DePaul Prep Defeats Bradley-Bourbonnais 57-28

These are some photos from the Bradley-Bourbonnais game from last Monday. It was kind of overtaken by events, Christmas and all. The DePaul Prep Rams defeated Bradley-Bourbonnais 57-28 in the Tom Winiecki Gym.

It was an afternoon game on a Monday. I like afternoon games.

The Rams handled Bradley. They just had no answer for Gus Johnson and Zion Lee on the glass.

I post this on Sunday, six days after the game. Pontiac starts tomorrow. It’s serious now. 11-1 through the first part of the season. 3-0 in the Catholic League with two of the big ones, Loyola and St. Ignatius navigated successfully.

But now it’s Pontiac. Just another thing. Just another couple games on the schedule. Even so, it’s a challenge. Serious business. Benet and Curie. The granddaddy of all Christmas tournaments. It’s a chance to make a statement, to make some friends, to show people how good this group is. And hopefully add another sentence in the story of DePaul Prep basketball.

If you haven’t been to Pontiac, you should make the trip. It’s a little over two hours done there. Very nice facility. The light in the gym is okay. It could be better but there are worse places.

Lake View Defeats Antioch 56-49 at Elgin

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

By Jack Lydon

Lake View basketball is on the rise. The Wildcats defeated the Antioch Sequoits 56-49 at the Elgin Holiday Tournament Friday afternoon. The Wildcats (7-5) and Sequoits (2-10) started slowly. It was 8-2 Antioch at the end of the first quarter. That did not last.

“Whenever we pressure the ball, it opens up the floor. Whenever we are low energy, we pick it up with the press,” said Lake View junior Tysean Davis, a transfer from Uplift. The Wildcats dialed up the pressure with a smothering full court press on the Sequoits early in the second quarter and scored 43 points in the second and third quarters combined for a 15-point lead at the start of the fourth.

“We knew that was going to come. We played them in the summer. They turned the heat on in the second quarter. And obviously, we handled it with more poise in the second half,” said Antioch head coach Sean Connor.

Don’t let the Sequoits record fool you. Coach Connor, a long-time sophomore coach at area powerhouse DePaul Prep, has his Sequoits in a rebuilding year but they are tough, athletic and well coached.

The Wildcats had a 15-point lead at the start of the fourth quarter which the Sequoits cut to four with about two minutes to play. However, not only can the Wildcats play defense, they can finish. Senior leader LeDarrell Goss El, himself a transfer from Perspectives, drained three free throws at the end to seal the victory of Lake View.

An impressive win for the Wildcats. Tysean Davis, credited by Coach Patterson on being the team’s best defender, lead all scorers with 25 points. The one-two punch of Tysean Davis and LeDarrell Goss El promises to make in interesting combo for the balance of the season.

“LeDarrell Goss El has been a great addition. He is leading the Red-North now in scoring. He is averaging about 19 points a game. He has a couple 28, 29-point games, but he has also had a nine-assist game,” Patterson said.

“Our goal when I got here was to move from the [Chicago Public League’s] White [division] to the Red. It took us four years to do it but we went undefeated last year in the White to advance to the Red,” Patterson added.  

Cognizant that Lake View High School is the oldest high school in the state of Illinois, having opened in 1874, and at that time with the City of Lake View was not even part of the City of Chicago, “I wanted to come to Lake View because they did not have a history of basketball excellence. I wanted to build that,” Patterson said.

The Wildcats are not just content with the move to the Red. They are right in the thick of things in CPL’s Red-North division with Lincoln Park, Whitney Young, Lane Tech, Payton, Amundsen, Northside and Taft. Despite losses to Lincoln Park and Lane, the Wildcats have the Payton, Amundsen and Whitney Young games circled on the calendar and are looking to firmly establish themselves in the Red. More than that, Coach Patterson is looking to build Lake View into a basketball school.

“I am looking forward to the second half of the season. And the Regional is in our favor. We are in 3A in the DeLaSalle Sectional. For our regional, we’ve got Schurz, King, and Hyde Park. None of those teams scare me,” Patterson said.

“It’s not like the past when we’ve had St. Ignatius, DePaul Prep. No way in the world were we gonna get past those guys but these teams, we feel like if we play like we are supposed to, we are going to be in the race. It would be the first regional championship in Lake View history.”

LA

Bliss Helps Montini Win Another State Football Title

SPORTS SPOTLIGHT BY JOHN MONTGOMERY

 

Charlie Bliss is probably the most successful offensive coordinator in the history of high school football in Illinois. Bliss helped Maine South and Loyola win eight state football championships. Bliss is now on the coaching staff with Mike Bukovsky at Montini who has won back-to-back state football championships.

“I tell everyone that I am a lucky guy,” Bliss admits.

“Our offensive co-ordinator Charlie Bliss took our offense to another level," Bukovsky admitted.

A 1975 graduate of Schurz High School, he grew up dreaming of becoming an NFL quarterback, the next Terry Bradshaw or Joe Montana. His hero was Joe Namath who also won the big game. The former Bulldog quarterback was named to participate in the first ever Chicago Public League/Catholic League all-star game at Hanson Stadium.

Bliss played football locally in Chicago at Northeastern Illinois University. He failed in tryouts with the Chicago Bears, Chicago Blitz and Miami Dolphins. 

