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.

DePaul Prep Defeats St. Ignatius 59-40

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

By Jack Lydon

The No. 1 ranked DePaul Prep Rams are rolling and just getting better. Friday night’s 59-40 victory over No. 6 St. Ignatius (9-1) at the Tom Winiecki Gym on the former Gordon Tech campus moved the Rams to 10-1. Earlier in the week, the Rams defeated the No. 3 team, Kankakee Kays, 56-49 at the Team Rose Shootout.

The Rams are 11 games into their 29-game regular season and they look every bit the part of the No. 1 team. This success comes as DePaul Prep seeks its fourth straight state championship. One of those championships was in class 2A and two in class 3A but this year the Rams have graduated into the top class, 4A and will face the top competition in Illinois high school basketball.

First things first. The Rams needed to get past the St. Ignatius Wolfpack which is on a bit of a historic run of its won in recent years having advanced to the state finals multiple times. Coach Matt Monroe has his Wolfpack stalking again this year coming into this key Chicago Catholic League match up with a gaudy 9-0 record which includes a win over Benet Academy. 

“We want to establish the inside with Shaun [DePaul Prep’s senior forward Rashaun Porter],” said Rams head coach Tom Kleinschmidt of his plan for St. Ignatius

“We do want to establish the paint first, then we work inside out. We were trying to put Rykan’s guy in ball screens or down screens with Shaun [Porter] because Shaun’s a big body; it’s hard to get around him,” he said of his plan for the Wolfpack.

That’s largely what happened. Rashaun Porter put up eights inside in the first quarter. After committing his second foul late in the first quarter, junior forward Gus Johnson, younger brother of former Ram and now DePaul University Blue Demon basketball player Jonas Johnson, came in. Then it was Rykan Woo’s turn. The Rams’ senior shooting guard dropped in nine points of his own in the second quarter and the Rams lead 38-17 at the half.

“Gus Johnson came in and give up big minutes. He had four quick points. He had two big rebounds and a block. I am trying to find him more minutes. Sometimes when we play a spread team, it’s hard to have three bigs out there but he played great, great minutes for us,” Kleinschmidt of his junior forward.

It’s tough to erase even a small deficit against DePaul Prep but 21 points would be tough for the Wolfpack to overcome in the second half.

Rashaun Porter was fired up after the victory.

“We all just wanted to come in with a passion. We know its’s a big game. It’s a big rivalry game. We just wanted to go for the kill. The best thing to do is win at home with your guys,” Rashaun said.

DePaul Prep’s first goal every year is the win the Chicago Catholic League. It’s no different this year and the Rams have already taken two big steps in that direction with wins over No. 8 ranked Loyola Academy and No. 6 ranked St. Ignatius. But there is still a long way to go with Mount Carmel, St. Laurence and Brother Rice still to come.

“It’s another big one. We needed Loyola and Ignatius early. To have those two in our rearview mirror helps that we can kind of catch our breath, work on our weaknesses now before we get into the dogdays of January,” Klienschmidt said.

State championships or not, the Rams are still focused on two-thirds of the season yet to play. They will need to be, Pontiac, the mother of all holiday tournaments, is next.

DePaul Prep Falls to St. Ignatius 3-0 in 2A Sectional Final

[A preview of this week’s story in the Inside—Booster.]

By Jack Lydon

DePaul Prep Rams fell to the St. Ignatius Wolfpack 3-0 in the IHSA girls soccer sectional final on Friday evening at DePaul Prep. Wolfpack’s junior wing, Lauren Reed scored two goals, two minutes apart early in the first half giving the Wolfpack an commanding lead against conference rival DePaul Prep. Try as they did, the Rams (16-9-1, 5-2-1) just couldn’t put together a comeback against the stingy St. Ignatius defense.

“I was really thinking about winning this for my team and playing for my seniors. Then I guess I got really lucky on those two shots. But when I saw the opportunity take it, I did,” said River Forest resident, Lauren Reed.

Coming into the game, the Wolfpack (11-9-3, 3-3-2) focused on getting the ball into their center forward, junior Kayla Washington and so much on Reed.

“Kayla is our lead scorer. She's got like twenty-eight goals. Kayla is a classic striker. When you play with only one person up front, she has to be a big, strong capable player who can hold the ball up and wait for support,” St. Ignatius head coach Pam Whitehead said of Washington.

“Usually our goal is to get it to Kayla. I usually come up as back up. We kind of work together, but the main focus is to get it to Kayla,” Lauren Reed said of her teammate Washington.

“So I was lucky,” Reed added. She said “luck,” but two goals and two minutes is more than just luck. Reed was there to capitalize on the attention paid to Washington and that she did.

“Lauren is amazing because, first of all, she never came out of the game and absolutely she is positioned where she has to run up and down constantly,” Whitehead said of Reed, who is also a talented field hockey player. “And she is a third leading scorer [with 13 goals].” Lili Garcia is the Wolfpack’s second leading scorer with 17 goals.

