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.
DePaul Prep Defeats St. Ignatius 47-43
Curie Defeats Kenwood 68-49
Kenwood led 28-24 at halftime only to be outscored 28-4 in the third quarter. I don’t know what’s happened to Kenwood but they look like a whole different team from the one I saw play Thornton at the Chicago Elite Classic.
These are the photos. Curie’s gym is a great place to photograph a game. The light is pretty good. The gym in colorful. And otherwise a great atmosphere.
DePaul Prep Suffers First Loss of the Season 57-46 to H-F
The DePaul Prep Rams (16-1, 2-0) lost their first game of this 2023-2024 season to the #2 Homewood-Flossmoor Vikings (14-1,3-0) 57-45 Saturday evening at DePaul Prep’s 5th Annual Steve Pappas Shootout.
Loyola Defeats Glenbrook North 48-38 at Steve Pappas Shootout
In the first game of the fifth annual Steve Pappas Shootout at DePaul Prep, the Loyola Ramblers defeated the Glenbrook North Spartans 48-38. The Spartans, coming off a big win over New Trier last night, ran into a hot shooting Ramblers team that was ready to play.
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.
Benet 60, Oak Park/River Forest 48 on Friday at Pontiac
Friday was a full day. First a morning trip down to Pontiac for two games then a quick trip back to Hinsdale for two more games.
Benet (14-1, 6-0) defeated OPRF (5-7, 0-2) 60-48 in the third game on Friday. The Redwings have since advanced to the Pontiac championship game by virtue of an overtime 59-58 victory over Bloom on Saturday only to lose later in the day in another overtime game to Curie 69-66 and finish second in the Pontiac Holiday Tournament.
Previously unbeaten and ninth ranked Benet certainly proved that is team, largely made up of sophomore, is an elite team that will surely rise in the rankings given its showing at Pontiac.
These are a few photos from the game.
Simeon Falls to Bloom 45-39 at Pontiac
I just love the Pontiac Holiday Tournament. The people like watching the basketball games. Everyone is friendly. The food is good. It’s easy and comfortable.
I wasn’t planning to go to Pontiac this year because I don’t really have a team to cover. But I went anyway. Simeon and Benet were playing early in the day which game me time to get back to Hinsdale to cover the Brother Rice and DePaul Prep games in the evening.
I am really glad I did. I just love going to Pontiac. (And I also recommend stopping at the World War II Museum when you are down there. It is very interesting.)
The Simeon Wolverines were battling Bloom but after Rashad McKinnie left the game with a shoulder injury they couldn’t keep up. Bloom ended up winning 45-39.
I was sitting next to this older lady from Pontiac who quite energetically routing for the Wolverines. I kind of like that. I was too shy to ask her why. I cheer for Simeon too because of Simeon’s former coach Robert Smith.
So now I have a new friend in Pontiac.
DePaul Prep Defeats Oswego East 54-39 to Advance to HCHC Championship
The DePaul Prep Rams (14-0, 2-0) defeated Oswego East (10-5, 5-1) 54-39 Friday night to advance to the tournament championship at the Hinsdale Central Holiday Classic.
It was a gutty and gritty performance by the Rams under the weight of an undefeated record. Ultimately, it was the Rams’ signature defensive strength in the fourth quarter that lifted them to a convincing but certainly less than certain victory.
While the Rams waited for their game to start, they watched Brother Rice, their Chicago Catholic League Blue rival, their fellow highly ranked team and their fellow undefeated team, lose to Marian Catholic 75-74 in double overtime.
When asked if watching Rice lose moments before their own game was to start, Rams’ coach Tom Kleinschmidt admitted it had an effect on his team.
“So yes. I don’t like to hear that. It’s probably true. It’s probably a late game. Probably having no school all coincides with it. It was our third game in three nights. I am not going to make excuses. I thought we would be a little more ready. We should have been a little bit more ready. But I think we have got some tough guys that want to win. Our culture helped us rise above that,” Kleinschmidt said.
But Kleinschmidt denied the weight of a 13-0 season played a part in the early struggles in the game. “I really don’t feel that and I would tell you that if I thought it was. I just think we do a nice job. They really handle being undefeated. They don’t even talk about it. They are pretty mature,” Kleinschmidt said.