“I had a cup of coffee with the Bears and the coffee got cold,” he joked.

Finally, in 1992, at 35 years of age, he led the Racine Raiders semi-pro team to a 15-0 record by throwing 59 touchdown passes. It was his final season of competitive football and time to look for another job.

He found it at Maine South High School in Park Ridge starting as freshman coach in 1990. As offensive coordinator, he helped produce six state championship teams by developing a series of outstanding quarterbacks, including John Schacke, Sean Price, Charlie Goro, Tyler Benz, Matt Alviti and Nick Leongas in a wide-open spread passing offense that is still popular today. Bliss stayed with the Hawks until 2022 before landing with Loyola.

In 2023 and 2024, Bliss was offensive assistant coach at Loyola Academy in Wilmette. Bliss would work with quarterback Ryan Fitzgerald who led the Ramblers to back-to-back state championships. Fitzgerald, son of former Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald, threw 45 touchdown passes in two years while rushing for 15 touchdowns. He currently is a backup quarterback at Iowa.

His current post is at Montini in Lombard. Not surprisingly, he started the season seeking another state championship. Mission accomplished as top seeded Montini(14-0) won its eighth state title 48-33 over nine-time champion Rochester (12-2)

“I would rather look forward than behind,” Bliss said, summing up a career that was capped in 2023 with his induction into the Illinois High School Football Coaches Association’s Hall of Fame. “My most important title in my life isn’t coach  but it is father and husband. The greatest uniform I ever wore in my life was as a firefighter.”

He served as a Chicago fireman for many years while being an assistant football coach at two of the most successful programs in Illinois high school history. Add Montini to the list. Montini won 300 games and six state championships under former coach Chris Andriano and added another state title under Bukovsky in 2024.

It all began at Maine South in 1990. Bliss heard there was an opening for a freshman football coach at the school. He got the job. Later, he moved up to the varsity staff as offensive coordinator under head coach Phil Hopkins. One of the first quarterbacks he worked with was Schacke.

“Phil Hopkins is one of the greatest high school football coaches in history,” Bliss said. “His philosophy was always to find a way to win and he taught me that philosophy, which helped me as a coach.”

It didn’t come easy. Maine South suffered through a 1-8 freshman football season with Schacke. Schacke didn’t start as a junior but led the Hawks to their first state title in 1995. They rallied to upset Mount Carmel 31-28 for the 5A championship as Schacke passed for 250 yards and three touchdowns. The hero of the game was Brian Schmitz, who kicked a 37-yard game-winning field goal with eight seconds to play.

“He (Schmitz) probably is the best athlete ever at Maine South,” Bliss said, with all due respect to three-sport star and NFL Hall of Famer Dave Butz. “He was the fastest freshman at North Carolina. He was the starting point guard in basketball and best wide receiver on our team. He was the punter on our team. He was an amazing athlete.”

The victory over perennial state power Mount Carmel put Maine South on the map.

Now Bliss is coaching at Montini, where he is working with another gifted quarterback, junior Israel Abrams, who has passed for 4,040 yards and 40 touchdowns. Abrams helped Broncos to their 23rd straight victory by completing 20 of 30 passes for 418 yards and five touchdown tosses in 4A championship against Rochester.

The secret to his success?

“I know what a quarterback is going through on the field,” he said. “I am always talking with my quarterback. It’s not just about corrections. If he throws a touchdown pass, I will ask him when he gets off the field what he saw on that play. I am not going to dwell on the negatives.”

Looking ahead to 2026, Bliss is eager to have an opportunity to coach his son, also named Charlie, currently an eighth grader in Naples, Florida, who will join his father at Montini next August. He’ll be wearing No. 11, his father’s old number.

Gavin Building Fenton Basketball Team into Factor in Upstate Eight

SPORTS SPOTLIGHT BY JOHN MONTGOMERY 

 

The life of a sophomore basketball coach and teacher isn't glamorous although suburban coaches do make more money.

Two of the greatest high school coaches in the state were Mount Carmel football coach Frank Lenti, who won 11 state championships and St. Joseph head varsity basketball coach Gene Pingatore who won 1,035 games and two state titles. Both men began their long career as lower-level coaches.

No dynasty or good winning program is built without good assistant coaches or good lower level coaches. Jack Gavin who is currently the sophomore basketball coach at Fenton is hoping to help Charles Taft build the Bison into a top program in the Chicago area. Gavin is starting his third season at Fenton after beginning his high school coaching career at Elwood Park going 17-5 at the lower level.

“The sky is the limit for him,” Fenton head varsity basketball coach Charles Taft said about his 25 year-old sophomore coach. Taft coached on the Northwest Side at Notre Dame for Girls and St. Patrick.

“He always had fun,” former Orr point guard Handy Johnson said on his former basketball student. “Jack was super competitive. Jack had the ability to be a good basketball coach because even at a young age he really understood the game. He is a player’s coach.”

To say Gavin grew up in the game of basketball would be an understatement. Gavin played in high school at Elmwood Park and has participated in the Sharks suburban youth AAU basketball program as a player and coach. The Sharks recently stunned the basketball team run by former NFL player Tai Streets.

Off the court, Gavin will start student teaching next year after receiving his masters degree from Purdue. Gavin played for Illinois Benedictine University in Lisle led by Keith Bunkenburg.

