Mount Carmel has hosted the Team Rose Shootout, which is run by Curie coach Mike Oliver, for several years now. The Caravan used to play in the first game because the program just wasn’t good enough to be in a marquee matchup, much less play Oliver’s squad.
Times have changed. Mount Carmel knocked off Curie 70-55 in the first day’s headline game.
“We’ve been building toward this since I took over,” Caravan coach Phil Segroves said. This group of guys, especially DeAndre Craig, has helped us get to this level. We have to continue to get better though. We have a lot of work ahead of us.”
Craig scored 18 and fellow senior Anthony Ciaravino added 20 points.
No. 17 Mount Carmel dominated the third quarter, outscoring the No. 11 Condors 28-15.
“The guys were playing free,” Segroves said. “When kids get into a situation where they play free and are relaxed and have movement offensively good things are going to happen.”
Homewood-Flossmoor transfer Lee Marks has fit in perfectly with his new team so far. The junior contributed 11 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks. Junior Angelo Ciaravino added 14 points, seven rebounds and three blocks for the Caravan (8-1).
“We are so happy to have [Marks],” Segroves said. “He’s a great teammate and a great person. He’s just finding his way right now. As we get through December, watch out in January for him as he gets to know his teammates even better.”
Curie (7-3) opened the season ranked No. 6. Mike Oliver returned nearly every player from last year. Things just haven’t clicked right for the Condors this season though.
“No toughness,” Oliver said. “No will to want to be successful. They are living off the history of the program. They aren’t playing with energy. They are acting like they don’t care.”
Curie trailed for most of the first half but tied the game on a free throw by Mason Minor with 1:20 left in the third quarter. Mount Carmel countered with a pair of three-pointers and Curie never threatened again.
“We have no leader,” Oliver said. “We have a bunch of guys going off their press clippings. They don’t want it. The system hasn’t changed. The guys in the system have changed. We have to find some guys that want to play basketball.”
St. Ignatius 69, Riverside-Brookfield 63: The Wolfpack erased a big deficit with an excellent third quarter. Senior Jackson Kotecki scored 18 and highly-regarded sophomore Phoenix Gill added 17. Junior Reggie Ray was unstoppable getting to the basket and finished with 16.
Arius Alijosius led the Bulldogs with 19. Tough loss for Riverside-Brookfield after building a nice lead, but it was a much better peformance from than overall than we saw last weekend at the Chicago Elite Classic.
Lemont 60, Lane 51: Matas and Rokas Castillo absolutely dominated the game. Rokas led the way with 22 points and seven rebounds and Matas added 17 points and six boards. Undefeated Lemont led 54-31 after three quarters. The Champions tightened things up a bit in the fourth quarter but the outcome was never in doubt.
Lane sophomore big Dalton Scantlebury, who opened some eyes with his play last weekend at the Chicago Elite Classic, finished with 18 points and eight rebounds. Junior Shaheed Solebo added 16 points.
St. Laurence 58, Farragut 44: Solid game from the Vikings’ young group. St. Laurence started five sophomores: Jacob Rice, Zerrick Jones, Caleb Lindsey, Emmanuel Mosley and Khalil Jones.
Rice scored 15 and Jones 13. St. Laurence is certainly worth keeping an eye on this season, they’ve been competitive against a tough schedule so far. Freshman Latrell Kelly led the Admirals with 14.
Lincoln-Way East 63, Westinghouse 51: That’s a three-game sweep for suburban teams vs. Red-North/West teams at the Team Rose Shootout. Powerful senior George Bellevue led the way with 24 points and 14 rebound and Tylon Tolliver added 17.
Hyde Park 62, Homewood-Flossmoor 58: Damarion Morris poured in 23 points to help the Thunderbirds fight off the upset bid.
Saturday’s other top games
New Trier 65, Rolling Meadows 64: Ian Brown scored 36 and made 12 three-pointers for the Trevians. The 12 threes ties him with nine other players for the 4th most in an IHSA game. I saw one of those, Marshall’s Jerwin Calloway vs. Farragut in 2005. The record is 17, set by Jaden Schutt in 2019. Jake Fiegen added 14 for the Trevians, including the game-winning layup with 15 seconds left. Rolling Meadows was up 18 at one point.
Cam Christie scored 28 for the Mustangs, who were expected to be the top seed at York’s Jack Tosh Holiday Tournament. I wonder if this changes that.
Hinsdale Central 69, Oak Lawn 64: The Red Devils are always a challenge and I liked the way this group played when I saw them at the Riverside-Brookfield summer shootout. Ben Oosterbaan scored 22 points and Emerson Eck added 17.
Simeon 52, Cornado, CA 46: The Wolverines pick up a big win in Arizona. Sam Lewis had 16 points and seven rebounds and Miles Rubin added 10 points and eight rebounds. Uncommitted senior Jalen Griffith finished with 12 points and four assists.
East St. Louis 68, Hillcrest 63: Hawks coach Don Houston probably isn’t interested in hearing it, but I think most observers would consider this a moral victory. The Flyers are one of the best teams in the state and this one was in St. Louis.
Sidwell Friends, D.C. 53, Young 52: Dalen Davis explodes for 33 points in the road losss. Daniel Johnson had nine points and nine rebounds.
Atlanta Lovett 74, Kenwood 67: Kenwood loses its first game of the season.
Glenbrook South 59, Oak Park 56: The Titans rebound from the New Trier loss with a quality win. Sophomore Justin Bowen led the Huskies with 14 and Christian Marshall scored 12.
Joliet West 86, Joliet Central 53: Big numbers for both of the Fears brothers in the rivalry win. Jermiah finished with 25 points and seven assissts and Jeremy had 20 points and 11 assists. They combined for 9 three pointers. Justus McNair and Jayden Martin each scored 11.
Perspectives-Leadership 78, Butler 52: Jakeem Cole’s first game of the year was earlier this week against Simeon. He had 18 points tonight. Junior Gianni Cobb led with 25. The Cobb brothers are off to an excellent start.’
St. Patrick 54, Loyola 44: A very nice road win for the Shamrocks, who have some talented young players. Seniors paced St. Patrick in this one though. Nate Otero scored 16 and Andrew Ayeni added 13.
