Kleinschmidt Against Kleinschmidt

SPORTS SPOTLIGHT BY JOHN MONTGOMERY 

Potential state basketball semifinal matchup in Class 4A  between Benet [32-1) and DePaul Prep (29-3) is more than just a game. The contest puts Tom Kleinschmidt against his brother Dave Kleinschmidt who is an assistant and sophomore coach at Benet.

Both squads won regional titles last week. This would be a rematch as Benet beat the Rams to win Pontiac Holiday tournament.

"If that would happen it would be surreal," DePaul Prep head basketball coach Tom Kleinschmidt admitted. "Keep in mind we are in the Loyola sectional with seven top 25 teams. We are just focused on the next game."

   "We haven't talked about and if that happened it would be great," Dave Kleinschmidt stated. "That game is down the road. We are focused on our next opponent in state tournament. We are both in  tough sectionals."

Last season went well for the Kleinschmidt brothers on the court. Benet  won its first state basketball title while the Rams won Class 3A in overtime over Brother Rice. The celebration was a little subdued as Tom Kleinschmidt, Sr. passed away.

"It was so special with both of us winning state championship," Dave Kleinschmidt declared. "The odds of both of us getting downstate were long odds and impossible to imagine."

Tom Kleinschmidt Sr had a major impact on both men growing up in Chicago. Mr. Kleinschmidt played basketball at Weber with a young man named Mike Krzyzewski. Kleinschmidt eventually became one of the best high school basketball referees in the state and worked three jobs to support his family.

"The players and coaches knew they were always going to get a fair whistle from my father, " Dave Kleinschmidt said. 

"He had me around basketball at a young age," Tom Kleinschmidt Said about his father. "I got to meet legends and great players while learning the game of basketball. He would take me to watch games at Westinghouse."

The Kleinschmidt brothers are two different people with different backgrounds despite growing upin the game of basketball. Tom has essentially been a celebrity for most of his life. The older Kleinschmidt named after his father played grade school hoops at St John Bosco before attending Gordon and becoming one of the best Prep basketball players in our state.

The Rams lost the 1990 Class AA championship to King in his junior year. Three starters returned the following season as Kleinschmidt broke his ankle in a home game against Loyola ending his career and dreams of winning the state basketball championship that eluded him.

“I knew something was wrong after making the shot," Kleinschmidt admitted. ""We still had a good team I thought we would get back downstate. It was disappointing. It was hard to watch. We lost to a good team New Trier and Rick Hielscher in state playoffs."

Tom talked about being the center of attention as a player and coach.

"I have great friends and family who keep me humble," Kleinschmidt said. "I wouldn't do anything differently. I loved playing at DePaul University. I loved playing for Joey Meyer."

“Tom is just a normal guy," Dave Kleinschmidt said. "He is very humble and grateful. I love my brother. If anybody is a celebrity I think it is our father."

Dave played his high school basketball at St Patrick before becoming a coach with AAU Illnois Wolves for 17 years and special education teacher at Batavia. Tom was head varsity basketball coach at York before returning to take the reins at his alma mater DePaul Prep in 2012. The Rams are going for four straight state basketball banners joining Peoria Manual (1993-97) and Simeon (2009-2013).

Dave was a sophomore coach at York under his brother. Dave has led Benet to five sophomore conference basketball titles recently as head coach.

Both squads have been on a collision course and top of rankings and expectations since the season began in November. The Kleinschmidt brothers assessed both teams.

   Tom talked about Benet who beat the Rams to win Pontiac Holiday tournament in December.

"Gene (Heidkamp) at Benet is one of the best coaches in the state," Kleinschmidt stated. "The culture of their program is great. They have been one of the most consistent winning programs the last 15 years in the state."

Dave talked about the Rams.

"They have great chemistry," Dave Kleinschmidt said. "They have been playing together since sophomore year."

This reporter would pay to watch the rematch at Assembly Hall with four of the best basketball players in the state facing each other. Benet is led by seniors Colin Stack and Jayden Wright. The Rams feature the dynamic duo of Rashaun Porter and Rykan Woo.

  One team that might be overlooked is Curie (26-1) who just captured CPS championship with Justin Oliver and Mike Oliver, Jr.