“He knows the game of basketball,” Bunkenburg said on his former point guard. “What a great kid. Fenton is lucky to have him.”

Lower-level coaches like Gavin have a big job besides player development. Guys like Gavin are also responsible for recruiting and scouting opponents. One other issue since freshmen play varsity basketball you might have to deal with a lesser talented team at times while the varsity coach is juggling the roster. In the past depending on the league freshmen would participate in both sophomore and varsity games playing limited minutes. Ultimately the job of any lower-level coach is to prepare the player for the varsity. 

“It is not about wins and losses at our level,” Gavin said on his job as sophomores coach. “It's hard to win basketball games.”

 “I hired him because he was young energetic and willing to learn,” Taft admitted and he has now won over 300 varsity basketball games in his career. “He wasn't a know it all. A lot of young coaches in the game of basketball think they know everything. He does a great job getting our sophomores ready to play on the varsity.”

Fenton (2-9) is struggling so far this season with only two seniors. The Bison finished the week by beating Ridgewood in Upstate Eight while sophomore squad is 4-6 under Gavin in early basketball contests.

The Lakers of the NBA are struggling to figure out what to do with Bronny James, who is son of superstar Lebron James and is currently playing with the big boys after playing primarily in the G League last year. The younger James is averaging only two points per game. The Lakers are looking at possibly adding Rodney Gaston of the Windy City Inferno who leads ABA in scoring. A player, who by the way, the Bulls have declined to sign or even give a tryout.

Gavin had his high school playing career in basketball derailed by torn labrum during his senior year at Elmwood Park in 2018. So, Gavin who was a point guard received an early start on his coaching career. 

“It was tough getting hurt in my senior year,” Gavin stated. “I was worried about getting hurt because I wanted to play college basketball.”

Gavin learned the game from Johnson, Bunkenburg, Kelly and his father Pat Gavin who played at Steinmetz and later coached at Fenton. The older Gavin coached in the Sharks basketball program started by Matt Kelly 14 years ago.

Mount Carmel football is probably the most successful varsity program in any sport with 17 championships. Jordan Lynch who replaced Lenti enters 2026 going for an unprecedented fifth straight title after topping Oswego in Class 8A championship game at Illinois State. Lynch is 88-12 with five titles while the lower-level teams were 36-0 this past season.

Last year, St Patrick advanced to state basketball finals for first time in school history winning games 29 games. That group as sophomores went 16-0 in ESCC play.

The landscape of high school sports especially basketball has changed. Freshman now play and start on some varsity basketball teams while 19 year-old kids are playing in the NBA.

Speaking of high school basketball players, freshman Emran Alispahic at Notre Dame will be a player to watch over the next four years.

“He had a high basketball IQ,” Johnson said about Gavin. Handy played college basketball at Nebraska and Southwest Missouri State after playing games in the Red West Section with ORR. “He was always a sponge and willing to learn. Jack picked up things fast and quickly.”

Gavin had interesting suggestion for solving our obesity problem with youngsters who spend a lot to time on computers and cell phones while eating junk food.

“I think more kids need to play sports,” Gavin admitted. 

The varsity basketball team under Coach Taft will play at Marengo during the Christmas break while the sophomore squad will play at home in a tournament.

Best of 2025

And by “best of,” I mean my favorites from 2025 presented in no particular order.

I will stew on these for a while and see if I get any more good ones as basketball continues through the end of the year. I think I will drill down on these and decide on my “best 5 or so” in a couple days.

Please feel to comment on your favorites.

Marquette Monument on Damen Avenue

Saturday night I was in bed scrolling through Instragram and I came upon a post by @bbkohmy (Anthony Alfaro) showing a monument to the 17th Century Fr. Jacques Marquette, the French Jesuit priest and explorer, on Damen Ave. in Chicago.

Wait, What? A memorial monument to Fr. Marquette on Damen Avenue? I gotta see that. I sent a message off to Mr. Alfaro for the exact address. He responded right away with 2618 S. Damen.

I got up the next morning and got my stuff together. I decided to make a little movie about the adventure and take some photos.

I wanted some stuff to talk about in the movie so I thought I would also stop and get some photos of some other Marquette related stuff like Marquette Park, Marquette Road, Marquette Bank and the Marquette Building. But I wasn’t going to drive up to Milwaukee just to get a couple photos of the University. You will just have to trust me.

The movie proved a little challenging to produce. I thought I would use it as a chance to try Adobe’s Premiere Pro again and teach myself how to make rudimentary videos. I tried doing it several years ago but it just took too much time. However, with the football and basketball season coming up I would like to add some video component to my coverage. It turns out that my computer is too weak to support the new Premiere Pro drivers so that put an end to that. I would have to use the GoPro software that I already have and know how to use.

So here are the photos and the movie. I hope you like them.

[Editor’s note—This post does not contain the movie. This post, originally authored on July 13, 2020, has remained a draft for four and a half years at the bottom of my list of draft posts long ago overtaken by events, persumably because I never finished making the movie. Until this Christmas morning, that is. I was poking around my website looking to post the “Best of 2025.” So here you go! I posting the story about one of my favorite places in Chicago. I really should to the movie. Maybe some day.

Merry Christmas.]