Rams’ senior guard PJ Chambers, and the Rams as a team, struggled shooting in the first half. Chambers is usually the catalyst of DePaul Prep’s early offense. Without that punch, the Rams did not get their characteristic first period lead. The Rams’ field goal percentage in the first quarter was just 26.7% and they were 0-11 from three-point range in the first three quarters.
Midway through the third period, Oswego East started a ¾ court press when the Rams brought up the ball. Rams’ junior point guard Makai Kvamme quickly passed the ball to the middle and another quick back door pass into Rashawn Porter under the basket for a bucket. They broke the press as quickly as it started. The Wolfpack gave it up and settled directly back into their zone defense.
“I think teams do want to play us in a zone. Especially if we should the ball like we did tonight. We were 2 of 16 for 3s. We are a better shooting team than that. We have got some heavy legs and it showed tonight. Hopefully we get some rest and are fresh tomorrow,” Kleinschmidt said.
The press break sequence was a turning point. The Rams regained that confidence that they have not lacked all season. They settled into their clock control motion offense. Rams senior guard PJ Chambers, who struggled mightily shooting in the first half, opened the fourth quarter with a three-pointer and added a second three-pointer a few minutes later to lift the Rams to a six-point lead.
“We got some deflections and steals and some layups that triggered us that gave a little bit of breathing room when we were not shooting the ball well,” Kleinschmidt said. The Rams closed the game scoring the last nine points and the final score made the game seem a more lopsided than it actually was.
“It’s something all shooters go through. We have our highs, and we definitely have our lows. The main thing about a shooter is you gotta keep shooting,” Chambers said after the game.
Chambers downplayed the effect of watching Brother Rice lose. “Coach TK said, before we even started the tournament, that were going to be upsets. We definitely saw it. It was true for Brother Rice.”
Rams senior forward Jaylan McElroy did not suffer a first half slump. McElroy and fellow forward Rashawn “Shawn” Porter, who finished with 15 points, carried the Rams in the first half.
“I just kept playing my game. We were on the glass as a team but for me as an individual, I just kept the energy going. I did not let being down at the half get to me,” said McElroy, who lead all scorers with 17 points.
DePaul Prep won its opener against Lincoln-Way Central 53-25 on Wednesday. On Thursday, the Rams defeated the host Hinsdale Central Red Devils 51-33 to advance to face Oswego East. The Rams advance to face Marian Catholic in the Hinsdale Central Holiday Classic championship game.
In other action at the Hinsdale Central Holiday Classic tournament, the Lane Tech Champions dropped their first game to Maine South 56-52 then rallied in the second round to defeat Morton high school 63-30.
[Note: With the last start and finish to the game and the early deadline for the New Year’s holiday, this piece missed the deadline and will not be in the Booster this week. That’s okay. It gives me a chance to do a whole holiday tournament rap up.]
DePaul Prep Defeats Hinsdale Central 51-39
The 7th ranked DePaul Prep Rams (13-0, 2-0) defeated the host Hinsdale Central Red Devils (6-6, 2-0) 51-33 in the quarter-finals of the Hinsdale Central Holiday Classic.
It was another typical DePaul Prep Rams win, if it started a little slower than usual. The Rams lead 11-10 at the end of the first quarter—not their usual early lead. It was the second quarter where the Rams opened the lead outscoring the Red Devils 16-8. After than Reds slowly pulled away and put the game away in the fourth.
Just another day at the office for the 13-0 DePaul Prep Rams. That’s what it’s been like this season: not flashy, just business-like and effective.
DePaul Prep’s Jaylan McElroy led all scorers with 18 points. PJ Chambers had 12. Makai Kvamme had 8. Sophomore guard and PJ’s brother AJ Chambers made a splash with 7 points.
The Rams will face Oswego East in two hours (from the time this post goes live on the website). Oswego East defeated Morton 72-39 in its first game at the HCHC and defeated Maine South 47-35 to advance to the semi-final game against DePaul Prep.