Both brothers will admit the most important thing they learned from their father is to have good communication with players on and off the court. Players and coaches knew as long as they were professional and courteous they could ask questions of referee Tom Kleinschmidt Sr.

"I am more than just a basketball coach," DePaul Prep head basketball coach Tom Kleinschmidt admitted in a recent interview.

Lane Falls to St. Ignatius 66-60 at Chicago Elite Classic

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

By Jack Lydon

The Lane Tech Champions (2-3) have had a rough start. They came up short 66-60 on Friday against #11 St. Ignatius at the Chicago Elite Classic at UIC’s Credit One Arena. In their first five games, the Champions have faced five ranked teams, #4 DePaul Prep, #11 St. a Ignatius, #18 Niles North, who they beat, and #21 Curie.

“I have a lot of faith in this team. This is the best team I think with have had at Lane. It would be great being 5-0 here on December 6th, but we want to be ready in March,” Lane Tech Champions head coach Nick LoGalbo said of his tough schedule.

“This team has a chance to do some special things. We lost three heartbreakers. Curie was a last second shot. We have got to put some games together now,” LoGalbo continued.

Much is said about win/loss records. Should a team pile up wins or is it better to put tough teams on one’s schedule? Fans like a gaudy win loss record but coaches know it’s better to have faced tough competition when hiding into the IHSA playoffs in March.

LoGalbo is confident about his team in large part because of the team’s “length”—a reference to the size of his players and their ability of his defenders to force outside shots.

“They have a ton of length. That’s one of their many strengths,” said St. Ignatius head coach Matt Monroe regarding Lane.

“We wanted to hunt good shots. We couldn’t just one pass and shoot a three because they were going to have a guy right there. We needed to get our shooters open and get their lengthy guys away from our shooters by driving and kicking,” Monroe continued.

“We talked a little bit about trying to navigate their length, to finish off two feeds, shot fake around the rim, if you don’t get them to bite then kick it out to the shooters. That played a big role in our open shots in the second half.”

And that’s largely what happened. Just a few points separated the teams throughout the first half as the teams traded buckets. But in the second half, the drive-kick-pass-shoot offense of St. Ignatius installed resulted in seven three-point field goals.

“They shot 50% from three. We had two tough teams that know each other exceptionally well. They know what we are going to run. We know what they are going to run. They did a good job of taking us out of some of the things we wanted to do. We made some adjustments and we were getting some clean looks. But at the end of the day, we made some bonehead mistakes,” LoGalbo lamented.

The Champions move on into Chicago Public League play with upcoming games against Westinghouse, Kenwood, Clarke and a rematch against Phillips. Lane also travels next weekend to Washington D.C., to play in the Gonzaga high school tournament. This is more of the boot camp to get ready for the March state title run.

The Chicago Elite Classic is a high school basketball “shootout” organized and hosted by legendary CPS high school coaches Tyrone Slaughter and retired Simeon coach Robert Smith. Top teams from the Chicago area are invited play other top teams. Also invited are top teams from around the country. This year, those teams are Mater Dei from Los Angeles, Chaminade from Missouri and Duncanville from Texas.

DePaul Prep Season So Far, What's Next?

Ten games into the 2019-2020 season so far and the DePaul Prep Rams sport an impressive 9-1 overall record and 5-0 in the Chicago Catholic League. The Rams only loss was to #3 ranked Notre Dame. At this point last year, the Rams had an identical record with their only loss being to Benet Academy.

On the eve of the second phase of the season, the Hinsdale Central Holiday Classic, the Rams record is not entirely unexpected given the schedule so far. But I am particularly impressed with how the Rams have won. They have not played like a young team making a lot of mistakes. They rarely trail in games. They just go about their business and methodically take down opponents. Not flashy. Not frantic. Businesslike, steady and determined.

Tyler Johnson has stepped up as the team’s main scorer. And score he does. I don’t have exact stats (which is a weakness of this report but I can’t take photos and keep stats). Tyler must be averaging over 20 points a game. Lance Mosley is solid as a rock in terms of points, defense and rebounds. His three point shooting propelled the Rams to victory against Leo on Friday.