DePaul Prep and St. Ignatius are both members of the Girls Catholic Athletic Conference and played each other on May 1st which ended in a 1-1 draw.

“It was our senior night. All of our seniors played. And you'll notice the [Senior Night] shirt that I wore tonight to remind them,” Whitehead said of the tie game.

Proud of her team’s rebound from the last match, Whitehead added, “It's just good combination play on the ground. I don't know if you noticed the tactical difference with DePaul. They like to send the long balls in, but we like to play between three of our key players up front with angle runs and drop balls; Good classic soccer.”

St. Ignatius managed to hold the Rams’ leading scorer junior Lucia Troutman scoreless despite early success by the Rams in pushing to the ball forward to Troutman.

DePaul Prep head coach and chair of the DePaul Prep Science Department, Kelly Keckler, was obviously disappointed after the game.

“Iggy was scouting [our last game against DeLaSalle]. They saw a lot of who we've become this season. The team that we were when we played them the first time is very different team than what we are now. . . We've figured out a lot of new tactics. We've been stronger and faster on the ball. We've been playing a lot of tougher competition throughout the whole season to gear up for this moment,” Keckler said after the game.

“No way would I've ever guessed it would be three zero. I think [Ignatius] brought their game winning boots today. It's as simple as that. We played almost same game as we played the first time we played them. I think it just came down to grit at the end of the day.”

St. Ignatius moves on to play Crystal Lake Central in the 2A super sectional on Tuesday. 

Loyola Defeats St. Ignatius 48-45 to Win the Jesuit Cup

I was back at Loyola Chicago last night for the Jesuit Cup game between Loyola Academy and St. Ignatius College Prep. As I walking into the Gentile Arena, I looked about the playing field, or what was the playing field when I went to Loyola, and saw Dumbach Hall, where I had quite a few classes back in the day.

Dumbach Hall was the original home of the Loyola Academy high school before it moved out to Wilmette in 1957. Now the Wilmette Ramblers basketball team was once again back home to take on the original Jesuit high school in Chicago, the Saint Ignatius College Prep Wolfpack.

The legendary Dutch Jesuit priest Fr. Arnold Damen, S.J., for whom Damen Avenue is named, founded Holy Family Church in 1957 serving largely Irish immigrant families in the rough and tumble Chicago of the pre-Civil War era.

Fr. Damen opend St. Ignatius College right after the Civil War in 1869 which then was a high school and a college. The college later moved up to the Rogers Park and became Loyola University.

The St. Ignatius and Loyola Academy have a common history and considerable rivalry.

Mind you, my Irish immigrant family wasn’t quite fancy enough to be part of the St. Ignatius and Loyola high schools. But my sister and I did make it into Jesuit colleges. She is a lot smarter than me so when to Georgetown. II was just smart enough to get into what was then called Loyola University of Chicago. Now it’s just, Loyola University Chicago.

The full history of the Jesuit Cup illudes me. We will have to leave that story for next year.

This year, as in at least the last two years, the game has been at Loyola University’s Gentile Arena, a great intimate place to watch a basketball game. Gentile has great light for taking photos—the most important part of high school basketball.

The Wolfpack came into tonight’s Jesuit Cup ranked #11 with a 7-0 record. They have excellent players and are well coached. The Ramblers were 6-3 and just getting their football players back from a back-to-back-to-back 8A state football championship.

Loyola has won ten out of the last 11 Jesuit Cup games. The student body was fired up for the game.

St. Ignatius was there in force as well. Both school communities enjoy the rivalry. The Gentile Center was rocking.

The Ramblers jumped out to an early lead. Ignatius chipped away at is slowing, only getting their first and only lead of the game, 42-41, with 2:50 left in the game. For the next couple minutes, it was back and forth. Tied 45-45, the Ramblers called time out with under 10 seconds to play. They lined up their play and inbounded the ball. With tremendous front court pressure from St. Ignatius resembling a pack of wolves, Rambler junior guard Sam Golden took a pass and seconds on the clock and the game on the line throw a shot from beyond the arc. The shot banked in off the glass as time expired.

48-45 Loyola wins.

“That was a little bit of a coming out party for Sam Golden. He made some big shots all game long. Like Sam said, ‘That was in all the way,’” said Rambler head coach Tom Livatino.

“It’s the biggest game of the season. It’ always circled at the start of the season,” Sam Golden said of the Jesuit Cup game. “

We always look forward to it and always try to win and play our hearts out. I used to come every year.”

If you haven’t been to a Jesuit Cup game at the Gentile Center, I highly recommend it. It’s high school basketball at its best.

St. Ignatius might want to move the next one to Marquette or St. Louis University just to break up the Ramblers’ 11 out of 12 mojo from being across the lawn from their original home. Just a thought.

DePaul Prep Defeats St. Ignatius to Win 3A Sectional

It didn’t look good for the Rams midway through the first set when they were down 18-12. Then, slowly at first, they cut the margin to 22-17. Then the Rams charged back outscoring the Wolfpack 7-1, taking the first set 25-23.

