DePaul Prep Beats Marian Catholic 54-39 to Win Hinsdale Central Holiday Classic

[A preview of my next story in Inside Publications]

If there is one thing a DePaul Prep Rams basketball team knows how to do, it’s finish. The #7 ranked DePaul Prep Rams (15-0, 2-0) defeated the Marian Catholic Spartans (10-5, 3-1) 57-35 Saturday night to finish off its first Hinsdale Central Holiday Classic championship.

The Rams’ emotional victory over Oswego East in the semi-final game less than twenty-four hours before the championship game was the issue. The Oswego East game was certainly the Rams’ toughest game of the year. DePaul’s usual scoring formula—outside shooting and inside putbacks—was not working. They were 0-6 from three-point range. The big men inside, center senior Jaylan McElroy and sophomore Rashawn “Shawn” Porter, carried the load with some inside scoring but the Rams trailed at the half. They overcame their struggles in the second half and won going away, 54-39, but had it taken an emotional toll on the 14-0 Rams?

Having survived Oswego East, would the Rams suffer a letdown? Would the Rams’ struggles shooting the ball in the first half continue?

If there was going to be a letdown, it did now show as the championship game started. The Rams opened an early lead on the strength of two early three-pointers. One from senior guard PJ Chambers and the other from Shawn Porter. There was no letdown in the Rams. Chambers struggled against Oswego East but he was back to his reliable self against Marian. The Rams opened a ten-point lead by halftime.

Marian Catholic wasn’t going away. They are too well coached and too skilled for that. The Spartans cut the lead to seven at the start of the fourth.

Itt was time for the Rams to finish. 

“We just guarded. We try to start and finish quarters. The kids are buying into that. They did a nice job of finishing the quarter. We practice [finishing games]. We have some calls we make. The kids are aware of it. They are very attuned to it. We have been doing it for a while. We used to do it because we had to do it to win. We shorten possessions. Now we feel if we get a lead, we can make teams foul us and we make some free throws. If we get the lead, we can spread them and make the lead bigger,” said DePaul Prep head coach Tom Kleinschmidt.

That’s what happened. The Rams shortened their passes, drew out the defense and the minutes ticked off. They either got some layups or drew fouls. But it was the other end of the court that made the difference. The Rams held Marian to three points in the fourth quarter. They did not give up a single field goal in the fourth quarter.  The man-to-man defense forced bad outside shots. The Spartans had just three points all on the foul shots.

PJ Chambers lead all scorers with 22 points. McElroy had 14. Junior guard Makai Kvamme had 12. Porter had 14. Sophomore AJ Chambers (PJ’s brother) had 2. Junior forward George Richardson also had 2.

This is the Rams’ first Hinsdale Central Holiday Classic championship in seven tries. They have been in a final four four times, including a second-place finish in 2019.

The Rams take their #7 ranking and their 15-0 record into January but those might not be around long. In the first three weeks of January, the Rams host #2 ranked Homewood-Flossmoor in the annual Steve Pappas Shootout at DePaul’s Tom Winiecki Gym. And then it will be #3 ranked Mount Carmel at home. And then 15 win, and conference rival, Brother Rice. Oh, and then powerhouse Normal Community High School after that. 

The Lane Tech Champions (10-7, 3-1) also competed in the Hinsdale Classic. The Champions lost a close opener to Maine South 65-52, then wins over Morgan Park 71-37 and Morton 63-30 but fell to Lincoln-Way Central 51-47 in the final game.

The #15 ranked Lincoln Park Lions (12-4, 3-0) have made a splash this year. They advanced to the championship game in the Proviso West Holiday Tournament losing to #4 ranked Warren Township High School, 78-52.

The Walter Payton College Prep Grizzlies travelled to Centralia for its holiday tournament. Despite picking up an early season upset victory at home against Lane Tech, the Grizzlies dropped all three games in Centralia to Mt. Vernon 56-34, Belleville West 63-48 and Cahokia 63-57.

Payton Defeats Jones 60-51

I stopped over at Payton to catch as much of the Jones game before heading over to the DePaul Prep v. St. Rita game last Friday. I am glad I did. Payton has a good basketball team and a lively gym atmosphere. Once one can get in the building that is.

I was impressed by senior guard, forward and center Brennan Moore. He can do it all and regularly does. He and his band of large omnivores put a solid beating on a very good Jones team.