Oswego’s Jehvion Starwood looks to be the wolf in the pack to watch. He had 22 points against Maine South and 5 against Morton. Otherwise, the Wolfpack distributes it scoring amongst its players pretty evenly.
In the game preceding the Rams victory over Hinsdale Central, the 5th ranked Brother Rice Crusaders (15-0, 3-0) survived a 83-80 overtime scare from Auburn (Rockford). The Crusaders will face Marian Catholic in the other HCHC semi-final.
Lane Falls to Maine South 56-52 at Hinsdale Central Holiday Classic
The Lane Tech Champions fell to the Maine South Hawks 56-52 in their first round game on Wednesday evening. Great game but the Champions’ comeback came up a little short.
DePaul Prep Handles Lincoln-Way Central 53-25
The defending 2A state champions and #7 ranked DePaul Prep Rams (12-0, 2-0) handled the Lincoln-Way Central Knights (3-8, 0-3) 53-25 at the Hindale Central Holiday Classic.
The Rams jumped out to their characteristic early lead and never looked back. Junior point guard Makai Kvamme lead all scorers with 12. Gus Donohue had 9 points off the bench in 17 minutes. Jaylan McElroy and Rashawn Porter had 9 each.
The top seed Rams got the benefit of that top seed with a little lesser competition than the usually face in the Chicago Catholic League Blue and the fancy shootouts. That will change soon enough. They could easily face their neighbor, the Lane Tech Champions, that gave them fits in the Chicago Elite Classic. If they get past Lane, they might face the 5th ranked Brother Rice Crusaders in the championship game of the HC Squared on Saturday.
The Rams will likely face host and defending champion Hinsdale Central tomorrow at 7:00 p.m. The Red-Devils have a big lead as this item goes to live on the website.
Lots of basketball to play. I love this time of year.
Antioch 61, Boylan 41
The Antioch Squoits (5-5, 4-0) took apart Boylan Catholic on Friday night 61-41 in Antioch. The mythical swamp creatures have length and the 1-3-1 defenses employed by Coach Sean Connor takes advantage of that length.
Boylan was forced to shoot over that zone in the first half. A couple threes keep the Titans close but Antioch pulled away. The Titans rallied a little with great ball movement in the second half against the 1-3-1 and got some back door buckets but they could not keep it up.
The Sequoits are a true point guard away from being really good. As it is, they sit on top of the Northern Lake County Conference (not to be confused with the Northern Illinois Conference) at 4-0 heading into the Wheeling tournament next week where they can do some damage.
Keep on eye on Sean’s Antioch Sequoits. They are a team on the move.
DePaul Prep Rallied to Defeat Taft 50-38
After the Lane v. Chaminade game, I left for the Tom Winiecki Gym. Six minutes later I arrrived just after the second half of the DePaul Prep v. Taft game started. The game was tied. Both teams were running and gunning. A fast paced game.
In the fourth, the Rams defense got a bunch of stops. On the other end the Rams finished layups and free throws to build a lead and they won the game 50-38. An impressive finish against a talented Taft squad.
The Rams move on to the Loyola Christmas tournament next week.
Merry Christmas basketball fans!
Lane Tech Falls to Chaminade 64-60
Chaminade College Prep, the St. Louis Catholic high school with a nationally renowned powerhouse basketball program, came to Chicago to face Lane Tech at Lane Tech. Lane’s head coach Nick LoGalbo coaches with Chaminade’s coach Nick Bennett in the USA Basketball program. They have been wanting to make this game happen for a while now and it started today. Lane goes to St. Louis next year.
Chaminade is one of the schools that travels and plays a national schedule in big time shootouts. Frankly, our Lane Tech Champions are not on that level, at least not yet. But somehow after being down 40-28 at the half, the Champions battled back and near edged Chaminade in the end.
I continue to be impressed with the fight in the Champions. Not the biggest, the most athletic nor most skilled but I have not seen a team this year with more fight.
Final: Chaminade 64, Champions 60.
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.
DePaul Prep Handles Loyola 40-18
The DePaul Prep Rams are for real. They just keep passing test after test. The #9 ranked Rams (10-0, 2-0) defeated the #25 ranked Loyola Academy Ramblers (8-3, 1-2) 40-18 at DePaul Prep on Friday.
