Sports
Previewing and predicting this weekend's top boys high school basketball games – Chicago Sun-Times
Curie’s Mason Minor (30) shoots against Phillips’ Amari Edwards (1).
Kirsten Stickney/For the Sun-Times
While the Team Rose Shootout Saturday and Sunday at Mount Carmel will bring together several matchups featuring ranked teams, the weekend itself is loaded with big, key, early-season conference showdowns throughout the area.
Maybe it’s the type of season we are set to embark on, but the games of impact this weekend truly seem to be flip-of-the-coin matchups.
This Weekend Forecast provides previews and picks of the biggest games.
Mount Carmel at De La Salle
Every game is going to matter in the rough-and-tumble Chicago Catholic League Blue and no team wants to dig an early hole. That’s why this is an important one on the South Side.
De La Salle is the unbeaten upstart; Mount Carmel is the highly-ranked team with the star and the hoopla. This one should be a dogfight.
The combination of veterans and rising talent to form a well-balanced team is what excites you about De La Salle. The Meteors can take care of business in different ways with their size, length and balance. There are four players in double figures: Tavariyuan Williams (13.3 ppg), Richard Lindsey (12.5 ppg), Charles Barnes (11.3 ppg) and Bryant Hedrick (10.1 ppg).
But the Caravan, who did lose to St. Louis power Vashon last weekend, feature the best player in the league: Northwestern recruit Angelo Ciaravino –– and quality pieces to go with him, including 6-5 Tre Marks.
Hoops Report pick: Mount Carmel 52, De La Salle 50
Evergreen Park at Oak Lawn
A spotlight is shined on an early-season battle in the South Suburban Red. With one of the league favorites, Eisenhower, back in the picture with the return injuried AJ Abrams, last year’s conference player of the year, this is a league race to watch. And it starts right here in this pivotal matchup.
Oak Lawn, led by unheralded point guard Corey Lee and breakout junior Donte Montgomery, gained a confidence-building win last week over Hillcrest. Lee is a stat-sheet stuffer, averaging 15.2 points, 5.7 assists and 3.2 steals a game, while Montgomery leads the team with 18.3 points a game. Sophomore shooter Jack Dempsey chips in 10.2 points a game.
Evergreen Park can score. But coach Jim Sexton has played the first two weeks of the season short-handed. But everyone, including leading scorer Nolan Sexton, is back for the clash with Oak Lawn.
Sexton, who scored 23 points in the season opener, missed the next four games with an ankle injury. But the experienced senior guard is now healthy. Also back is 6-3 Tre Dowdell, who has been sidelined since averaging 22 points a game in three Thanksgiving Tournament wins. Keshaun Vaval (17.5 ppg) and Ulises Cardenas (10 ppg) are two more double-digit scorers.
Hoops Report pick: Oak Lawn 66, Evergreen Park 62
Metea Valley at Waubonsie Valley
This is a key conference game in the DuPage Valley, but it’s also the first time these two district rivals meet in a game that truly matters.
Waubonsie Valley is off to an impressive start, which includes a convincing win over a solid Batavia team. The defense the Warriors throw at you with their ball press is something opponents have struggled navigating. Waubonsie hasn’t allowed a team to score more than 45 points in any of its first six games.
While Waubonsie has quickness, depth and balance, 6-5 Treshawn Blissett and junior guard Tyreek Coleman are the headliners.
The trio of 6-6 Will Ashford, point guard James Parker and 6-8 junior Jake Nosek is a terrific starting point for Metea. Plus, the early-season schedule for the Mustangs, with losses to Downers Grove North and St. Patrick, along with a win over DeKalb, has prepared them for this one.
Hoops Report pick: Metea Valley 56, Waubonsie Valley 54
St. Ignatius vs. Loyola at Loyola University
The Jesuit Cup is one of the better rivalries in high school sports. But this rivalry has been a lopsided one over the past decade. Despite the high-level success of St. Ignatius the past two seasons, Loyola remains a thorn in its side. Loyola has won nine of the last 10 basketball showdowns between the two.
Loyola is once again holding opponents in the 30s and 40s with its stingy defense while relying on the offensive production of Miles Boland and Andrew Hollerich who are both averaging 14 points a game. Week by week the Ramblers should find more solid footing as the football players and transfer Nick Patton continue to acclimate themselves with one another.
St. Ignatius can lean on star junior guard Phoenix Gill. But it needs the players who are stepping into new, bigger roles this season to play with consistency.
Hoops Report pick: Loyola 47, St. Ignatius 43
Rich at Thornton
We will find out a lot about where unbeaten Rich stands in the hierarchy of the south suburbs as it heads to Harvey to face top-ranked Thornton and star Morez Johnson.
The backcourt of senior Samar Bures and sophomore star Jamson Coulter lead Rich. But it will need a big effort from 6-6 Victor Brown.
You get the feeling you have a better shot at Thornton now than you will later in the season as the new assembled parts –– the Wildcats start four impactful transfers –– continue to come together.
Hoops Report pick: Thornton 66, Rich 55
Bloom vs. Brother Rice at Mount Carmel
The best Saturday game at this year’s Team Rose Classic boasts a pair of teams ranked among the top 10 in this week’s Super 25.
The terrific Brother Rice start to the season has been fueled by its backcourt play. Coach Conte Stamas has the quintessential, make-your-team better point guard Cale Cosme paired up with up-and-coming sophomore Marcos Gonzales.
Bloom, which owns a win over No. 1 Thornton, counters with outstanding length and athleticism across the board in 6-4 point guard Elijah Lovemore, one of the better juniors in the area, 6-3 Payton Edwards, 6-6 Jaden Clark and 6-5 Santana Flowers.
But the wonder and excitement surrounding 6-7 Elijah Allen is what might raise the ceiling for this Bloom team going forward. Allen, while still raw and figuring it out since moving here from Nicaragua, has shown both promise and production thus far and could prove to be a difference-maker. He’s added eight points, nine rebounds and one block a game.
Hoops Report pick: Bloom 63, Brother Rice 60
Homewood-Flossmoor vs. St. Ignatius at Mount Carmel
What a tough weekend for St. Ignatius, facing rival Loyola on Friday and then tackling highly-ranked Homewood-Flossmoor 48 hours later.
While there has been plenty of H-F hype early in the season, along with a high ranking, the lopsided loss to ultra-talented Gonzaga at last weekend’s Chicago Elite Classic was humbling. Still, this is an extremely talented team with all of its goals still clearly ahead of it.
With Bryce Heard, Jayden Tyler, Gianni Cobb and a host of others, there might be too much firepower for Ignatius in this one.
Hoops Report pick: Homewood-Flossmoor 62, St. Ignatius 54
Curie vs. Downers Grove North
The premier game at the Team Rose Classic brings together the Super 25’s No. 5 and No. 6 ranked teams and two battle-tested senior guards.
Curie impressed in its only defeat, losing to Sidwell Friends, a nationally-ranked team out of DC, in the closing seconds, 56-54. Downers North, meanwhile, has survived the first couple of weeks without returning point guard Owen Thulin, who was part of the state runner-up football team, at his true basketball-self.
Jack Stanton is an offensive force for DGN. The Princeton recruit is a sniper on the perimeter, plays with confidence and is big-game ready. But this is not quite the DGN of a year ago — at least not yet.
Curie’s Carlos Harris, who is headed to UIC, has a way about him as a two-way player who plays with a toughness and physicality. Both Christian Brockett and transfer Will Gonzalez are off to solid starts for the Condors.
Hoops Report pick: Curie 59, Downers Grove North 56