Team Rose Shootout rewind

The 12th annual Team Rose Shootout was a weekend marathon with 14 games played over two days. There is a ton to discuss. Here are some news, notes and thoughts in this Team Rose Rewind.

Notre Dame makes statement

The biggest statement made over the course of the 14-game Team Rose Shootout came from Notre Dame.

The Dons handed Bogan its first loss of the season while playing without star junior point guard Anthony Sayles.

Notre Dame first got the winning-without-Anthony Sayles thing out of the way with a huge East Suburban Catholic Conference win over Marian Catholic earlier in the week. But Bogan was going to be a different animal with its relentless pressure it applies.

Somehow Notre Dame survived despite turning the ball over 20 times. Sayles not only is the one to handle ball pressure from opposing teams, but he allows others to play in their natural positions, takes pressure off Notre Dame’s secondary ball-handlers and is a guard who can get by defenders to create for others.

There was a lot of hype surrounding Notre Dame when the season began with the return of Sayles, Troy D’Amico and Jason Bergstrom. But coach Kevin Clancy’s team had to then go out and validate it. They have done so in the past week as they’ve joined Morgan Park and Bogan in the hierarchy of Class 3A basketball.

Wildkits continue to impress

We are only a quarter of the way into the season, yet Evanston is really clicking at both ends of the floor at a high rate. The Wildkits beat three-time defending Class 2A state champ Orr on Sunday in impressive fashion.

There is a cohesiveness right now, which starts when your top players aren’t trying to do too much. Kudos to juniors Blake Peters and Jaylin Gibson.

But the speed and quickness Evanston plays with –– again, at both ends of the floor –– is difference-making. They are pesky and apply pressure in a controlled and disciplined way defensively. Coach Mike Ellis’ team is so quick to the ball.

And in a sport that has fallen in love with the ball screen, Evanston is a team that doesn’t have to use them all the time. Coach Mike Ellis has multiple players capable of breaking down a defender without the use of a ball screen, which then creates space on the floor without bringing an extra defender to the ball.

This is a fun team to watch.

Don’t worry about Simeon

Maybe the St. Rita matchup at the Team Rose Shootout wasn’t exactly a great measuring stick for Simeon. The Wolverines rolled to an easy 81-53 win. But it’s another much-needed game under the belt for coach Robert Smith’s team.

And for a team that is still piecing things together from a personnel standpoint with many new faces in unfamiliar and bigger roles, along with the addition of high-profile transfer Jeremiah Williams, Simeon needs games. Prior to Sunday’s win over St. Rita, Simeon had played just three games.

Unfortunately, the schedule doesn’t exactly allow Simeon to come together at a slow pace. The Wolverines have already played Bogan and now are scheduled to meet Curie and Morgan Park this week. That’s a lot of heavy lifting in the early part of the season for a team that will clearly be better in January and February than it is in November and December.

The Bogan backcourt

While Antione Bloxton was a little more trigger happy than usual in Bogan’s matchup with Notre Dame on Sunday, there is no denying the offensive force the 6-1 guard can be with the ball in his hands.

The slender Bloxton, who is the exact definition of a “baller,” is wired to score. He dropped in 27 points and in every way imaginable in the loss to Notre Dame on Sunday. But he also has vision and a feel for passing. That makes him a devastating offensive weapon if he can set teammates up while improving his shot selection. He needs to be able to combine those two in a fashionable way to become a better player and make Bogan even more dangerous.

Last year’s run to a state runner-up finish was led by big man Rashaun Agee’s constant double-doubles. But the unsung hero was point guard Jordan Booker. He was dynamite all season long for the Bengals, combining scoring and facilitating for coach Arthur Goodwin.

And while Bloxton is a special scorer and junior Darrion Jones is another outstanding talent in the backcourt, the departure of Booker and all that he brought to this team hasn’t been filled just yet.

Bogan is once again a threat to win a Class 3A title; they’ve already knocked off Morgan Park and Simeon. But in halfcourt settings, like the Bengals faced against Notre Dame, the decision-making from its guards will have to improve.

Curie better than expected

There were so many questions surrounding Curie heading into this season. When you lose the Sun-Times Player of the Year (DaJuan Gordon) and several other valuable senior starters (Trevon Hamilton, Damari Nixon and Justin Harmon) to graduation, there were doubts as to just how good this perennial power would be.

But the Condors impressed in running away from Hillcrest in the Saturday night finale, and the early 5-0 start to the season maybe shouldn’t be a surprise.

The Curie sophomore team is always among the city’s best, annually competing for city championships at the lower levels. Thus, it’s a reload for coach Mike Oliver.

Ramean Hinton, a returning starter from last year’s team that reached Peoria, is the go-to player. However, there are a host of others who make up a nice mix for Oliver, including the backcourt of senior Elijah Pickens and junior Nick Owens.

Senior role player Josiah Hammons (14 points) was instrumental in the win over Hillcrest, but it was Owens, the tiny point guard, who caught the Hoops Report’s eye. The impact Owens make is only appreciated if you watch what he does closely as it goes beyond the numbers. The 5-7 point guard is so engaged and into the game, into what’s happening on the floor and with teammates. Plus, he’s a jitterbug with the ball in his hands.

Much-needed win for Oak Park

There was no team in the Chicago area more in need of a feel-good win than Oak Park. The talented Huskies began the season ranked in everyone’s preseason rankings, yet they started the year 3-3 heading into the Team Rose event.

Promising junior Isaiah Barnes has had an up-and-down start to the season. The skilled 6-6 wing has high-major interest and was ranked among the top 10 prospects in the Class of 2021 when the season began. But the promise hasn’t quite translated yet into consistent productivity in this high-ceiling prospect.