Curie Comes Back to Beat St. Ignatius 42-40

Curie senior guard Justin Oliver backed into the lane with only a few seconds left in the tie game with St. Ignatius Monday evening and took a turnaround jumper. Nothing but net for a 42-40 lead. The refs put two seconds on the clock but the Wolfpack could not get a shot up.

Before that, it was an ugly boxing match of a game. A ton of fouls. Missed shot after missed shot.

I have to hand it to the Condors. Down 40-32 with under three minutes to go, they clamped down the defense and scored 10 unanswered point to edge the Wolfpack at the buzzer.

Maybe not the most skilled basketball team among the top five or so but certainly one of the toughest. I was impressed with their focus and will to win.

We will see how they do in Pontiac.

DePaul Prep Improves to 12-0 with 52-33 Thrashing of St. Ignatius

The DePaul Prep Rams are 12-0, halfway through the 25-26 campaign. There are lots of games left to play and some very tough conference games coming up in January but 12-0 must be a record. I looked back through MaxPreps.com records going back to 2008 and no DePaul Prep nor Gordon Tech team has started 12-0 in that period. This is quite an accomplishment. Coach Morgan, his staff and this special group of players deserve some recognition.

Well done Rams!

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 defeats St. Francis de Sales 72-59

The DePaul Prep Rams (9-1) hosted the St. Francis de Sales Pioneers (0-6) Tuesday evening at the Tom Winiecki Gym.

One can imagine what might happen. The Rams jumped out to an early lead and cruised.

Big Tim Shabazz told me that St. Francis was pretty good and is a contender in 1A. They obviously struggled against the number one team in the state but They can score. They shot the ball well. Pioneers’ senior Kalvin Leonard scored 19 points. He can play.

I decided to do something a little different with the photos. I used a 300mm and shot from the stands behind the scorer’s table during the first half. I just wanted to do something different. But I did keep score. I couldn’t help myself.

Final score was Rams 72, Pioneers 59.

DePaul Prep defeats No. 3 Kankakee 56-49

Lincoln Williams and EJ Hazelett are two of the best high school basketball players I have ever seen, certainly this year.

And the Rams beat them. By seven points. Even though the Rams uncharacteristically got in a little foul trouble, they beat Kankakee in a similar fashion to the way they usually win—ball security, tough switching defense, free throws and taking time off the clock at the end.

Twenty-one points including fourteen free throws for Rams’ senior guard Rykan Woo. Eleven straight free throws in the first half by Woo blunted the physical smackdown Kankakee was trying to put on the Rams. I only remember Rykan missing one free throw.

Woo was ebullient after the game. “I am confident in myself. I know what I am capable of doing. I have played at the highest level. State championship games. Played on the UAA circuit. It prepared me,” Rykan said.

When asked about the No. 1 ranking, “practice is all we focus on. Having good practices and stacking them. That’s all we focus on,” Woo said.

“We are a physical team too. We are not going to back down in a fight.”

Free throw shooting was the difference in the game. “We were 25 of 28 from the line. That’s what won the game for us,” Rams’ coach Tom Kleinschmidt confirmed.

“We wanted to make sure that [Kankakee’s Lincoln] Williams saw two. Meaning we tagged him and when he went to drive we came early and doubled him. Hazelett we didn’t do it as much on. We figured we had to give something up. Williams is averaging 32 a game in his last four games so made him work and I think it showed,” said Kleinschmidt.

Some others have said that the result might have been different with a shot clock. I am not so sure about that. DePaul has played with a shot clock and still won.

It’s early in the season. There is a long way to go. Boy has it been entertaining. One big game after another. And next No. 6 St. Ignatius and then Pontiac after that. (I shouldn’t look past St. Francis de Sales but I am not too worried.)

We will just have to work through the schedule and see what happens at the end of the year. But, honestly, the possibility of four straight state championships never quite goes away. Part of me wants to enjoy this thing in real time, or appreciate it at least. So I will indulge myself, but only a little.

St. Francis de Sales tonight at the Tom Winiecki Gym.

Mroz Returns to St. Patrick

SPORTS SPOTLIGHT BY JOHN MONTGOMERY           

Chris Mroz was excited about the prospect of playing against his alma mater at the Max Kurland basketball tournament at St. Patrick High School. Yes, you can go home again. In this case, it took a while.

Mroz, the head boys basketball coach at Ridgewood in Norridge, was hoping to see how his young team with only two seniors would measure up against a St. Patrick team that finished third in the Class 3A tournament last season.

His Rebels (4-3) lost to Naperville North 49-36 in the third place game. Carson Loughlin scored 19 points as Naperville North (7-2) pulled away in the second half, outscoring Ridgewood by a 25-14 margin.

“It brings back a lot of memories for me,” Mroz said afterward. “This is the first classroom I ever taught in as a teacher. Unfortunately, we lost today. We needed to make a few more shots. We made too many turnovers. Our kids played hard and the effort was there. We will watch the tape. We will get better and have a good season.”

Ridgewood had tough day on road making only 14 baskets with 18 turnovers in the loss.

Mroz, who graduated from St. Patrick in 2002 and was inducted into the school’s Hall of Fame in 2017, played at Bradley and Missouri-St. Louis before finally obtaining his Master’s degree from Northeastern Illinois University in Chicago. Now a special education teacher at Ridgewood, he has won 212 games and four regional championships in 16 seasons. But until last week, he never coached basketball game at St. Patrick.

