Michael O’Brien’s notebook: Nov. 26, 2019

Quite a performance from Bryce Hopkins tonight in Oak Park. The junior scored 44 (anyone know what Corey Maggette’s career high was? Fenwick people were asking. They are guessing the 44 is a school record).

The game was a bit of a mess. There were 73 free throws. Hopkins was 22-for-34 from the free-throw line. I saw some Westinghouse fans complaining about it on Twitter, which is understandable. But as a neutral I’d say almost 90% of those were clear fouls.

Sophomore guard Trey Pettigrew has made huge strides since last season. He’s grown up.

Westinghouse is 0-2 already but it isn’t far from living up to the preseason ranking. Devin Davis is a top-notch scorer and Rafie Fields’ team has a ton of heart.

Tuesday’s top games

No. 1 Bloom 67, Thornwood 57: Christian Shumate, the new kid, scored 24 and Keshawn Williams added 15. Big things are expected of the Blazing Trojans this season so the 10-point win raised some eyebrows. Lets not make this some weird college football thing though.

Deerfield 61, Collins 30: Brandon Lieb scored 22 and Walt Mattingly added 16.

Glenbrook South 70, Zion-Benton 52: This is the other game I was very interested in seeing tonight. The Titans rolled behind 29 points from Dom Martinelli. At what point does he become a serious contender for Player of the Year? Yes, I mean that. The award goes to the best high school player, not the highest-ranked recruit. Martinelli was 18-for-18 from the free-throw line.

Kankakee 79, McNamara 29: The Kays dominated their cross-city rivals. Rashard Harris scored 20 and Aaryon Pore added 13. This was the opener for Kankakee. Most people aren’t talking about the Kays but the team has high expectations.

Morton 76, No. 16 Oak Park 69: Morton takes down a talented young Oak Park squad. Kendall Nichols scored 22 and sophomore Eliseo Gonzalez had 16 for the Mustangs.

Niles West 50, De La Salle 47: How about Niles West! Have the Wolves ever made the notebook for winning? Not that I remember. Adnan Seferovic and Will Laude each scored 11.

North Lawndale 61, Carmel 48: Big night for Larry Johnson with 19 points, 16 rebounds and four blocks. Daequan Davis added 13 and Jamar Wilkins scored 10.

Oak Forest 66, Pontiac 33: Sophomore Robbie Avila led with 21 points. Jayson Kent added 18 and Juan Avila finished with 12 points, six rebounds and five assists. We’ll keep a close eye on the Bengals all season and it likely won’t be long until they crack the Super 25.

Oswego 52, Neuqua Valley 37: Very solid win for the Panthers. Kobe Adams scored 22 and Joey Niesman added 15.

St. Joseph 66, Plainfield East 57 2 OT: It will be so strange to watch the Chargers and not see Gene Pingatore on the sidelines. St. Joseph fan Phil Yudys says the team is wearing a nice PING patch on their jerseys.

St. Patrick 83, Payton 38: A running in clock in this one. Nick Galati scored 24 and Dom Galati added 23 for the Shamrocks. Interesting margin.

Timothy Christian 49, Fremd 38: This is the first major eye-opener of the season for me. Everyone knows how consistently good Fremd is. Matt Owens scored 16 and Josh Harris added 15. Time to put Timothy Christian on the radar.

Here’s a recap of all the action at the St. Viator Thanksgiving Classic, provided by St. Viator.

Evanston 51, Libertyville 46: Evanston, last season’s Class 4A runner-up, had its hands full in its season opener, but the Wildkits showed poise down the stretch to come away with a 51-46 win over Libertyville.

Down three, Evanston went ahead 44-43 on junior guard Elijah Bull’s steal and layup with 2:40 left in the fourth quarter. The Wildkits made all four of their free throws in the final minute to clinch the victory.

“Credit our guys,” Evanston coach Mike Ellis said. “They didn’t fold, they didn’t panic. They stayed the course, made some effort plays, made some intelligent plays in last three minutes of fourth quarter.”

The Wildkits (1-0) jumped out to a 6-0 lead and went into half ahead 24-18. The Wildcats (1-1) tied the game 33-all after three quarters. Senior guard Jackson Watson’s 3-pointer gave Libertyville a 43-40 lead before Evanston answered.

“We came out ready to play and finished ready to play,” Ellis said.

Evanston junior guard Isaiah Holden scored 11 points. Junior guard Dashawn Hemphill and Bull each had eight points. Senior guard Blake Peters made one 3-pointer and finished with seven points. Senior guard Jerome Smith added seven points, while junior guard Jaylin Gibson totaled six points.

Senior forward Patrick Graham led Libertyville with 20 points. Junior guard Blake Ellingson added 12 points. Watson finished with nine, all on 3-pointers.

Prospect 46, Conant 40 OT: Prospect endured its second consecutive overtime game of the season Tuesday to beat Conant 46-40 at the Saint Viator Thanksgiving Classic. The Knights (1-1) scored all six points in extra time to earn their first win.

Senior guard Matt Woloch finished with a team-best 16 points for Prospect. Senior forward Brian Dini contributed 11 points. Sophomore guard Owen Schneider totaled 10 points.

The Knights led 33-25 after three quarters, but they had to withstand a late rally by the Cougars to get into overtime. Conant used an 8-0 run to go up 38-35 with 2:01 remaining in regulation.

Prospect coach John Camardella, who returned no starters, is pleased with his team’s progress so far this season.

“This inexperienced group is ahead of the curve in the things that I think a lot of teams we’ve had in the past struggled with like turnovers, rebounding, defending,” Camardella said. “Offensively, we’re struggling. We aren’t hitting shots. But the fun part is they are learning that basketball is hard in a competitive environment like this. I’m proud of them.”

Junior guard Devon Ellis scored a game-high 27 points for Conant (0-2).