If defense is Loyola’s calling card, DePaul Prep handed it right back to them Friday night at DePaul Prep’s Tom Winiecki Gym, and then some. The Ramblers has only managed to score nine points against the Rams until well into the fourth quarter. That’s not a typical high school even for the notoriously low scoring Catholic League games. The Ramblers managed to double that output in garbage time finishing with 18 points.
The Rams had struggled against the ‘Blers in recent years dropping four out of the last five games they have played with scores typically in the thirties and forties. Last year’s score was the lowest of the last five with a 39-36 Loyola win.
DePaul Prep’s man-to-man defense denied open shots to the Ramblers. Rams’ guards PJ Chambers, Makai Kvamme, Rob Walls and AJ Chambers were defending everything. The shots the Ramblers did manage to get up, didn’t fall. Rams forward Jaylan McElroy, Jonas Johnson and Rashawn Porter battle on the boards preventing easy second shots for the Ramblers.
Junior forward Jonas Johnson led the scoring for the Rams with ten points including to three-pointers that lifted the Rams late in the first quarter. Senior guard PJ Chambers had nine points despite missing significant minutes because of some early foul trouble. Senior forward Jaylan McElroy finished with eight points.
The Chicago Catholic League Blue is largely regarded as the best conference in the state this year. Six of its nine teams have been ranked this year: # 4 Mount Carmel, #5 Brother Rice, #9 DePaul Prep, #13 DeLaSalle, #25 Loyola and formerly ranked St. Ignatius. The win over Loyola lifted the Rams to 2-0 in the conference. Mount Carmel and Brother Rice also remain undefeated in conference play with Friday night wins over St. Ignatius and DeLaSalle respectively.
“Lane was ranked in the pre-season. Lane tested us. Niles North tested us. Those teams are good. We haven’t been Catholic League tested. Loyola was on the road at Br. Rice. They were [tested] and we weren’t. I was nervous about that,” Rams’ head coach Tom Kleinschmidt said. His Rams passed the test handling the Ramblers like they haven’t in recent years.
Of his defense, Kleinschmidt said, “I think we switched up on them. We took them out of their first and second options. We stayed home on some shooters. The ball was not falling for them. We had a little bit to do with that. There we some shots that they would make on other teams.”
Loyola’s coach Tom Livatino is as good as it gets and dialed up the defense at the start of the second quarter going to his high-pressure trapping one-three-one defense.
“We had some unforced turnovers that we were not real happy with but the way we were guarding we forgave that a little bit,” Kleinschmidt continued. “We practiced the one-three-one. We have seen it on film and we were prepared for it.”
Coach Kleinschmidt was all business after the game with little time to celebrate a dominant Catholic League victory. That might have something to do with the fact that the Rams will face #6 ranked Bloom Township (5-2) on Sunday.
“They are big and strong. We haven’t watched them. We put all of our eggs in the Loyola basket. We will watch it tonight and tomorrow morning and then we will have practice. It’s the last game before [Christmas] break. We will go play our ass off and give it shot,” Kleinschmidt said of Bloom.
Lane Falls to Lemont 60-57 at Team Rose Shootout
The Lane Tech Champions lost to Lemont 60-57 at the Team Rose Shootout on Saturday.
The Champions battled and had a chance to tie at the end but the shot did not fall.
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.
DePaul Prep Rallies to Come Back and Defeat Trinity 50-47
That was a bad a first half as I have seen a DePaul Prep/Gordon Tech girls varsity team play. Turnovers, traveling, fouls, missed shots, no rebounds, you name it. Somehow, by the grace of the Almighty, they were only down 24-17.
Whatever the DePaul Prep Rams coach Sarah Zarymbski said to her team at halftime, she should write down and sell it.
It worked. The Rams were a whole new team in second half. The energy was 100% better. The started playing defense. They got most of the rebounds offensive and defensive. They starting shooting. The shots started falling. They all but erased the deficit in the third quarter. Down 31-30 entering the final frame.
