Michael O’Brien’s notebook: Dec. 8, 2017

Homewood-Flossmoor obliterated Lincoln-Way East tonight. The Griffins had a nice-sized student section, but even they were sitting down in the second half.

I’m going to give Lincoln-Way East the benefit of the doubt and assume this one was just a dud, maybe I will check back in with them in February.

The Vikings have a bright future, juniors and sophomores were all over the place. Homewood-Flossmoor could very well be a threat come sectional time.

I’ll be at Mount Carmel the next two days for the loaded Team Rose Classic. Live notebooks coming on both days. Here’s the schedule:

Saturday

Farragut vs. Joliet West, 12:15

Uplift vs. Evanston, 1:30

Kenwood vs. Brother Rice, 3:00

Hillcrest vs. Romeoville, 4:30

Von Steuben vs. Mount Carmel, 6

Sunday

Payton vs. Crete-Monee, 11:00

Hope Academy vs. Providence-St. Mel, 12:15

Longwood vs. Westinghouse, 1:30

Orr vs. Danville, 3:00

Curie vs. St. Rita, 4:30

It was a busy Friday night, so time to get to the games.

Friday’s top games

Momence 100, Grant Park 74: I was already intrigued by Momence’s gym and the Lillard brothers and this 100-point game is just egging that on. The Redskins are 5-1 after this win. Lamarius Lillard led the way with 33 points and 12 rebounds. Lamar Lillard added 23 points and 12 rebounds

Evanston 61, Maine South 57: Big, big win for the young Kits. This is about the margin of victory some of Evanston’s best teams have had against the well-coached, scrappy Hawks. Good sign for coach Mike Ellis.

Crane 98, Raby 93 OT: Another shootout. Cougars win on the road. Hylan Harris scored 35 points and sophomore Robert Hobbs added 21 points and 15 rebounds.

No. 16 West Aurora 70, East Aurora 48: One of the state’s great rivalries. Camron Donatlan scored 18 points and buried two super alley-top dunks.

Crete-Monee 61, Kankakee 31: Tyrese Hunt had 25 points and 10 assists. It seems like a different player leads the Warriors in scoring every game.

Lane 56, Taft 49: Great city rivalry. The Indians win on the road. Jimmy Mulvaney (3 for 3 from three), Calvin Keyes (11 rebounds, 1 steal and 1 block), and Michael Molloy (6 of 9 from the free throw line) all scored 13.

St. Joseph 55, Leo 53: Malcolm Bell’s three-pointer gave Leo a 44-43 lead with just under four minutes left, but St. Joe’s scored six straight points as Leo missed a layup and turned it over twice. Joffari Brown had 22 for the Chargers.

Mundelein 69, Stevenson 64: The Patriots were 5-0 heading into this one. The Mustangs continue to surprise the season. Joe Aguilar of the Daily Herald tweeted that this was Mundelein’s first win against Stevenson since Jalen Brunson’s freshman year.

Glenbard West 69, Downers Grove North 57: Really nice win for the Hilltoppers. I was very impressed with Evan Taylor last season and the junior had a big game with 24 points and eight rebounds. Caden Phillips scored 23. We are going to be hearing plenty about Taylor over the next few years, don’t be surprised if he winds up being a high-major player.

No. 9 Oak Park 57, Lyons 50: A bit closer than maybe expected, but the Huskies pull it out. Dashon Enoch scored 16, Isiah Fuller 14.

No. 2 Young 63, Farragut 54: This one was at Farragut, a very tough place to play. The Dolphins survived and maybe the Admirals have found a spark, they kept it close and led at several points.

St. Viator 62, No. 13 Marian Catholic 60: Big win in the East Suburban Catholic and a big win for the Lions’ overall area reputation. This was in Chicago Heights as well. Treyvon Calvin scored 20 and Jeremiah Hernandez had 15.

Joliet Central 51, Minooka 36: The Steelmen are getting darn close to the Super 25. Rock solid win against a very tricky squad. Ryan Saunders had 15 points and 12 boards.

No. 10 Larkin 58, Geneva 46: Had my eye on this one all night. The Royals have all the pieces to make a run this year but this looked like a possible stumbling block. They passed the test.

No. 12 DePaul 69, St. Laurence 56: Appears the teams sorta split the difference tempo wise, but the Rams grab a nice win. Perry Cowan had 27 and Raheem Anthony scored 21.

Libertyville 63, Waukegan 54: Well. How about this one. Everyone has heard/read me raving about Waukegan. Maybe I’m crazy. Or maybe Drew Peterson was just too, too much. He scored 37.