Michael O’Brien’s notebook: Jan. 18, 2016

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A fabulous day in Oak Park. I’ve mentioned it a few times on Twitter, but the basketball scene desperately needs more of these events. When the 5-10 best teams spend so much time traveling out of state it really impacts things locally.

As Fenwick coach Rick Malnati mentioned after the game, it just isn’t the same with a shootout atmosphere. Special moments happen when teams play games at home, in their communities (that’s exactly what Morgan Park is fighting for). I’d love to see Bogan playing at Glenbard West or Evanston coming into the city to play at Simeon.

***

I spoke with Curie coach Mike Oliver tonight. He had a different version of the events at yesterday’s game than was reported in the Michigan City newspaper. Oliver said the game was out of control, that he had a player with a concussion and one with a black-eye and  he was worried that there was about to be a brawl at the game. He said Curie left due to security concerns.

***

Today’s top games

No. 16 Benet 66, No. 22 Stevenson 56: The Redwings put an end to Stevenson’s hot streak in the semis at Wheaton-Warrenville South.

Notre Dame 75, Hinsdale South 57: The Dons advance in the other semifinal at WW South. Anthony D’Avanzo scored 20 points.

Notre Dame 49, No. 16 Benet 46: The Redwings won the conference game days ago, the Dons win the WW South MLK title game.

Crete-Monee 57, Mount Carmel 55: The Dwayne Rose (23 points) breakout has begun. The Warriors are playing like a Super 25 team.

DeKalb 62, No. 17 Zion-Benton 57: DeKalb isn’t eligible for the Super 25 rankings, but they will be a factor in March.

Joliet West 61, Oswego 55: The Tigers finally get another win. Oswego is missing some key players to injury though.

No. 19 Lake Zurich 61, Niles North 58 OT: The Bears win their own MLK Tournament. Nick Penny scored 23.

No. 11 Marian Catholic 63, Piqua (OH) 51: A big win in a high-profile national event in Dayton. Austin Richie scored 21.

No. 18 Proviso East 76, Farragut 60: Two teams headed in opposite directions. The Pirates are playing super well since Antonio Williams returned. The Admirals have lost five consecutive games.

Rockford Boylan 68, Geneva 63 2OT: The Vikings are intriguing, I need to get out to see them. Really solid loss taking a very good Boylan team to double-overtime.

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