A case could be made that Saturday was the most interesting of the season so far. Kudos to the folks in Romeoville, Springfield and at Sandburg for putting together some interesting matchups.
Teams from all over the area that wouldn’t usually face each other squared off yesterday: Stagg beat Barrington, Fremd beat Perspectives-Leadership, McHenry beat Phillips, Thornton beat Normal and more. You can read it all below but those are fun games that will impact the rankings for weeks.
After two long weeks of shootouts I needed a break from that unfortunately. I watched the first half of Hersey at Lake Zurich and then headed up to Gurnee to see Warren beat Joliet West.
The rankings will be out this evening, there are a few games involving ranked teams this afternoon that I’m going to wait on.
Super 25 scores
No. 1 Thornton 44, Normal 37: Well, the Wildcats are certainly the No. 1 team in Central Illinois. Chase Abraham scored 16 and Morez Johnson added 14 points and 12 rebounds.
No. 2 Curie 66, Thornwood 43: Will Gonzalez led the way with 15 points and 5 assists.
Webster Groves, Mo. 69, Mount Carmel 66 OT: The Caravan loses on the road. Lee Marks scored 21.
No. 5 Brother Rice 53, Lyons 39
No. 7 Downers Grove North 41, Downers Grove South 37
No. 8 Warren 71, Joliet West 60
No. 14 Lindblom 59, Herrin 47
No. 16 New Trier 66, Saguaro, Ari. 34: That’s a perfect 3-0 in Arizona for the Trevians.
No. 17 Bolingbrook 69, Hinsdale Central 63
No. 20 Lincoln Park 56, Oak Park 53: Damian Pearson Jr. had 16 points and sophomore Larry Harris added 13 points and 8 rebounds. Impressive win for the Lions after the spirited victory against Young on Friday night. This game could easily have been a trap, Oak Park has been a threat against several ranked teams this year. Max Johnson scored 23 for the Huskies. I’m looking forward to seeing them at Pontiac.
No. 21 Marist 76, Jones 47: Marquis Vance scored 14 and Darshan Thomas added 12 points.
Dunbar, DC 68, Rich 62
No. 23 Lake Park 63, St. Francis 56: Cam Cerese scored 35 points and the Lancers are 9-1. Really solid weekend.
Other notable games
Antioch 48, Grayslake North 33: The Sequoits are 4-0 in conference after a rugged non-conference schedule. Carter Webb led with 18 points.
First Assembly Christian, Tenn. 65, Simeon 56
Fremd 54, Perspectives-Leadership 53 OT
Hansberry 57, Manley 49
Hyde Park 49, Richwoods 46: Remember back when Thornton beat Richwoods and we all thought it was part of the proof the Wildcats deserved to be No. 1? Jurrell Baldwin had 17 points, 12 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals.
Lake Zurich 65, Hersey 63
McHenry 76, Phillips 63
Naperville North 50, East Aurora 34
Neuqua Valley 54, Marian Catholic 46
Niles North 91, Taft 77: That’s a fun score. Yaris Irby scored 33 and Hunter Gawron added 22 points.
Romeoville 65, Fenwick 48
St. Laurence 38, Hillcrest 35
Stagg 69, Barrington 61
Yorkville 56, Lincoln-Way East 55: Sounds like all the Foxes are finally playing. Jason Jakstys led with 21 points. Jory Boley scored 13 and Bryce Salek scored the game-winning layup. This was a preseason ranked team, so keep an eye on Yorkville.
Top performances
Christ The King’s CJ Worsham: 21 points, 11 rebounds 5 assists in a 55-38 win vs. Leo.
Glenbrook South’s Anestis Hadjistamoulou: 21 points, 4 rebounds 3 steals in a 47-39 win vs. Watervliet.
Lincoln-Way East’s BJ Powell: 24 points, 4 assists in a 56-55 loss to Yorkville
York’s AJ Levine: 23 points in a 70-42 win vs. IC Catholic.
Saturday’s takes
- Just how good is Warren? It wouldn’t suprise me at all if the Blue Devils won Proviso West. Zack Ryan has an exciting group on his hands this season.
- This was supposed to be a good year in central Illinois....are those teams overrated? No offense to Hyde Park, but Peoria Richwoods was supposed to be a state title contender. I’m sure the holiday tournaments will help sort that out.
- Simeon is now 4-6. I haven’t seen the Wolverines yet, which is also strange. They have a challenging first-round matchup at Pontiac against Plainfield North. I couldn’t tell you the last time the Wolverines lost their first game at Pontiac.
- The Super 25 feels crowded. There are a lot of teams I’d like to add and I’m not sure there will be much room this week. That’s a great sign overall. I don’t think the area has a top tier of excellent teams, but there is a lot of depth of really good teams. That’s making for a fun season, with plenty of games worth seeing every day.