The second set saw the more typical Rams play—steady building a lead. They took the Wolfpack 25-16 in the second set and the match. A 3A Sectional final match and advance to the Super-sectional on Monday. One game away from the State Tournament.

The Wolfpack are an excellent volleyball team. Every bit the equal of the Rams. Ignatius returned most of their team from last’s 3A third-place finishers. It was the Wolfpack that ended the Rams’ season last year in the Sectional semi-final. The Rams have been working toward this win all year. Even so, the Wolfpack seemed a little shellshocked by the Rams’ first set comeback.

The did not get down; they came back and won. This just might be the Rams’ year. The Rams have a remarkable 36-3 record this year. But one the three losses came at St. Laurence on October 3rd in three sets.

St. Laurence is next. The Super-sectional is Monday evening at Hinsdale South high school. With the St. Ignatius defeat avenged, there is another defeat to take care of on Monday.

As for the photos, I went a little crazy. I shot 2987 photos. I picked out 109 to process. I ended up only working up 40. I wanted to get as many as I could knowing this would be a historic game between two of the top teams in the state.

The light is always challenging in the Gentile Gym. Very yellow non-LED lights. I spoke to St. Ignatius AD Mike Hurley about it. I told him that he could not be outdone by DePaul Prep AD Pat Mahoney who just bought new LED lights for the Tom Winiecki Gym which will be installed before the basketball season. Hurley smiled and said nothing about getting new lights. My personal crusade to improve the lights in Catholic Leagues gyms still has a way to go.

I hope you like the photos.

Riverside-Brookfield Summer Shootout 2024

The Riverside-Brookfield Summer Shootout this past weekend was a good look at teams in advance this year’s upcoming tournament. I mostly cover the Chicago Catholic League and the Chicago Public League so I wanted to get a look at as many of those teams as I could. But I could only be there on Friday.

I got a look at DePaul Prep in games against Lake Zurich and DeLaSalle. The Rams have plugged in junior guard/wing Rykan Woo, a transfer from Whitney Young. The Rams return Makai Kvamme, AJ Chambers, Rob Walls and Rashawn Porter. They should pick up where they left off.

The Lane Tech Champions also looked like they picked up where they left off. Despite losing Shaheed Solebo to graduation, the Champions return Dalton Scantlebury, a top player in the 2025 class. The returning group of seniors, Braydon Rosenkrantz, Drew Bartoli, Mike Remotigue and Zach Mazanowski. Despite a close lose to Simeon in their first game, the Champions looked good.

The St. Ignatius Wolfpack looked very good against East St. Louis. Returning top player Phoenix Gill looked bigger, stronger and faster. A new group of starters, make this pack of wolves appear especially dangerous in the coming season.

I saw DeLaSalle against DePaul Prep. Meteors coach Gary DeCesare will have this talent group ready. They looked good but not good enough against the Rams.

I saw the first half of St. Laurence against Glenbard West. Jason Opeka had his Hilltoppers playing their 1-3-1 defense that was giving the talented group of Vikings, lead be returning EJ Mosley, some trouble. I didn’t get a good chance to see much of what Roshawn Russell and this Vikings will have in store for the league this winter. I asked one observer about St. Laurence. He said, “We’ll see.”

I also got a look at El Paso-Gridley. A newcomer to the R-B, the Comets look to show off their top performer Jonah Funk. The 6-9 forward didn’t dominate and played on the perimeter more that I expected. The 2-A Comets were overmatched in the game I some them play against DeKalb. It’s difficult to say how well the Comets will fair this season even with Funk. But I got a look at Funk, he will dominate the Comets conference opponents. I intend to get down to El Paso at least once this year to see Funk play, if he stays in El Paso.

I also got a look at Lou Adams’ Rich Township squad. I figured it was only a matter of time before Adams working Rich into a top team. That time appears to have arrived. Look for Rich to make a splash.

I got a look at Benet. The Redwings look special even without one of last year’s top contributor, Gabe Sularski. Sularski a couple court’s over after returning to his home town Lemont team. Sularski had a couple chippy exchanges with Whitney Young’s Antonio Munoz in their matchup.

Whitney Young is, well, Whitney Young. They will be very good as usual—maybe special. Antonio Munoz looks itching to get after a state title.

So those are my impressions of Friday. Here are a few photos from the day.

DePaul Prep Defeats St. Ignatius 57-40

Preview of my story this week in the Inside—Booster.

By Jack Lydon

The #8 ranked DePaul Prep Rams went into St. Ignatius and did what they do—play defense. The Rams held the Wolfpack to just four points in the first half and finished with a 57-40 victory over St. Ignatius. Improving their overall record to 24-2, this game also moved the Rams closer to winning the Chicago Catholic League Blue Division champion where the Rams are 5-0 with three conference games still to play.

The atmosphere in St. Ignatius Gentile Gym was electric. The gym was full. The game was on TV. A cohort of toga wearing St. Ignatius students heckled the Rams as the warmed up. The beach attired DePaul Prep students heckled the Wolfpack as they warmed up. Parents, teachers and even a former Chicago mayor filled the stands.  