He watched briefly as St. Patrick (4-0) handed Wheaton North its first defeat of the young season 69-48 in the championship game of the Kurland tournament. Senior center RJ McPartlin, who has battled injuries during the last two seasons, led the Shamrocks with 21 points to earn MVP honors. Maurice Neeley added 15 points while junior Omar Ajanovic contributed 12.

“We have had some good basketball teams at St. Patrick,” coach Mike Bailey said afterward. “This team has a chance to be a special group as well.”

“It was awesome to see St. Patrick and coach Bailey get Downstate last season,” Mroz said. “I went Downstate and watched the game with a bunch of coaches. If I make a layup 25 years ago against La Grange, we would have gotten there sooner.”

Mroz will return to St. Patrick for a non-conference matchup against the Shamrocks, who won 29 games last season and lost to Brother Rice in the Class 3A semifinals.

“You could see when he walked into St. Patrick as a freshman that he would be a coach one day because he knows the game of basketball,” Bailey said about his former point guard. “He was born to coach. He would come into my office at 14 years of age and talk about basketball with me after watching a game.”

Ironically, one of Mroz’ most memorable victories as a coach came against St. Patrick in the 2016 state tournament. The Rebels stunned the Shamrocks 55-54 on a long buzzer-beater by Zac Rzewnicki in the sectional championship at Ridgewood.

“It was one of the greatest games of my career,” Mroz recalled.

Success was short-lived as Ridgewood lost 52-35 to St. Joseph in the supersectional at the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates. One victory away from trip Final Four in Peoria at Bradley University.

“We had a good game plan,” Mroz said. “We got off to a slow start and eventually settled down and cut their lead to six points. They had a seven-footer (Nick Rakocevic). They were a pretty good team." 

The Chargers lost to Peoria Manual in overtime for third place of the Class 3A tournament

In 2025-26, Ridgewood will try to overcome the loss of nine seniors from a team that finished 15-13 last season. Mroz will need minutes and points from seniors Mike Cwieczkowski and football player Alex Hrabchak to compete and contend in the Upstate Eight.

“We have only been together for 13 days,” Mroz said. “To come of the (Kurland) tournament 2-2 isn’t bad.”

Ridgewood is now in the realigned Upstate Eight with neighborhood rivals Fenton (1-8) and Elmwood Park (3-5). The Rebels will begin conference play Friday night at West Chicago (3-5) while St. Patrick opens its final season of ESCC competition against Notre Dame of Niles (6-3).

DePaul Prep Defeats Bolingbrook 49-20 at Chicago Elite Classic

The DePaul Prep Rams girls’ basketball team is 10-0. I feel bad I have not covered more of their games and showcases the start of this historic season.

I did get out to Chicago Elite Classic to see the Rams hand Bolingbrook their only loss of the season so far. Returning starters Ava Giordano, Grace Lee and Kaitlin Totaro are joined by senior Lucia Trautman and sophomore Ramiyah Puckett.   

I was impressed. Despite an uncharacteristically large number of turnovers in the first quarter of the game, this group pulled it together and rallied for a 23-18 first half lead.

The DePaul Prep Rams girls’ varsity has had considerable success in recent years particularly under former head coach Sarah Zarymbski (Gordon Tech 2014) with 2020, 2022 and 2023 appearances in a 2A super-sectionals. Last year was the first year of current Rams’ head coach Corey Morgan. The Rams finished with a respectable 20-14 record and a loss to in a 3A sectional final to eventual champion Montini.

The Rams gaudy 10-0 record this year includes a recent victories over Trinity and Bloom.

Back to the Bolingbrook game. Bolingbrook grabbed a 32-31 lead with 18 seconds left in the third. The Rams put together an impressive 18-8 run in the fourth quarter to salt away a nice win on a big stage against a 4A powerhouse.

I really liked an inbounds play were senior point guard Ava Giordano passed the ball inbounds to senior forward Grace Lee. Lee immediately dished it back to Giordano who drove to the basketball for a bucket. It actually worked twice to seal the win late in the fourth.

“We have nine seniors who understand what DePaul is all about. They have seen the boys have a tremendous amount of success. They are buying into what we are saying and teaching. They are just trying to jump on that train,” said DePaul Prep Rams’ head coach Corey Morgan.

Senior Ava Giordano, point guard since her sophomore year, who can also shoot the three, spoke after the game, “I want to make a great run this year. I think we can do that with my teammates.”

Stay tuned. I sure will.

DePaul Prep Pastes St. Francis 67-22; Lane Handles St. Rita 71-32

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

By Jack Lydon

It was a weekend of blowouts for Northside neighbors DePaul Prep and Lane Tech. The No. 1 ranked Rams (7-1) handled St. Francis (Wheaton) 67-22 Friday evening. The Champions (4-5) handled St. Rita 71-32 at the Team Rose Chicagoland Shootout early Saturday morning.

Despite the loss to national powerhouse La Lumiere at the preceding weekend’s Chicago Elite Classic, the DePaul Prep Rams are rolling. The Rams smothered the Spartans forcing outside shots and getting all the rebounds. Scoring inside and outside DePaul Prep’s size advantage was evident. They jumped out to a 19-0 lead on St. Francis (3-4) holding the Spartans scoreless until seconds left in the first quarter. And it wasn’t that close.