I had a nice chat with coach Ross Burt after the game. “We don’t really have positions,” he told me.

I couldn’t work up a proper story in a timely fashion but I will get back there for the full treatment at some point.

Oh, and they have really interesting halftime entertainment too.

DePaul Prep Falls to Mount Carmel 42-41

Preview of my Inside Publications article this week.

No. 17 Mount Carmel defeats DePaul Prep 42-41

DePaul Prep Rams lost to Mount Carmel Caravan 42-41 at Mount Carmel Friday night. The Rams are struggling through an uncharacteristic three-game losing streak in the Chicago Catholic League’s Blue division.

 The Rams (4-3, 0-3) opened the game outscoring the 17th ranked Caravan (7-1, 2-0) five to zero. The Caravan then went on a 10-0 run to close the quarter. They would hold the lead that eventually dwindled to a single point at the buzzer to survive a young and injured Rams team.

The early run by the Caravan was aided by some sloppy Rams ball handling. “They picked us up a little bit, trapped us a couple times when we were lazy with the ball. We have bad habits in practice right now in passing. They are leading to the game,” said Rams head coach and former DePaul University star Tom Kleinschmidt.

The young Rams start three sophomores, center Jonas Johnson, guard Makai Kvamme and guard Rob Walls, one junior, PJ Chambers and one senior, guard and leading scorer Maurice Thomas. Out with injuries for the moment are junior standouts and returning starters Payton Kamin and Jaylan McElroy.

Despite the Rams having two of their best players on the court, they opened the season 4-0 winning the Battle of the Bridge Tournament hosted by DePaul Prep along with Lane Tech. Catholic League Blue conference play has been a different story. Coming into this game, the Rams were on a two-game losing streak in the conference play dropping games to St. Lawrence and DeLaSalle.

There are encouraging signs for the Rams. Mount Carmel’s transfer Lee Marks emerged as a force for the Caravan at last weekend’s Chicago Elite Classic. The Rams shut him down. “We scouted him pretty well. Our gap defense shut his driving lanes down a little bit. We did a nice job keeping him off the boards. He is a fantastic rebounder. He had seventeen rebounds against Laurence,” said Kleinschmidt.

The Caravan never blow the game wide open. The largest lead they managed was seven points. Then curiously, early in the third quarter, Caravan head coach Phil Segorves slowed down the pace of game. At one point midway through the fourth quarter, Caravan point guard Deandre Craig put the ball on his hip in classic style and waited for the Rams to come out and defend.

 “I think they wanted to pull us out and get us in the bonus. [Deandre] Craig is one of the two or three best point guards in the league. I think [Mount Carmel head coach Phil Segorves] wanted to put the ball senior point guard’s hands and control the game, get fouls and go to the line,” Kleinschmidt added.

The Rams chiseled away at the Caravan lead making it a one possession game for the last couple minutes. Only a questionable turn over call and foul pushed the lead to four. The Rams made it a one-point game with a three before the buzzer.

The fact that the young Rams can play with the seventh ranked CCL powerhouse Caravan has to be encouraging for Rams fans. This adversity early in the season is going to help them when they get their scorers back. “1000%. Everybody is getting minutes. This time that they are getting you normally can’t get it. And they are playing well. We are stretching our bench. When we get everybody back, we will be in good shape,” said Kleinschmidt.

Out of the frying pan and into the fire for the young Rams who host 5th ranked St. Rita Mustangs next Friday the DePaul Prep’s Tom Winiecki Gym on Friday. St. Rita will be riding high after defeating the 6th ranked and previously unbeaten Brother Rice Crusaders 57-51 at Brother Rice.

Payton Falls to Morgan Park 28-0 in 5A IHSA Second Round

By Jack Lydon 

The Morgan Park Mustangs (10-1, 7-1) took care of business against the Walter Payton College Prep Grizzlies (8-3, 7-2) on Friday evening at Gately Stadium in IHSA 5A playoffs defeating the Grizzlies 28-0. The Grizzlies were able to move the ball and keep the ball away from the Mustangs high octane offence but never threatened to score.

It was an uphill battle for Payton on Friday against Morgan Park. The Mustangs came into the game 9-1 with their only loss to neighborhood powerhouse Simeon Career Academy. Morgan Park’s senior running back Orlando James opening the scoring with a 37-yard touchdown run midway through the first quarter.

