Michael O’Brien’s notebook: Nov. 29, 2016

Right from the mouth of St. Rita coach Gary DeCesare: “Our freshman backcourt of Millender and Joel is going to be really, really good when they are seniors.”

DeCesare is referring to freshmen Joel Watts and Alec Millender. Each played for a bit in the Mustangs’ win against Providence-St. Mel tonight. Watts made an immediate impression. He’s a spark plug, scored eight points.

St. Rita sophomore Stedmon Ihejirika was quite good. Read all about the game.

Tuesday’s slate of games wasn’t great, but thanks to the 6:30 p.m. start time I’m home early. So lets go to some weird places:

Harvest Christian 54, Joliet Catholic 51: Things are happening at Harvest Christian. I’m going to check them out tomorrow night and will have a full report. Sophomore guard Andre White Jr., a transfer from Loyola, scored 20 points.

Glenbrook North 68, Glenbrook South 60: This used to be a can’t miss date on the calendar. Looks like it was a fun one tonight.

Addison Trail 69, Stagg 66 3 OT: Jack Kalbas scored 21 and tied the game with 1.3 seconds left in regulation. Stevan Jones hit the game-winning three-pointer with 7 seconds to play. Addison Trail is 4-0.

Hope d. Catalyst-Maria: Namon Smith dropped 45 points and grabbed 11 rebounds.

Clemente 72, Intrinsic 49: Clemente is 5-0 and has won every game by 15 points or more. I’m going to see Wells at Clemente (my two neighborhood schools” play on Thursday.

Grayslake North 53, Vernon Hills 45: Remember the Knights from last season’s undefeated run? They are off to a nice start again this season. Guard Jamal Thomas is back.

Hope Academy 79, Mooseheart 24: Yes, we’ve hit both Hopes in this notebook. How about that. This Class 1A team has earned some recognition. Went a bit more in-depth on No Shot Clock this week.