Such is the stuff of a rivalry game. The Rams have three wins and two losses to St. Ignatius in the last four years. Both teams have been in the state finals the last two years. This is a proper rivalry game. Either team could win.

“It’s a rivalry game. They are well coached. They’ve got great players. This is one of the hardest places to play in the League. And we know them. They know us,” said DePaul Prep’s Tom Kleinschmidt.

“We were ready to guard. We talk about guarding. It’s hard to prepare [for our switching defense] in practice. And I have got five guys that can guard five positions so it makes it tougher,” Kleinschmidt continued

Guard they did. The Rams got every rebound in the first quarter at both ends. Every St. Ignatius shot was opposed. Only one shot went in. The score at the end of the first quarter was Rams 12, Wolfpack 2.

It was no better for the Wolfpack in the second quarter. The Rams’ defense was just on another level. Guards Makai Kavamme, AJ Chambers, Rob Walls were in the face of every St. Ignatius shooter. As was Rams’ wing/forward PJ Chambers.

But it was inside where the Rams’ defense dazzled. Senior forward Jaylan McElroy was everywhere. He dominated the paint. He grabbed rebounds. He blocked shots. If he could not get the rebound outright, he tipped the ball so his teammates could scramble to get it, which they did. Right with him in controlling the lane was Rams’ sophomore forward Rashawn Porter pretty much doing the same thing.

The Rams lead 25-4 at halftime.

St. Ignatius head coach Matt Monroe rallied his team at the half. They were a different team coming out of the locker room. Wolfpack senior guard Phoenix Gill, son of former University of Illinois star and 15-year NBA veteran Kendall Gill, dialed up his game a few notches. Held scoreless in the first half, Gill scored seventeen in the second half. Similarly, St. Ignatius senior Reggie Ray, scoreless in the first half, put in eleven points in the second half.

Don’t let the Rams’ next level defense let you think that’s all they have. The Rams can and do spread the ball around and score inside and out. Jaylan McElroy had sixteen points. Senior wing/forward PJ Chambers likewise had sixteen points. Junior point guard Makai Kvamme had thirteen. One does not want to get behind DePaul Prep. They do not turn the ball over, can break a press and make free throws.

“We knew that in order to win we had to get as many rebounds as we can. Keep them off the glass like we did. In the first half we just kept playing our game,” said Jaylan McElroy.

“We have been on TV lots of time. We were downstate last year. This was a rivalry game but we looked at it as another game. Just play our game and not look ahead,” said Rams’ senior forward Jaylan McElroy.

The schedule gets no easier for DePaul. They face DeLaSalle on Tuesday, Fenwick on Friday and then #5 Mount Carmel next Monday and #6 Benet the following Friday to close the regular season.

DePaul Prep Defeats St. Ignatius 47-43

The DePaul Prep Rams defeated the St. Ignatius Wolfpack 47-43 on Thursday evening at DePaul Prep’s Tom Winiecki Gym. Huge win for the Rams who haven’t beaten St. Ignatius in a long time. I concentrated on taking the photos so there is not much of a game recap.

Lane Tech Defeats St. Ignatius 57-51

Preview of my article in the Inside Booster:

The Lane Tech Champions (8-4, 3-1) found their way back, back from an early season injury to a key player and back from twelve-point deficit at the end of the first quarter. The Champion defeated the St. Ignatius Wolfpack (6-6, 0-2) 57-51 at St. Ignatius on Tuesday.

If there can be an important game early in season, this one sure felt like one. Both the Wolfpack and the Champions opened the season as ranked teams, #10 and #20 respectively. Both have lost their ranking after losing some games.

A win for the Wolfpack against a quality opponent such as Lane would stop their slide after a brutally difficult opening season schedule resulted in five losses to ranked teams.

A win for the Champions would bring them back from a couple losses, including an unexpected conference loss to Payton College Prep, and the absence for key contributor junior center Dalton Scantlebury. Scantlebury suffered a foot injury prior to the Payton game and has missed a few games.

The Wolfpack opened the game looking like a top ten team. The 13-0 scoring run on the Champions at the end of the first quarter made the game appear that it might not be close and the loss of Scantlebury might mean more than it was hoped. 18-6 Wolfpack at the end of the first quarter.

Lane Tech did not panic. Too well coached for that. They started playing defense. Funny how when a team starts playing defense, their shots start to fall. The Champions put together a run of their own. 25-21 St. Ignatius at the half.

Back and forth through the third and into the fourth. With time ticking down late in the fourth quarter, big players come up big. Lane’s senior Shaheed Solebo, who is considered one of the top players in the class of 2024, poured in two three-pointers from the baseline that landed like bombs erupting in the gym and put the Champions ahead for good. The Wolfpack continued to battle with plenty of time left to get the lead back but only managed three more points. The Champions made their free throws and won 51-51.