Aided by multiple Morgan Park penalties, the Grizzlies put together a couple efficient drives. Payton senior quarterback Kyle Osterman connected on some effective flat passes for a couple first downs. Standout Payton senior wide receiver and safety Charlie Newton will be playing football at Columbia next year.

Morgan Park was efficient in the second quarter. A safety and two touchdowns on two possessions. The two-minute drive by Morgan Park at the end of the first half was the turning point of the game.  “We screwed up at the end of the half. We didn’t convert on fourth down. And they ended up scoring,” said Payton head coach Craig Knoche.

The second half was all Morgan Park. Payton couldn’t do much. Morgan Park’s pair of running backs Seth Cyrus and Orlando James ran the ball well breaking tackles up and down the field.

It was a remarkable 7-2 regular season for academically focused school northside CPS magnet school with losses only to DePaul Prep and Lincoln Park. Payton is widely considered the best high school in the State of Illinois, including U. S. News and World Report. The relatively new school, founded in 2000, with approximately 1,200 students, has an impressive football record, qualifying for the state playoffs each year since since 2011. Even so, this is the first year that the Grizzlies have and advanced to the second round with their 42-0 pounding of ITW-Speer last week.

The Grizzlies have struggled with numbers all season, dressing only 35 players for the game. The typically understated Payton head coach Craig Knoche downplayed the successful season. “We want to be able to compete and win IHSA playoff games,” Knoche said.

Morgan Park is probably the second-best football team in CPS behind Simeon. The Mustangs made the news in September. A fight broke out late in the game against Kenwood that resulted in 18-20 ejections and suspensions. CPS officials, fearing that might be trouble between fans of the two schools, moved the game to Lane Stadium on the northside. Despite the suspensions, Morgan Park had only one loss and that to neighboring 6A powerhouse Simeon Career Academy.

Morgan Park will face Nazareth next week in the 5A quarterfinals.

St. Ignatius Edges DePaul Prep 42-41

The No. 25 DePaul Prep Rams (3-2, 11-3) travelled down to Roosevelt Road to take on St. Ignatius (3-2, 10-7) in a Chicago Catholic League crossover game. I tweeted earlier in the day that it was too early talk about must-win games but it felt like it this evening in St. Ignatius’ Gentile Gym. CCL teams cannot afford conference losses in pursuit of a championship. Both schools had large and loud student body contingents in attendance.

This was a well-played and well-coached game. Not many fouls. Not many turnovers. Tons of passes. The teams matched up well. They know each other. Precious few surprises. Just tough quality basketball.

As these CCL games usually go, there was not much scoring in the first quarter. It was 9-6 after one quarter. DePaul sophomore guard Payton Kamin had four of his thirteen points in the first quarter to pick up a struggling Rams offense. The tight bucket for bucket matchup continued in the second quarter as the teams traded scores. 18-17 at the half.

In the third quarter, the Wolfpack were able to open a little margin on the strength of inside buckets off the dribble by Senior forward Kolby Gilles.  

“Kolby (Gilles) is a really tough matchup for a lot of guys because he has perimeter and post skills. So if he has a smaller guy on him, he is able to post up and score around the rim but if he’s got a bigger guy on him, he is able to stretch the floor, create off the bounce and shoot the three a little bit,” said St. Ignatius coach Matt Monroe.  

The Wolfpack stretched the margin to nine points at one point in the third quarter. But the Rams were not going away. Tom Kleinschmidt and his team are too good and too experienced for that. It was a two-possession game most of the fourth.

With 1:20 left the Rams pulled within three points. Under a minute, it was two points. With 18 seconds the Rams were only down one—42-41. Excellent foul shooting and a key turnover gave the Rams the ball and a chance to win on a final shot. Senior guard Alex Gutierrez took a good shot. It rimmed out.

Final: Wolfpack 42, Rams 41.

After the game, Monroe spoke highly of DePaul Prep.

“I knew that these guys were going to be very well prepared. They run a great system and are very effective in what they do. For us the game was making sure we knew are scout coverages. We were able to navigate all the sets that they run. And that we were able to team guard (Dylan) Arnett because he is really, really effective post player. He is a fantastic player.”