The fourth quarter was back and forth. Trinity is good. No quit in the Blazers.
The Rams had the ball after a time out with 42.9 to play and the score tied. Moving the ball around looking for a shot with the clock running down, junior guard Maliah Wood got the ball. Square to the basket lining up the three-pointer, she finished the half the way she started it—a three-pointer that was never in doubt. Nothing but net.
Eight seconds on clock. Curiously, down 50-47, the Blazers moved the ball into the paint for a two point bucket. Even so the shot did not fall. Rams come back from a terrible first half to win 50-47.
New Canon RF 100-300mm, f2.8 Telephoto Lens Tested
I rented the new Canon RF 100-300mm, f2.8 telephoto lens (from lensrentals.com—shameless plug) to shoot basketball this week and at the Chicago Elite Classic. So here are my thoughts on using it to shoot basketball.
I know this is all inside baseball for all but the nerdiest sports shooters. The Canon 300mm 2.8 is a staple, a legend. Ubiquitous one might say. Sun-Times photographer Allen Cunningham told me several years ago that when he got a 300/2.8, it changed for his photography. It made him feel like and shoot like a pro. That’s pretty damn high praise from maybe the best sports photograher in the State of Illinois.
I recently got a Canon R3, the flagship mirrorless camera, the best sports camera that I have used. So the new RF (meaning Canon mirrorless) lens 100-300mm would be nice.
Word is that Canon no longer manufactures its iconic 300mm 2.8 prime. If one wants that legendary, life-changing lens, it will have to be one like the new RF 100-300mm, 2.8 telephoto zoom that I rented.
Except it costs like $9,000. I know, it will last a lifetime and change your life, make you into a pro-level shooter. But . . . $9,000? Plus tax. That’s a lot of money. Like a car. The first car that I bought was a lot less than that, new.
I own a Canon 300mm zoom but it is not f2.8. It’s a good useful lens, especially for daylight football, but it is not razor sharp like the legend.I have use the EF 300 prime quite a few times. I rented the 300mm 2.8 prime when the occasion called for it.
So, is the new 300mm zoom better than the old 300mm prime?
Sure seems to be it is to me. It’s just a razor ship and quick on the auto focus as the legend. No issue there. It’s seems a little longer and a little heavier. Not an issue when it comes to the old versus the new.
But that is not the comparison that interests me. The question now is does the new 300/2.8 take out the other legend, the truly ubiquitous Canon 70-200mm/f2.8 lens that everyone needs, everyone has and everyone loves. It is the basketball lens. One cannot shoot a basketball game without one. One cannot hardly live life without that great lens. It is the most, and I write this without the slightest bit of exaggeration, the best and most important lens in the history of the world.
What if one just extends the reach of the GOAT another 100mm? Does the new lens to that? Does this lens give one the fully reach to the other end of the court for the tight shots without the unacceptable crop factor? I thought to myself, I am a big guy heavy lens have not bother me before. The significant weight should not be an issue.
Could this new lens revolutionize the world of photography. A revolution, even at the cost of $9,000, might be worth it.
I shot seven games with it, and parts of a couple other. It was big and heavy to use for basketball in place of a 70-200mm. I found that I really needed the 24-70mm for right under the basket. I also found the 70-200 is indispensible for the near court action. the 70-200 is quicker to pick up, point and shoot than the 100-300.
Admittedly, the 100-300 was great for the far court action. I got some shots in the Kenwood v. Thornton game at the Chicago Elite Classic that I have never gotten before.
So the conclusion? The 100-300 is just too heavy and the throw from 100mm and 300mm is just to slow.
So I guess the long and longer of it is that for basketball the 100-300 is a bit of a luxury. It has an application on a big college-sized court. I might and probably will rent one for a state championship finals. But for $9,000, at this stage in my career, such as it is, it is just too expensive of a piece of glass.
But for football, I could definitely use one. Just no way around it. If one is going to shoot a high school football night game, one must have one. But I already knew that.
This was about the impact of the lens on basketball. So no. The new lens does not take over basketball.
I guess when I win the lottery I will get one to use for football, soccer and lacrosse and occasionally for basketball. The 70-200 is safe.