Rasheed Bello has impressed as well. I didn’t get to sophomore games last year. I heard he was good and that the coaches were very high on him, but I hadn’t seen him. I have seen him now. There was a moment in the Providence game early in the third quarter when the Rams were in the midst of a 22-0 run, with the game well in hand and the Rams in no real danger of losing, when I saw Rasheed Bello take off done the court trying to get back on defense as if his life depended on it. He was playing as hard as he could with the game well in hand—extra effort that one might expect at the end of an important game, late in the season.

I ought not have started writing about individual players. I don’t have the ink to write about every player. My leaving out the others is no reflection on them. It’s more of a reflection of the amateurishness of this blog. But I will say that the whole team shows a maturity that belies its tender years. 

Looking ahead to the upcoming phases, we have the Christmas tournament, the CCL schedule and then the 3A playoffs. I know I shouldn’t get ahead of myself, but that is what I do here. I indulge in the foolish luxury of playing out the season in my head and examining the possibilities.

The Hinsdale Central Holiday Classic is a good tournament. It’s well run and spectator friendly. (There is no media room with tables to work at but that’s a problem for only a few geeks like me—but a problem nonetheless that ought to be addressed!) The field is large with a couple ranked teams, DePaul, Marian Catholic, Stevenson. St. Rita, also. The Rams have made it into the final four of the tournament that last couple years, falling to eventual champion St. Rita in the semi-final in 2017 and Marian Catholic last year.

Joe Henricksen just published his holiday tournament preview basically suggesting anyone of the ranked teams, Stevenson, Marian Catholic or DePaul Prep could win. He also wrote some complimentary words about Tyler Johnson. The HCHC will be another test for the Rams.
As the bracket lines up, the Rams face Richards tomorrow night, then probably home team Hinsdale Central or Westinghouse on Thursday evening. If they get past those teams, they will have #8 ranked Marian Catholic (7-2, 1-1) on Friday night at 8:30. That will be tough. I saw Notre Dame handle Marian Catholic. Given they way the Rams played Notre Dame, I don’t see any reason to be too afraid of Marian Catholic. Get past Marian and you’re looking at #18 Stevenson or #9 Homewood-Flossmoor. Definitely doable but quite a feat if done.

Then the bulk of the season comes after the tournaments. Fourteen games in January and February including tough non-conference games against Deerfield, Peoria Manual and Benet. At the end, come the all-import Chicago Catholic League deciding games against Fenwick, Loyola and St. Ignatius. I have to think there will be a couple upsets in conference play and the top teams will come into the final games with at least one loss each leaving the head-to-head matchups to decide the League champ. It seems to always come down to beating Loyola, Fenwick and St. Ignatius. Achieving an accomplishment like winning the Catholic League is hard. Winning the Catholic League has been the goal of the season to me. When I was a kid I remember my dad talking this his school, St. Phillip, now long closed, playing in the Catholic League. It meant something him even as an old man. I have written it before and I will write it again, “First things first; win the Catholic League.”

I am not going to preview the playoffs with two thirds of the season to play. That day will come. And sooner than I would like. Only seventy-three days left in the season. Enjoy them while they last.

And as always, Go Rams.  

Lane Tech Falls to Westinghouse 20-7

What looked to be a blowout by Westinghouse in the first few minutes turned into an exciting defensive struggle. Lane Tech couldn’t make up for early miscues and falls to Westinghouse Friday afternoon (Sept. 20, 2019) 20-7.

On Westinghouse’s first offensive play from scrimmage the tailback went up the middle for about a fifty yard touchdown run. Westinghouse then stopped the Indians and blocked a punt. Westinghouse picked up the blocked punt and ran it in for a touchdown.

Just that fast Lane was behind 12-0.

To their credit there was no quit. What could have turned into a rout, didn’t. The Indians defense stiffened. The offence put together a nice drive and it was 20-7 at the half.

There it would remain. A defensive struggle broke out in the second have. Lane moved the ball on a couple late drives only to turn the over deep in Westinghouse territory. Westinghouse held the ball and ran out the clock.

Lane Tech drops to 2-2 on the season and will face Lincoln Park at home next Thursday evening at 7:15.