“Something just turned on. I knew we needed to win the game. Those threes might be the best [three-pointers] I have’ve had all season. I was ready to shoot. I knew those were going in,” Solebo said of the three-pointers.

Of the defensive gem pitched by the Champion, Solebo said, “Coming out after the half, we knew that stops (pointless possessions by St. Ignatius) would win us the game. We knew they were overloading the weakside. We started talking more. We started calling out screens and switching more. We played more aggressive with hands up. We just locked in on defense.”    

“It’s a big win, a team in our sectional, great program. We talked about just trying to find our identity. Dalton [Scantlebury] was such a big part of our identity early for the first six games. Now we have had six games without him. We’ve had some guys step up and do different things for us. Zack [Mazanowski] who is a wing plays [center]. Dylan [Pepper] who’s a wing plays [center,]” Lane head coach Nick LoGalbo said after the game.

Big win for sure but the season is just beginning. The Champions will face St. Louis, Missouri powerhouse basketball program Chaminade College Prep next.

“Frank Bennett, [Chaminade’s] head coach, and I coached in USA Basketball Nike Hoops Summit this past spring. We have run camps together in USA Basketball for years. We are two very like-minded individuals. We have been talking about doing this for a while. We finally got it in the books. We are going to see them next year,” said LoGalbo.

Then onto the Hinsdale Central Holiday Classic for the Champions. This will be the first appearance at Hinsdale where they could face a rematch with neighbor and newfound rival, DePaul Prep Rams on Friday, December 29.

Loyola Edges St. Ignatius 40-37 to Win the Jesuit Cup

The Loyola Academy Ramblers (7-1, 1-1) came back from five points down at the half to edge the St. Ignatius Wolfpack 40-37 (5-3, 0-1) at Loyola University Chicago’s Gentile Center Friday evening.

The Gentile Center was jumping. I have never seen student sections as crowded and as vocal at a high school game in the 500 years that I have been going to games. But then again, this is my first Jesuit Cup game.

The Wolfpack jumped out to an early lead. The Ramblers dialed up the defense with combination zone, man-to-man and 1-3-1 trapping defenses.

“We were really calm,” said Loyola head coach Tom Livatino about falling behind 11-0 at the start. “They figured it out.”

“It’s something in our program that we take a lot of pride in this game,” Loyola Academy coach Tom Livatino said after the game. “We just been fortunate enough to come out ahead,” Livatino said of the Ramblers streak of winning ten of the last eleven Jesuit Cup matchups with St. Ignatius.

“We are a long way from who we are going to be,” Livatino contined. “Our football guys, the reason we were going offense defense, because they don’t even know our sets. We have a long way to go. It’s a great win.”

“We’ve always been a defensive team. We will never not be a defensive team. It might not be everybody’s taste. We were pretty successful. We didn’t do anything special. We trapped a little bit in the second half. It doesn’t matter; guys just made plays.

“We did a poor job of closing out the game and time and score stuff. We made some bad mistakes and bad decisions. We did not go to the free throw line and make two. We’ve got to be better than that. It’s early. Our guys persevered and we got a great win,” Livatino said.

“We got to 1-1 in the [Chicago Catholic] League.The game is huge for the Jesuit Cup and our community and our seniors. It means a lot. But we have to get to 1-1 in the League. We play in the best league in Illinois, maybe the best league in the Midwest. So we had to get to 1-1 and we did.”

“Our seniors wear this game as a badge of honor. It means a lot. [The team’s] legacy has something to do with this game,” Livatino said.

“They went to their 1-3-1 [defense]. We were expecting it but we did not adjust well to it. It got us a few times. But we also got away from some of the things that had gotten there in the first place. It was a combination of that adjustment they made with the 1-3-1, them kind of solidifying their stuff and us getting away from what got us there,” said St. Ignatius coach Matt Monroe.

“We are as prepared as we ever can be when we play them, and they still run their stuff really well,” Monroe said of the Loyola defensive style of play.

“For us, it’s important to keep perspective. The Jesuit Cup is really important. It brings two Jesuit communities together. It’s more of a celebration of what the Jesuit education and the Jesuit mission is all about. So when we have a packed house and we are playing in front of all of our family, friends and alumni, it’s a big deal to us. We want to bring that Jesuit Cup home. The the other side of it is our season’s a journey. If you look at our team the last four or five years, every journey has been different. Whether it is starting slow, hitting a dip in the middle of the season or finishing strong at the end. Big games, like the Jesuit Cup or other ones, are part of the journey. It’s dissappointing not to bring that home but we’ve got Homewood-Flossmoor on Sunday. We’ve got Aurora Catholic on Tuesday, Mount Carmel on Friday. It just keeps going.”

A long way to go in the season. The Catholic League Blue is up for grabs.

St. Ignatius Falls to Riverside-Brookfield 50-49 in Chicago Elite Classic.

The St. Ignatius Wolfpack (4-2, 0-0) lost to the Riverside-Brookfield Bulldogs (5-1, 1-0) 50-49 at the Chicago Elite Classic Saturday afternoon.