So the Oak Park win, coupled with the best performance Barnes has put together this season –– and doing it in a headline event and against a highly-ranked team –– was just what the doctor ordered for a team that will head to the Pontiac Holiday Tournament where a potential matchup with No. 1 ranked Bloom would loom in the second round.

Barnes scored 21 points and did so in a variety of ways, including drives to the basket in the open court and in the half court, along with a few three-pointers.

This was a game and result to build on for both Barnes and the Huskies.

Tevin Smith is back

The Danville star is off to a fast start this season and came to Chicago to show he’s still among the top prospects in the Class of 2021.

Smith tore his ACL and meniscus in May and missed the all-important summer evaluation period. He is still working his way back to where he was before the injury, but the 6-4 wing impressed in Danville’s win over Rich East.

Smith, who is averaging 21 points, 9.6 points and just over two blocks a game on the season, scored 16 points in the opening quarter en route to a game-high 28 points. Smith, who is shooting 43 percent from beyond the arc (18 of 41), scored in multiple ways and is a legitimate mid-major prospect.

He will have a big stage to impress later in the month at the Pontiac Holiday Tournament. But it’s always nice to be able to get central Illinois and downstate stars to play in events in the Chicago area.

The other Hillcrest junior star

The junior class at Hillcrest is loaded. Julius Rollins is the headliner after producing as a sophomore at the varsity level and is ranked among the top 20 prospects in the Class of 2021.

While he remained an under-the-radar prospect to most, 6-6 junior Jakobi Heady made a massive move up the City/Suburban Hoops Report player rankings after a breakout summer. While the Hawks struggled in their 70-47 loss to Curie, Heady was terrific and opened a lot of eyes of college coaches and evaluators in attendance. He poured in 31 points and was active on the glass (seven rebounds) and defensively with four blocks.

Battle of the big men

The score was low –– Tinley Park pulled out a 39-37 win over Schaumburg –– but the two biggest attractions led the way.

Tinley Park’s 6-8 AJ Casey, the top-ranked prospect in Illinois in the Class of 2022, scored 17 points and added eight rebounds and a couple of blocks, while Wisconsin recruit Chris Hodges had 20 points and nine rebounds to lead Schaumburg.

Casey, a transfer from Simeon, is the ultimate prospect, showcasing a combination of skill and size that is so difficult to find. He’s just starting to tap into the exciting potential he possesses. As a result, he’s a surefire high-major prospect at this time when you project two years down the road.

Hodges continues to improve. He’s an efficient big man who knows and understands who he is as a player and is gaining more comfort in his game by the month.

While the matchup was intriguing because of the high-profile names, it’s always important to remember the progression of talented big men are different than perimeter players. There has to be some patience when it comes to the expectations of many of the highly-regarded big men, who often develop at a slower pace and can make less of an immediate impact at the high school level.

And it’s also important to remember Casey is just nine games into his sophomore season and the 6-8 Hodges is only a junior.

You can expect both of these players to look and play a whole lot different when watching them 12 months from now.

Team Rose Shootout quick hitters

■ If he’s locked in, playing within himself and if his shot selection becomes more Simeon-like –– Yes, those are a lot of ifs –– Ahamad Bynum can be one of the most dynamic offensive players in Illinois. With his burst, explosiveness, shot-making ability and the lift he gets on his shot and at the rim, Bynum does things from an offensive perspective others simply can’t do.

■ Notre Dame’s Troy D’Amico was terrific in the win over Bogan. And it wasn’t about the numbers, though he did lead the Dons with 19 points. But it was more about the mental toughness and presence he provided for a team that so desperately needed it. With Anthony Sayles out of action, D’Amico was forced to do more things and do many of them that are a little out of his comfort zone. This is a bonafide mid-major 4-man who can space the floor.

■ While we are talking Notre Dame, the “Big Three” of Sayles, D’Amico and Louis Lesmond receive the bulk of the attention. But this past summer Jason Bergstrom (14 points) showed he was one of the more improved players in the senior class. He parlayed that improvement into a UI-Springfield scholarship at the Division II level and went out and hit some big, key shots in Notre Dame’s win over Bogan.

■ Stevenson suffered its first loss of the season on Saturday as the Patriots were upset by Oak Park. The game did come a day after Stevenson took care of Zion-Benton in a key North Suburban Conference game Friday night.

While Stevenson remains everything it was talked about in the preseason and is deserving of its ranking, it’s also important to remember this is a different team than almost all of the highly-ranked teams. There isn’t a Division I star or multiple scholarship players to carry the Patriots, especially when shots aren’t dropping or it isn’t playing at its absolute best.

Thus, doing what the Patriots do best and consistently is crucial to their success, especially when up against bigger, athletic teams with more pure talent. This is an extremely well coached team with a group that knows and understands their individual roles within the system. Plus, senior guard Matthew Ambrose continues to show why he was such a terrific recruiting get for Division II Indianapolis.

An area that will have to come together over the course of the next couple of months for Stevenson is added depth –– or at least a comfort level going to the bench when needed in big games.

■ Schaumburg’s off to an impressive 8-1 start. While the Saxons aren’t quite the defensive team they were a year ago when they won 23 games and a regional championship, it’s a team that is better than expected.

Yes, it helps when you have a big man presence like Schaumburg has with 6-8 Wisconsin recruit Chris Hodges. But the supporting cast, which includes a host of players who can knock a shot down when opposing teams focus on Hodges, is coming along nicely. Sophomore Vaurice Patterson, who saw some time a year ago, is making an even bigger impact than expected this early in the season.