Despite the lopsided score, it was interesting to see the starting lineup for the Rams emerge after shifting starting lineups early in the season. The Rams have three returning starters from last year’s 3A state champions, Lashaun Porter, Rykan Woo and AJ Chambers. Rams’ sophomore forward Blake Choice and senior Sacred Heart—Griffin transfer, Zion Lee have grabbed the starting roles for the Rams. Even so, junior forward/center Magnus “Gus” Johnson and senior guard Pat Lovell are quickly off the bench.

Choice’ performance against St. Francis helped his effort to cement that place in the lineup with a big game that included four three-points field goals in the first half and five total in his three quarters of play. Rams’ head coach Tom Kleinschmidt confirmed he has settled on the starting lineup complimenting Choice on his improved shooting in recent games.

“I have been working on my shooting, it paid off today,” Humboldt Park resident Choice said.

“It’s a learning process,” Choice said of his starting role. “I am willing to do what my coaches tell me to do starting on defense and eventually my offense will come.

The Rams have some big games coming up this week with a late Sunday matchup against No. 3 ranked Kankakee and the Kays top rated players No. 1 ranked Lincoln Williams and No. 8 ranked EJ Hazelett at the Team Rose Chicagoland Shootout.   

The blowouts continued Saturday morning at Team Rose. The Lane Tech Champions rallied from string of tough losses against good teams, New Trier, Whitney Young and Lincoln Park, with a convincing 71-32 win over Chicago Catholic League White’s, St. Rita Mustangs.

“We have a lot of guys that can get to the rim and be effective. We have had a really tough stretch. Eight games and five top 25 teams. We told our guys, it’s gonna pay off. Today we showed that playing that tough schedule is helping us,” said Lane head coach Nick LoGalbo.

The Champions were led by 6’8” senior forward Matt Szafoni with 26 points in three quarters of basketball. Szafoni leads his Champions squad this year which contains seven sophomores. One of those sophomores is starter forward Cole Christian who finished with 18 points against St. Rita.

“Opening the game with a make definitely helps the confidence. That is something that I have struggled with the last couple games. But hitting a three with one of the new sets that we have just implemented is good for the team but also good for my confidence,” Szafoni said.

“[Matt] is evolving as a leader, him evolving as a playmaker and evolving as a rebounder are all things we are excited about,” LoGalbo said of Szafoni.

“We start four sophomores. But what’s really fun is that the sophomores are buying in and being stars in their roles. The seniors are leading and we are playing together.”

St. Ignatius Wins Prep Bowl 40-12

SPORTS SPOTLIGHT BY JOHN MONTGOMERY

There is no doubt that the Prep Bowl has lost prestige and importance with the football teams from Public League and Chicago Catholic League deciding to participate in the state football playoffs that began in 1974. It is unlikely that your current preseason goal in ChIcago is to win the Prep Bowl.

 “It was a great experience to play and coach in the Prep Bowl at Soldier Field,” Jay McDonagh said about the annual matchup which is now 95 years old. McDonagh played quarterback in the 1990 Prep Bowl for Gordon for Gordon and won two Public League pigskins with Curie losing to Loyola and Mt. Carmel in back-to-back seasons 2014 and 2015.

 The Catholic League has dominated the game winning 65 times. Mount Carmel is king of football in our state with 16 state championships and 15 Prep Bowl wins while Simeon has won twelve CPS championships and made 41 appearances in the state football playoffs. Mt Carmel won first matchup in 1927 6-0 over Schurz.

 There is football talent in the Public League, but only one city team Phillips has been able to win state football championship. The Public League football teams went 0-15 in the first round of this year's state series.

St. Ignatius (5-7) stunned Morgan Park (9-5) 40-12 to win this year's event before a small crowd on Black Friday at Hanson Stadium. The Wolfpack were delighted to be playing football after a 2-7 regular season.

“The Prep Bowl is a great tradition in Chicago,” St. Ignatius head coach Matt Miller said after winning his second straight Prep Bowl. Miller in in his tenth season and has now won 67 games.

St. Ignatius, who brought its football program back in 2005, certainly had challenges after sophomore starting quarterback Reid Hites broke his arm in a preseason scrimmage. St Ignatius was recently moved into the Blue Division of the Catholic League which is one of the toughest sections in the state featuring former state football champions St. Rita, Brother Rice, Loyola, and Mt Carmel. St Ignatius got moved up after losing in the 6A semifinals to Prairie Ridge 21-19 during 2022 football season. The Wolfpack who have made nine appearances in state playoffs lost in the quarterfinals the followіng season in 2023.

“I would love to play at Soldier Field,” Miller admitted after the game. “I heard the bill was pretty high. Playing the game at Soldier Field made the game special.”

Until 1974 it was the only football event on Thanksgiving weekend a game that aired on local television and drew large crowds. The biggest thing youngsters from the Public and Catholic League faced each other at Soldier Field home of Bears who had great players like Dick Butkus and Walter Payton. Many people today still talk about the 1985 Super Bowl Chicago Bears.