The Wolfpack just could not buy a bucket at the end after going back and forth with the Bulldogs all game. The Wolfpack pushed their lead to seven points with less than three minutes to play. And that would be it. The Bulldogs rallied to score the last eight points and win the game.

“We had a couple of good shots that did not go in. A couple of missed layups but also we were very inconsistent with how we share the basketball. We don’t screen off the ball consistently. When you have lapses in those two areas, you make it a lot harder on yourself to win,” said the St. Ignatius head coach Matt Monroe.

“Mike Reingruber is a great coach. Certainly they made adjustments but I felt that it was us being inconsistent.”

“Like coach said, if we didn’t have lapses and screen off the ball, sharing the ball consistently, we would have had a bigger run,” added Reggie Ray, St. Ignatius senior guard who finished with nine points.

They were too hard on themselves. R-B 6’11” senior center had late blocks under the basket that stopped the Wolfpack. The defense of R-B and rebounds at the end won the game. That and scoring the final eight points of the game.

St. Ignatius moves on to Catholic League play with St. Francis De Sales, Loyola Academy and Aurora Central Catholic before Christmas, plus a side trip to play Homewood-Flossmoor at the Team Rose Shootout.

“Winning the Catholic League Blue is probably the toughest thing any one team can do in the State of Illinois,” added Monroe.

“We are looking forward to the challenge. We are happy to be amongst the best. We are also one of the best. Certainly every game is a learning experience. We are looking forward to that competition. Playing against the best brings out the best in you. It’s a tough slate of games. I know these guys have everything it takes.”

DePaul Prep Falls to St. Ignatius in Sectional

Preview of my story this week in Inside Publications:

The DePaul Prep girls’ varsity volleyball team fell to the St. Ignatius Wolfpack on Monday in the IHSA 3A sectional semifinal at St. Ignatius. A large crowd filled the St. Ignatius Gentile Gymnasium for the match. This high-level volleyball was action packed. The teams were never separated by more than five points in either match. The Wolfpack were just that little bit better at defending the attacks by the Rams. Ignatius topped the Rams in two sets, 25-20 and 25-22.

The Rams and their fourth-year head coach Caroline Gajzler came into the sectional fresh off their first regional since Gajzler took over the program four years ago. Gajzler, an assistant athletic director at DePaul Prep and former physical education teacher, was gracious, if not clearly disappointed after the game.

“Kudos to St. Ignatius. They played a hell of a game. They are very scrappy, in terms of defense. [St. Ignatius sophomore Skyler Greene] #10 on the right side gave us issues the entire match. Congratulations to them. On our side, we broke down in our serve and passing games. In the first set, we missed four serves and we were not passing like in our typical game,” Gajzler said.

“We started off the season inconsistent in our match play. We were having difficulty finding the court offensively. Throughout the season our attackers found consistency. Our back row found consistency. With that our confidence grew. We found a good line up that was meshing well together. And then we won some big matches. That really gave us the confidence boost,” Gajzler continued.

Rams’ “libero’ senior Charlotte Collins was a leader on the Rams squad.

“This was our best season yet. We finally clicked as a team. Everyone really wanted it this year,” Collins said after the game. Collins noted the improvement of the Rams squad from last year.

“We really found our rhythm. We learned how to play with each other and connect. Our setters connected with our hitters better. And just effort. We stepped up the game. We wanted to go farther this year and we did,” Collins said.

“Having a bond with everyone and being able to trust your teammates is just so important. If you don’t have that, everyone can be amazing on the team, but if there is no trust and support, then you can’t do anything,” Collins continued.

It was a successful season for the Rams; a 29-9 record with a thirteen-match win streak going it the St. Ignatius sectional match. With the dramatic increase in enrollment at DePaul Prep, the Rams moved up from 2A to 3A in the IHSA four level volleyball classification system. This actually helped the Rams advance through the regional finals. They did not have to face powerhouse teams like IC Catholic and Timothy Christian that defeated them in recent years.

Last weeks’ regional championship over North Grand at Prosser was a milestone for Gajzler with her first regional championship. Last year Gajzler’s Rams suffered an emotional close loss to powerhouse IC Catholic in the regional championship at DePaul. Before that was the lost COVID year with no playoffs. Before that was another close lose to powerhouse Timothy Christian in a regional final.

St. Ignatius went on to advance to the State Finals in Bloomington this coming weekend with wins in the sectional final over DeLaSalle and St. Lawrence in the Super-sectional, both teams that DePaul Prep beat in the regular season.

St. Ignatius Falls to Sacred Heart Griffin 50-39 in IHSA 3A Semi

The St. Ignatius Wolfpack fell to Springfield’s Sacred Heart-Griffin 50-39 in the IHSA 3A Semi-final. The Wolfpack hung around all game but SHG proved a little too much in the end. Richard Barron’s injury hurt the Wolfpack. A.J. Redd’s 14 points lead St. Ignatius.

