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Chicago Sun-Times
Chicago Sun-Times
National
Michael O'Brien

Michael O’Brien’s high school basketball notebook

Marian Catholic’s Zack Sharkey (22) sees an opening and drives toward the basket against Homewood-Flossmoor. (Allen Cunningham/For the Sun-Times)

That was a busy Thanksgiving Eve. I’ll be heading back to the world of football for the weekend. There will be a new set of Super 25 rankings on Sunday, but no notebooks until next week. 

Super 25 results

No. 2 Thornton 74, St. Charles North 41: Another monster game for Illinois recruit Morez Johnson with 18 points, 17 rebounds and 4 blocks. Meyoh Swansey added 17 for the Wildcats.

No. 3 Downers Grove North 73, Timothy Christian 41

No. 4 Homewood-Flossmoor 55, Marian Catholic 41

No. 5 Mount Carmel 62, Warren 51

No. 6 Young 72, Auburn 63 OT

No. 7 Curie 79, Hansberry 44: Another big game from Will Gonzalez, who had 15 points and 7 rebounds. Taevion Collier added 12 points and 10 rebounds, which is a very important sign for the Condors. 

No. 8 Marist 56, Morton Grove Academy 34: Darshan Thomas and Stephen Brown each scored 16. 

No. 10. St. Ignatius 48, Westinghouse 46: Reggie Ray’s buzzer-beater wins it for the Wolfpack. Phoenix Gill and Philip Erickson both scored 18. DJ Bolden had 19 points for the Warriors. 

No. 11 Bloom 47, Hillcrest 34

No. 12 Brother Rice 91, Zion-Benton 47

No. 13 DePaul Prep 42, Notre Dame 24

No. 14 Benet 68, St. Charles East 43: Sophomore Gabe Sularski had 26 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists. Jayden Wright and Blake Fagbemi combined for 10 assists. 

No. 16 De La Salle 77, Don Bosco, Ind. 45

No. 18 New Trier 44, Loyola 39: Looks like there was a really nice crowd in New Trier’s new gym for this game. Colby Smith led the Trevians with 19 points.

No. 19 Naperville North 54, Oswego East 42

No. 21 Glenbrook South 61, York 54: A big win for the Titans. AJ Levine had 33 for York.

No. 22 Joliet West 48, Morton 28

No. 23 St. Patrick 68, Payton 47: EJ Breland led the Shamrocks with 28 points.

No. 24 Glenbrook North 65, Wheaton North 40

Niles North 63, No. 20 Lane 61: It’s too early in the season to call this an upset, both teams were top 20-30 types in the preseason. But this game was at Lane. Yaris Irby led the way for the Vikings with 28 points. Shaheed Solebo scored 23 for the Champions.

Upsets

Evanston 52, Wheaton-Warrenville South 49: The Wildkits are rumored to be down this year. Maybe not all that down?

Other notable games

DeKalb 69, Oak Park 50

Glenbard North 62, Glenbard West 54

Hoover, Ala. 65, St. Laurence 58

Kankakee 60, Christ The King 43

Palatine 53, Hersey 41: Connor May had 13 points to lead the Pirates.

Romeoville 67, Lemont 52: Mickeis Johnson scored 18 and EJ Mosley added 17 points, 5 assists and 5 rebounds. The Spartans are firmly on the Super 25 radar.

West Aurora 58, Hinsdale Central 47: Terrence Smith scored 22 and CJ Savage added 15. This is a nice, quality win for the Blackhawks.

Top performances

Addison Trail’s Luke Smith: 39 points in a 78-48 win vs. Elmwood Park.

Bradley-Bourbonnais’ Nick Allen: 24 points, 19 rebounds, 7 blocks in a 62-50 win vs. Minooka.

Lincoln-Way East’s BJ Powell: 22 points, 6 assists in a 52-42 win vs. Lyons.

Oak Lawn’s Donte Montgomery Jr.: 22 points in a 74-53 win vs. Lincoln-Way West.

Riverside-Brookfield’s Stefan Cicic: 31 points, 10 rebounds in a 86-71 win vs. Hinsdale South.

St. Edwards’ Matthew Morrice: 28 points in a win vs. Westminster.

Yorkville’s Jason Jakstys: 24 points in a 60-35 win vs. Sandwich.

Wednesday’s takes

  • Manley sophomore Jaali Love, a 6-7 wing, picked up a scholarship offer from Long Island. That’s his first D1 offer. 
  • I’m hearing that Simeon’s two key transfers, Daekwon Brown and Andre Tyler, did not play in the first two games.
  • It turns out that Jack Whdeler of Morris is an excellent baseball player. He committed to Illinois back when he was a freshman. Morris coach Joe Blumberg dropped me a nice note this morning. His team is missing a lot of key players due to football, so Wheeler has needed to step up his scoring. Wheeler scored those 35 points without making a three. The three-sport standout was 11-of-12 from the free-throw line.

Thursday’s storylines

  • For some reason there are games on Thanksgiving. Tinley Park faces Lanphier in Quincy and Phillips plays the host Blue Devils in Quincy.
  • Enjoy your Thanksgiving and all the basketball that I’ll be missing this weekend.
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