But it is the Wolfpack that are clawing their way back from a disappointing start to the season. After opening the year ranked No. 4 in the Sun-Times Super 25, Monroe’s squad dropped 5 of their first 11 games.

“Five of our losses have been by 2 or 3 points and they have all come down to the final possession of the game. When I was talking to our guys after some of those close losses, we talked about how our struggles were going to be the reason for our success later. I think going through that gauntlet, playing some incredible teams and falling short a few times, has prepared us to be in that situation again.”

Richard Barron and Kolby Gilles each had 15 for the Wolfpack. Payton Kamin led the Rams’ scoring with 13; Dylan Arnett with 11 and Jaylan McElroy with 7.

DePaul Prep Shuts Out Payton 49-0

High school football started in more-or-less normal fashion last Friday with a double feature of DePaul College Prep vs Payton College and Lane Tech vs Kenwood at a sunbaked Lane Stadium. The near 100-degree temperatures and 90% humidity tested the stamina of the heartiest football fans. This reporter, for one, was thoroughly cooked by the end of the second game.

Despite the heat, a large crowd saw the Payton College Prep Grizzlies (0-1, 0-0) fall to the DePaul Prep Rams (1-0, 0-0) 49-0.

The Rams took the opening kick-off and methodically moved the ball down the field under the leadership of senior quarterback Chris Perez. A mix of short passes and inside running plays brought the ball down to the one-yard line where senior running back Vasco Sierra took a handoff from Perez right up the middle to give the Rams a 6-0 lead they would never relinquish.

On the next series, the Rams defense held the Grizzlies. Grizzlies punted. DePaul’s junior wide receiver and cornerback Shane Leonard fielded the punt at his own 38-yard line, cut up the left side line, broke a tackle and ran it into the North endzone. With both PATs good, the Rams opened and early first quarter 14-0 lead and never looked back.

Remarkably, the Rams hit seven out of seven extra points. I don’t recall ever seeing that in a high school.

The Rams look to take a leap forward as the program and bring themselves back into the football prominence once enjoyed by its processor Gordon Tech. In recent years, it has been difficult for Gordon Tech/DePaul Prep to achieve beyond Chicago Catholic League Red Division championships. Five wins are needed to qualify for the IHSA playoffs—a difficult task for Rams who have played an almost impossible CCL schedule.

This year may well be different. The CCL has combined with the East Suburban Catholic Conference for football. The Rams will not have to play CCL Blue powerhouses like Loyola, Brother Rice or Mt. Carmel. Conference games for the Rams this year are St. Viator, Leo, St. Laurence, Notre Dame, St. Ignatius and Marian Central Catholic.

“The biggest goal right now is just to get in the the playoffs. If we make the playoffs, we don’t have the multiplier on us so we are playing in 3A. We just came out here and beat a 5A/6A  [team], one of the better CPS schools in the area,” said DePaul head coach Mike Passarella.

Five wins is very doable for DePaul. Once in the playoffs, the Rams can do some damage in the 3A playoffs.

The Payton College Prep Grizzlies struggled against DePaul suffering some injuries during the game and having lost some productive players to graduation.

“We played a really tough team that played well,” said Payton coach Craig Knoche after the game.

“We will find out [what happens with this season] on Monday/Tuesday of next week. We have got to respond to what just happened. They usually respond well.”.

In the second game, home team Lane Tech fall to the Kenwood Academy Broncos 27-9. This much more competitive game saw Lane Tech hang with the Broncos most of the first half.

Lane took an early 3-0 led. The Lane defense impressed with an early goal line stand against a big, fast and athletic Broncos’ offense. Eventually, the Lane defense cracked under the pressure of Kenwood’s speed giving up a long early second quarter touchdown run by the running back Taylen Goodwin.

The Lane offense struggled to move the ball only adding its only touchdown in the fourth quarter bringing the score to 21-9. Kenwood answered with the touchdown making the final score 27-9.

Lane travels to Lansing, Illinois for game against a game against a tough TF South team looking to rebound at home from a shellacking at the hands of Chesterton, Indiana high school.

Payton College Prep Football Senior Night, in the Parking Lot

The Payton College Prep Grizzles had their senior night on Friday (April 23, 2021). With the season cut short, the senior night had to be on Friday before the away game against Phillips. I hope you like the photos. Photos from the Phillips game to follow shortly.