior star and Brown University commit, Rykan Woo, lead the Rams with 19 points, including 11 in the decisive second quarter.

It was something of a breakout game for senior transfer from Springfield’s Sacred Heart-Griffin high school, Zion Lee.

“What we do is a lot. It took Z [Zion Lee] a couple games, actually we thought it take him until Christmas, but we glad to see [it tonight]. He had some big buckets tonight for us. He rebounded the heck out a ball. He was great for us. I am very happy for him,” Kleinschmidt said.

DePaul Prep turns right around and faces La Lumiere in the Chicago Elite Classic Saturday afternoon. La Lumiere is a Porter, Indiana boarding school and nationally ranked basketball powerhouse with multiple players committed to play at division one colleges, included Devin Cleveland, a transfer from CPS’s Kenwood Academy. Cleveland was widely regarded a top, if not the top, high school player in the Chicago last year.

The Rams look to repeat their upset win over Mater Dei, a Santa Anna, California nationally ranked powerhouse at last year’s Chicago Elite Classic.

“Mater Dei is good. They are really good. They are nationally ranked. But La Lumiere is a different level,” Kleinschmidt said.

A different level. I guess will see exactly what level DePaul Prep is on early in this season where the Rams look to win a fourth straight state championship.

Kenwood Comes Back to Edge Simeon 58-56

After the DePaul Prep Rams took care of our St. Viator Lions 63-23 in the Antioch (my photos to follow), I jetted down to Hinsdale Central to catch the end of Kenwood v. Simeon.

I got there with about four minutes to go. Simeon lead by a point after having lost a seventeen point lead in the third quarter.

I was there mostly to see what happened rather than actually cover the game. I found a spot on the floor next to Sun-Times photographer Kirsten Stickney. She was working so I took a spot out of her way. She is a master at the reaction shot. I am not good at it despite working on it. I was kind of watching her work so I could learn from her. She never puts the camera down. She is always hunting for a shot. She was only using one camera with a 70-200mm lens.

I managed to get the obvious reaction shot of Kenwood’s Devin Cleveland after he dropped the game winning floater with 37.1 seconds left. Kirsten also got the shot but she also the shot of Devin taking the shot—the shot that is in the paper. The shot I got of that was obscured by a Simeon defender.

As for the game, I guess I just knew Kenwood would win. Jack Gleason said the same thing after the game. Kenwood just always wins close games at the end. Devin Cleveland, Amari Edwards and tj Seals are just money players. They know how to win.

These are shots from the final couple minutes and the overtime.

Kenwood Defeats Lincoln Park 70-61 to Win Red-Shield

[A preview of my article this week in the Inside—Booster.]

By Jack Lydon

Lincoln Park battled Kenwood Thursday for the top of the CPL’s Red—Shield division. Kenwood is just too good. The Lions (21-4, 9-2) battled the Broncos (32-1, 11-0) but in the end Kenwood defeated the Lions 70-61 by breaking Lincoln Park’s press, scoring in transition and making free throws. The Lions just could out score Kenwood in the closing minutes.

“They are the number one team in the state for a reason. They are battle tested. That’s a good team,” Lincoln Park head coach Joshua Anderson said of Kenwood. This really was one of those games where both teams played well enough to win and one team was just a little bit better and won at the end.

It was a two-point game at the half with Kenwood ahead 28-26. But in the third quarter, Kenwood’s sophomore guard and top ranked sophomore in the state, Devin Cleveland, took over with three straight buckets, seniors “tj” Seals, Alex Alston and Amari Edwards each added a bucket. The Broncos two-point lead became ten points. 

The energy in Lincoln Park tiny little gym was off the scale. The cheering was deafening. In places, the feet of the fans sitting in the front row are literally on the court. The environment would be tough for even the finest teams.

Kenwood was not phased by the atmosphere. Every game they play is a tough game. They regained the number one ranking two weeks ago after close victories, but still victories over Whitney Young, Cure and Chaminade.

There was a long stoppage of play midway through the third quarter with the Lions behind by nine. The cause of the stoppage related to a disturbance at the scorer’s table and was not immediately evident. One report suggested an argument between the couches. It soon involved fans from the opposing teams arguing back and forth. One supporter of Lincoln Park was escorted from the gym. Ultimately, technical fouls were assessed against both head coaches forcing them to sit on their respective benches for the rest of the game.

Strangely, the stoppage helped Lincoln Park. They rallied.

“[My team] got a little motivated off after that little scuffle, whatever happening. [The refs] made me sit down. When I am up, I am the energy. At that time, they saw that I couldn't be with them. They rallied together and said . . . we're gonna find the energy ourselves with each other,” Anderson said.