That was tough but then the Wolfpack drew Simeon after Metamora upset of the Wolverines in the following semi.

I wish I could have staying in Champaign for that third place game. The Wolfpack come up with 61-59 victory over Simeon. The IHSA didn’t even post the box score. I will have to look it up on You Tube.

Here are the photos from the Sacred Heart-Griffin game.

Crete-Monee Defeats St. Ignatius in IHSA 6A Playoff 15-3

St. Ignatius College Prep Wolfpack football team fell to the Crete-Monee High School Warriors on Saturday evening (November 6, 2021) 15-3 at Fornelli Field.

It was the tale of two halves. The Wolfpack played their game in the first half—run the ball and control the clock. But their drives stalled when getting into the red zone because of penalties and they had to settle for just one field goal.

The Warriors just could not get anything going in the first half. They couldn’t throw; they couldn’t run. They got a few first downs be could not move the ball consistently.

Nevertheless, I just had the feeling that either or both teams would break some big plays in the second half.

It was Crete-Monee that made that happen. Midway through the third quarter, one of Crete-Monee’s interchangeable quarterbacks, Joshua Franklin, got free around end down to the St. Ignatius two yard-line. On the next play, one of the other interchangeable quarterbacks, Terry Elias, Jr., took a pitch around the same end and scored the first touchdown of the game. With the PAT, the Warriors took a 7-3 lead.

The Wolfpack had plenty of time to do what they had down all season, control the clock, run the football and take the lead. So they started to do, but again, penalties stalled them. This style doesn’t allow for many possessions.

The quarter came and as the time ticked away, the Wolfpack failed to convert another fourth and long and turned it over on downs to the Warriors at mid-field.

It looked like Crete-Monee would simply just run out the clock.

Joshua Franklin dropped back and hit Junior wide-receiver Lynell Billups on a skinny post. No one was going to catch him.

A palpable gasp came out of the St. Ignatius sideline. The wind came out of sail on St. Ignatius’ historic season. The Warriors added a two-point conversion off a high snap on a kick attempt. The miracle season would soon end.

The 9-2 season for the Wolfpack is their best in decades—many decades. The future lawyers, CEOs, tech moguls, doctors and priests should be proud. Think of the reunions in 30, 40 and 50 years when they can relive their glory days.

Crete-Monee gets Washington next Saturday with a chance to go to Finals in DeKalb.

As for Crete-Monee, after the game their emotional coach John Konecki told his young warriors that they had given body blow after body blow, and then, a knock out punch to the head and they won the game.

“I have never seen a more gutsy performance by any football team ever,” Konecki said.

I have to say I have never seen a happier group of winners than these young men. They came to Chicago and played tough and well. They had prevailed with their brothers and lived to play another game.

Well done.

Not my finest photos ever. But some good ones. Hope you like them.

St. Ignatius Handles Bremen 42-7 in IHSA 6A Playoff

The game ended 42-7 but it was 7-7 with 1:42 left in the first half.

Having seen St. Ignatius play a couple weeks ago, I expected the Wolfpack to be able to deal with Bremen. The Wolfpack are solid in every phase. Before the game, I asked St. Ignatius Coach Bob DeCarlo what to expect. He cautioned that Bremen had improved since the Wolfpack handled them the second game of the season.

The Wolfpack scored on their first possession. Jr. Quarterback Jake Petrow had a 70 yard run. Sr. RB Vinny Rugai finished off the drive with a three yard touchdown.

The rest of the half was just the teams trading field position until the final minutes when Bremen put together a nice drive. Bremen senior running back Keyshawn Lewis-Hunt scored with 1:45 left in the half.

Not over yet. The Wolfpack quickly moved the ball down the field. Sr. wideout Jack Molloy took a handoff around the right end and scored a six yard touchdown with 26 second left making the score 14-7 Wolfpack at the half.

Second half was all St. Ignatius. Vinny Rugai added three more touchdowns. I think it was three. Frankly, I lost track of who scored because I am there to take photos. Just too much to keep score and take photos—in the rain.

The Bremen Braves could not manage much offence against the stingy Wolfpack defense. Midway through the the fourth, the bench players came closing out a high school football for many that will never play another game.

Wolfpack moves on to face the winner of the Crete-Monee v. Glenwood game this afternoon.

I got some good photos that I am happy with given the conditions.

DePaul Prep Handles St. Ignatius 59-38

St. Ignatius has a good team. I have seen them a couple times this year and they have a good young team. Kolby Giles is a beast.

Let me tell you something. Tom Kleinschmidt’s DePaul Prep Rams handled them 59-38 last Friday (Feb. 19). The Rams jumped out to an early lead with tremendous defense and points off the break.

There was plenty of fight in the Wolfpack. Matt Monroe has his team playing well and playing as a team. After opening the game with an 18-6 run, the Rams went a little cold. When asked what happened, Kleinschmidt said, “Well Ignatius happened. They’re a good team. They spread us a little bit. We went to our bench. We haven’t played in eleven days. They’re a good team. That’s what happened to us.”