This season's game at renovated Hanson Stadium was close until the final quarter. Senior Rob Connor who scored three times and rushed for 90 yards helped St Ignatius build a 19-12 advantage heading into the fourth quarter. Connor who has been one of the top players in the new Catholic League for the last two years was named Prep Bowl MVP.

The Wolfpack capped their incredible season by forcing three turnovers in the fourth quarter as Charlie Klaas scored twice, and Hites added a touchdown toss in only his second start of the season.

Morgan Park (9-5) was hoping to finish season on a high note after avenging regular season loss to Kenwood by beating the Broncos 30-19 to win CPS football crown for fifth time in school history. The Mustangs won the the Prep Bowl in 2005 over Brother Rice with current head football coach Chris James at quarterback.

“We were there in the game at halftime,” James said after the loss. “We left some plays on the field. Our inexperience showed in the second half.”

One example was beginning of game when all- stater Darrell Mattison for Morgan Park returned opening kickoff 88 yards for touchdown which would have been unprecedented in Prep Bowl history. Play was called back due to holding penalty.

Morgan Park lost this season in the opening round of the 5A playoffs to Wheaton St Francis (10-3) 35-28. The Mustangs will try to rebuild around sophomore quarterback Ronald Smith who completed 16 of 26 passes for 165 yards with two second quarter touchdowns and two interceptions in fourth quarter.

 Even though Morgan Park lost the game for fourth time the Mustangs were looking forward to playing in the Prep Bowl against St. Ignatius after losing in opening round of state playoffs.

 “It's special for me and the program to be playing in the Prep Bowl,” James admitted. “To be able to take the team to the Public League championship and Prep Bowl means something to me being a former player at Morgan Park.”

DePaul Prep Defeats Loyola 55-45

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

By Jack Lydon

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

DePaul Prep Handles Hyde Park 60-28; St. Ignatius Clips Benet 69-65

Went to Tom Winiecki to see the DePaul Prep Rams first home game of the year against Hyde Park then decided to hurry down to St. Ignatius to catch the end of the St. Ignatius v. Benet. Glad I did. The Rams handled a good Hyde Park squad and #22 St. Ignatius upset #2 Benet.

I was a little late making it to Gordon for the game. I got there with a minute left in the half and the Rams lead the Thunderbirds 33-11. The Rams defense was locked in.

Rykan Woo lead the Rams with 17. Lashaun Porter had 10. It was good to see Rams’ transfer Zion Lee put some points on the board. He is fitting into his role the line-up and adding some points. He finished with 8.

Despite the lopsided scores in the Battle of the Bridge, the Rams didn’t exactly look like they were hitting on all cylinders. They looked pretty good today. Defense, offense. I bet they could play special teams too if need be. It was good to see this new team back in the Tom Winiecki Gym playing fast when need be and installing the shut down defense too.

The game went quick so I quickly went down to St. Ignatius to catch the end of the St. Ignatius v. Benet game.

I arrived at the Gentile Gym with a minute left in the third quarter with the Wolfpack trailing Benet 48-49. It was back-and-forth and back-and-forth.

Tied at 59 each at 1:29, Benet grabbed a one point lead. St. Ignatius’ senior guard Nico Harris dropped in a three, giving the Wolfpack a two point lead. Rebounds and free throws would seal the upset victory over the very good #2 ranked Benet Redwings.

I know it’s early. Benet is very good; some say a #1B ranking. This game was more about how good St. Ignatius is. Matt Monroe’s Wolpack are at the top of the Chicago Catholic League with Loyola and DePaul Prep. They will obviously move up in the rankings. I expect them to be around the top at the end of the season too.

We start right into the Catholic League schedule at the end of the week. #1 DePaul Prep faces #12 Loyola at Tom Winiecki on Friday. #22 St. Ignatius will see DeLaSalle on Friday.

Lane Falls to DePaul Prep 53-24

[A preview of this week’s piece in the Inside-Booster.]

By Jack Lydon

Lane Tech had no answer for Rashaun Porter. DePaul Prep senior forward Rashaun Porter, a early candidate for player of the year, put up 26 points against Lane Tech in the finale of this year’s Batte of the Bridge Tournament at Lane Tech. The #1 ranked DePaul Prep Rams (3-0) defeated the Lane Tech Champions (1-2) 53-24 Wednesday night.

The Champions did a great job stopping DePaul Prep’s other Division 1 recruit Rykan Woo (Brown University) holding him scoreless in the first half.

“That was the game plan. But we did not do our game plan with Porter,” said Lane Tech head coach Nick LoGalbo.

“It was the exact opposite last year where we really cut out Porter, but we had Dalton [Scantlebury, playing for Penn this year] and [DePaul Prep senior guard Rykan Woo] really went off on us,” LoGalbo added.

“So I thought we did a pretty good job on [Woo]. That was our game plan to cut those two out as best we could and make others beat us. But Porter really killed us.”

With Lane bringing out the defense to stop Woo, the Lane opened up for Porter.

“It just opened up there really. I didn’t even notice that Woo was cold. I thought he was pretty good. He just did some things that just can’t be put on the stat sheet,” said Lashaun Porter.

Porter, a commit to Division 1 Toledo University, has become one of the top players in the City this season. He is ranked #5 in PrepHoops.com’s class of the 2026 players behind only Whitney Young’s Marquis Clark for top players in the City.