The Lions dialed up the energy and chipped away at Kenwood’s lead. Lincoln Park’s junior forward Larry Harris led the way for the Lions with ten-points to get the Lions.

With 2:20 to play, the game was even at 60. Lincoln Park continued its full court press. Kenwood’s senior point guard Amari Edwards took control. With Lincoln Park in its high pressure full court press, Edwards calming and deliberately brought the ball up court with crisp passes and few dribbles.

“I think Amari Edwards, he's a really good player. He's a really good floor general for sure. He picked us apart at the end and he kind of took control of the game,” Anderson said of Edwards.

In crunch time with the game on the line, Edwards broke the press and the Broncos were able to get points in transition. He also added some key free throws to seal the victory.

This might not be the last time that the Lions and the Broncos meet this year. They are the top two Chicago Public League teams and could easily meet in the upcoming City Championship tournament.

And then, both teams are assigned to the toughest sectional of any in the IHSA boys basketball playoffs—Hinsdale Central. That sectional has #1 Kenwood, #6 Hinsdale Central, #8 Lincoln Park, #15 Curie, #17 Simeon, #24 St. Ignatius, and previously ranked and always dangerous, Whitney Young. No other sectional in state comes close to have that many good teams.

Kenwood Survives Lane Tech 82-75

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

By Jack Lydon

No. 1 ranked Kenwood Broncos came up to Addison and Western for a Chicago Public League Red-Shield Division showdown Thursday evening against Lane Tech. Despite a furious third quarter comeback by the Champions, the Broncos hold off the Champions for a 82-75 victory. Broncos improve to 9-0 and 5-0 in the Red-Shield.

With almost a third of the season in the books and with wins over ranked teams like DePaul Prep, Warren Township and Simeon, Kenwood is looking like the best team in the state. Kenwood’s top rated players Devin Cleveland, Aleks Alston, Terrance “Tj” Seals and Amari Edwards have coalesced into a punishing offensive and defensive squad.  

This is what the Lane Tech Champions faced on their home court but Kenwood’s record and star power mattered little. This reporter has been to more than a few rock ‘n roll shows in his day but none was louder and more raucous than Lane’s gym on Thursday. The place was packed with students and parents from both schools. The Lane band was amping up the crowd.

Despite Lane’s 6-6 record so far in the season, this Lane team is as good as I have seen. They have any ton of length—tall players that spread the floor and make teams shoot over them. These Champions play defense and can score inside and outside.

They also have put together the toughest schedule of any school so far in the season. Going into this game, Kenwood was just par for the course competition for the Lane. The Champions have faced five ranked teams, Niles North, DePaul Prep, Curie, St. Ignatius and Kenwood. And that is not to mention that the Champions went to the Gonzaga Shootout in Washington D.C., where the faced national powerhouse teams Bishop Spaulding from Maryland and St. Ignatius of Cleveland, Ohio.

Kenwood jumped out to a 43-33 first half lead. Both teams were scoring. It just seems like every player on Kenwood scored at will.

Even so, last year’s game at Lane against Whitney Young came to mind at the half. The Champions were hanging around in striking distance with the kind of energy of a team that expects to win. That’s what happened last year with the Champions upset Whitney Young 67-51. The energy in the room was very similar.

Lane erased the deficit in the third taking a 51-50 lead with 3:09 left in the quarter powered by two early three-point shots by forward Zach Mazanowski. Mazanowski finished with a career high 31 points against the No. 1 team.

Lane Tech head coach Nick LoGalbo gushed about the senior’s performance. “He’s put in the work. He shows. He’s a division one player. I have been saying it to everyone who will listen. We’ve got guys looking at him now but they better get on him soon. Someone is going to be really lucky to get him,” said LoGalbo.

Eye popping as 31 points is at the high school level, the other Champions contributed at a high level. Senior center Dalton Scantlebury scored 17 points and dominated the paint much of the game. Senior forward Andrew Bartolai added 13 points. It was the Champions highest point total of the season against the best team in the state.

Kenwood was just too good. At one point, they Broncos spread the floor and slowed the tempo down a little. Sophomore shooting guard Devin Cleveland worked the ball into the lane, left then right and pulled up for a jumper that was nothing but net. A Whitney Young type upset was not going to happen against this group.

Kenwood senior center Aleks Alston had 25 points. Cleveland had 24. Transfer from Phillips point guard Amari Edwards had 11. TJ Seals and 10 and Demari Stephens had 11 points. The Champions could not stop the whole team in fourth quarter. The Broncos rallied for the seven- point win and possession of the first place in the Red Shield.

Mazanowski did not quite know his point total after the game, a career high 31 points. “We played phenomenal as a team. Dalton had 17 or 18 himself. All around it was a good game for us,” Zach Mazanowski said.