Nevertheless, the Rams just seemed too quick and too athletic. TY Johnson and Rasheed Bello are the best front court I have seen this year.

Mind you this is not expert analysis here. These are my impressions as a photographer. But man-o-man the Rams look good—fierce even.

In this COVID world, I don’t know how they stack up. I have seen other ranked teams in person and streaming. They are close to the best. If there was a normal playoff, this Rams team would be a 3A finalist. Do they beat Notre Dame to get to the title game? I don’t know. Notre Dame is loaded. I understand that match up is being planned so we might get to find out.

I hope you like the photos.

St. Ignatius Blows Past St. Laurence in Second Half for 67-49 Victory

Despite a 24-9 season last year and winning a spot in a sectional championship, number 13 ranked St. Ignatius hosted St. Laurence in a Chicago Catholic League “crossover” matchup between two teams swapping spots in CCL divisions this year. The Wolfpack were, some might say, “relegated” to the White and the Vikings moving up to the Blue division.

“I know; it’s weird. We are moving because of our record two years ago,” said St. Ignatius head coach Matt Monroe.

Relegated or not St. Ignatius is good. Coming off a disappointing 34-31 loss against Loyola Academy on Thursday, the Wolfpack looked flat and tentative in the first half. Just like they did at Loyola.

The Vikings impressed in the first half. Lead by senior guard and football quarterback Darius Wilson, the Vikings defense played well and the offence finished at the other end leading 33-30 at the half.

Monroe lit a fire under them at halftime. “I told them we have to play with energy on defense. When they got active on the defensive end, it jump started the offense,” Monroe said.

The second half was a whole different story. Ignatius outscored Laurence 18-6 in the third quarter. Ignatius did not let up in the fourth. Laurence’s frustration boiled over into two technical fouls. It was over at that point.

When asked if it is the quest for a CCL White championship motives his team, Monroe said, “I tell them to play for each other.” Make your team great.

Monroe has his team playing for each other.

Final score: St. Ignatius 67, St. Laurence 49.

DePaul Prep Handles St. Ignatius 65-34

The DePaul Prep Rams rebounded Friday night (February 21, 2020) from consecutive CCL Blue losses to Fenwick and Loyola in a convincing defeat of the very good St. Ignatius Wolfpack 65-34 at DePaul Prep.

It’s been a rough couple weeks for the Rams with three Chicago Catholic League Blue division losses in a row. Even so, it’s only 5 losses on the season total but tough losses.

St. Ignatius ran into a buzz saw that cut them up in the first quarter. The Wolfpack worked to get up shots that did not fall. It was 16-2 at the end of the first quarter. The Rams wouldn’t let them back in. It seemed they enjoyed putting it on somebody for once. The Catholic League Blue schedule is brutal.

It was a special night at the Tom Winiecki Gym. Tom Winiecki, the former Gordon Tech football coach, was actually there. I have been in that gym a million times and I don’t remember seeing that many people in attendance. It was the 40th Anniversary of Gordon Tech’s 1980 state football championship. There was special half time commemoration and many members of that team were in the Gym for the celebration.

It was wonderful to see the student section break into Go Gordon Go (the Gordon Tech fight song) at the end of the celebration. One could see what it meant to the 1980 Rams. It was a special moment.

I would remiss not to mention that the girls team won the 2A Orr Sectional and will play in the Super-sectional championship on Monday evening at DeKalb High School. This is big. I believe this is Gordon/DePaul Prep’s first girls sectional championship. The girls’ head coach Sarah Zarymbski is only 23 years old but really has her girls dialed in. It must be her St. Benedict Elementary School training. We could be in Bloomington next week for the State Tournament. Just saying.

Go Rams.

St. Ignatius Defeats DePaul Prep 10-2

The DePaul Prep Rams hosted the St. Ignatius Wolfpack Saturday (April 13, 2019) afternoon at Kerry Wood Field. The Wolfpack hitters were crushing the baseball, scoring two runs each in the first three innings. As is their way, the Rams keep fighting but could not come back, ultimately falling to St. Ignatius—10-2.

This had to be the high school baseball game with more well hit baseballs than any other I have seen. The Wolfpack absolutely pasted the baseball. Triple to the gap after triple to the gap after triple to the gap. St. Ignatius catcher J. Loftus hit a ball that I thought might leave Kerry Wood Field. I have never even seen one come close to hitting the fence. I had to watch to see if would go out. It didn’t.

St. Ignatius student photographer, junior Luke Hales, made his way up to the 47th Ward’s Kerry Wood Field for the game. He got some bad info on the start time and arrived a little later for the 4:00 p.m., start time. It didn’t much matter. He got some great shots. Luke is a very talented photographer and he’s like 16 years old. He knows how to operate the camera. Great color on his photos. He is developing an eye for composition.

My photos are not my best work. I struggled a little with the late afternoon light and shadows. The manual ISO was a problem. I should have gone auto. Nevertheless, shooting the game was useful. The photos might be ordinary, or worse, but I learned something.