Somewhat unbelieveably, Rashaun Porter has been on state championship winning teams every year of high school. The DePaul Prep Rams won the 2A state championship in 2022 and 3A in 2023 and 2024. One might think he would be resting on his laurels, maybe looking ahead to college a little.

Not Rashaun.

“I lost weight over the course of four years. I've lost a lot of weight, trying to get slimmer and prepare for college and bulk up and using more strength instead of fat,” Porter said.

“It’s boosted my game tremendously. Made me quicker and faster. Then I got in the weight room, so I did get stronger.”

It’s early in the year and the Rams are still growing into their new starting line-up. Porter, Woo and senior point guard AJ Chambers return to the starting line-up from last year’s 3A championship team. Added to the starting lineup are juniors Gus Johnson who takes his brother Jonas’ spot. Jonas Johnson now plays at DePaul University. New to the line-up and the school is Zion Lee, a transfer from Springfield’s Sacred Heart—Griffin high school.

While obviously pleased with the win and the performance of his start player Porter, DePaul Prep head coach and Gordon Tech legend, Tom Kleinschimdt was circumspect about the early 3-0 for his Rams.

“We are we are not where we need to be three games in. We are usually a little bit better shape. I think you can see it in our woeful shooting percentage from three,” Kleinschmidt said.

“I think we left a lot out there today. I'm not sitting here knocking my team. I'm just saying I think we got a lot to work on, a lot to improve on. It's got to happen quick. We've got Hyde Park Sunday who's really good. We’ve got Loyola then we’ve got La Lumiere. So it better happened quickly.”

St. Patrick Wins Opener 70-28 over Dyett

SPORTS SPOTLIGHT BY JOHN MONTGOMERY 

If the Shamrocks basketball team is to make back-to-back trips to State Farm Center in Champaign they will need a healthy R.J. McPartlin. McPartlin, a 6’7’ senior, might be one of the best basketball players fans and coaches have seen the last two years if weren’t for injuries. McPartlin has been on the varsity basketball team since freshman year but unfortunately has been plagued by the injury bug.

“He started freshman year for us and scored ten points in his first game,” St. Patrick head basketball coach Mike Bailey said. “His career has taken off for us from there. He is one of our most important players. Unfortunately, he has been hurt the last two years. He is tough kid always willing to play through injuries.”

“I am worried about getting hurt again,” McPartlin admitted. “It feels great to be out there again. Its the best feeling in the world. I love to get on the court and play.”

McPartlin began his senior season by scoring 10 points in the season opening win over defending Class 2A champion Dyett, 70-28. Gael Guitterez added 13 points while Maurice Neeley contributed with 13 points as well. Omar Ajanovic who filled in for McPartlin as a sophomore scored 12 points on Monday night.

Charles Treadwell led Eagles with 11 points as Dyett couldn't solve St Patrick’s matchup zone falling behind 20-6 to start the season and never recovered. Shamrocks led 46-11 at the half as game finished with running clock while Bailey emptied his bench for final quarter.

“It was a good start tonight,” Bailey said after watching his defense allow only ten baskets.

“That was amazing defense,” McPartlin said after the win on opening night.

Naperville North began the night on Kurland Court by beating Payton 58-45 as guard Miles Okyne score 28 poihts.

Last year, McPartlin overcame a torn labrum in his shoulder after suffering broken nose as a sophomore. McPartlin played in 20 contests last season and averaged eight points a game to help the Shamrocks advance to state basketball finals for first time in school history.

McPartlin is the only starter back from a 29-win team that finished third in Class 3A tournament last season after losing 48-33 to Brother Rice (31-7) in semifinals.

“This team knows how to win,” Bailey said during preseason practices. “This team expects to win. They are very motivated to get back downstate.”

The Shamrocks were disappointed they didn't advance to championship game against DePaul Prep (33-4) and coach Tom Kleinschmidt who are seeking to win the state basketball title for fourth straight season.

“It was heartbreaking to not play for state championship,” McPartlin stated after season opening win on Monday night. “We played a bad fourth quarter against Brother Rice. Getting third place in the state means a lot to us. Only eight teams in the state get to finish the season with a win. We had a special group of guys. I couldn't end the season on a loss.”

St. Pat's shook off the disappointment of losing by beating Chatham Glenwood 50-28 in tilt for third place.

The Rams are trying to become the first high school basketball team in Illinois since Simeon and Peoria Manual to win four straight banners. Kleinschmidt’s club began its season on Monday night in the Battle of Bridges tournament at Lane with a 69-50 win over Niles North.

The Shamrocks will play Payton and Naperville North before finishing play in Kurland tournament on Saturday night.

Bailey will count on four new starters including Ajanovic, Neeley, football player Joey Costanzo, and junior Steve Quach.

Players and coaches claim they don't care or pay attention to rankings. Despite its recent success with back-to-back appearances in the Elite Eight and over 1,000 wins since 1959 with Bailey and Max Kurland, the Shamrocks surprisingly will start season unranked.

“The coaching staff told us not to worry about the rankings,” McPartlin said.
”We finished third in the state in 3A. We deserve to be ranked based on how we finished last year.”

St. Pat's is hoping to at least advance for a third straight basketball season to the Elite Eight.