Michael O’Brien’s high school basketball notebook

Tonight was easily the best I’ve seen Max Christie play. He was excellent leading Rolling Meadows to a big road win at Prospect.

John Camardella’s team isn’t loaded with talent this year but you can always count on the Knights to be competitive, which was the case again tonight. I’m literally starving to see Christie play some of our top-notch local teams. It would be ideal if the Mustangs could make a run at York, but it will definitely happen in late January against Fenwick. It can’t come soon enough.

Christie is a nationally-ranked player but he just isn’t getting much buzz on the area’s basketball scene. That’s partly what I wrote about tonight.

The holiday tournament preview episode of No Shot Clock was released earlier today. Give it a listen.

Friday’s top games

St. Charles North 66, St. Charles East 53: Always a fun rivalry game. Saints coach Patrick Woods, who is excellent about getting me his stats for the notebook, says it was a four-point game with four minutes left. The North Stars’ backcourt had a big game. Christian Czerniak scored 20 and Luke Scheffers had 18. Chase Monkemeyer lead East with 12.

No. 2 Evanston 51, Maine South 37: Still unbeaten. Isaiah Holden scored 14, Blake Peters 13 and Jaylin Gibson did a lot with 12 points, seven rebounds and six steals.

Tinley Park 52, Shepard 49: AJ Casey hits the game-winner. He finished with 24 points, 11 rebounds and five blocks. Keon Richardson added eight points and five assists.

Glenbard East 83, East Aurora 78: So we clearly haven’t been paying enough attention to Glenbard East’s DaRon Hall. He scored 32 tonight and has topped 30 two other times this season.

Oak Park 70, Lyons 54: Isaiah Barnes scored 24 and Josh Smith had 23. The Huskies are looking like a threat at Pontiac after an up and down start to the season. Barnes is the real deal.

IC Catholic 60, Riverside-Brookfield 59: Zach Jordan gets it down with all the pressure on him. Drained three free-throws with no time left to get his team the win. Watch it in the tweet. I’m impressed.

Fremd 49, Schaumburg 40: Well look at this. The Tinley Park loss didn’t phase Joe Henricksen (we talked about this on the podcast) but it appears the Saxons aren’t the class of the MSL just yet. Jake Schoffstall scored 23 for the Vikings.

Joliet West 68, Plainfield Central 48: Jamere Hill has everyone talking. The buzz-worthy senior scored 24 and Jaiden Lee added 18. Trent Howland contributed 14 points and 10 rebounds. Tigers could make some noise at Pontiac.

No. 18 DePaul Prep 71, Leo 54: Lance Mosely explodes for 20 points and Ty Johnson added 23. Rasheed Bello stuffed the stat sheet with 10 assists and nine steals.

No. 17 Fenwick 74, St. Rita 73 OT: The young Mustangs continue to be dangerous under first-year coach Roshawn Russell. Another big game from Bryce Hopkins with 30 points.

Austin 74, Stephenson, Ga. 64: Ok, I don’t know anything about this tournament at North Bay Haven. Don’t even know where that is and don’t have the time to google it right now but this was a semifinal and the Tigers are playing for a tournament title tomorrow. How about that? Andrew McClain had 22 points and five rebounds and Charles Echols added 18 points and 11 assists.

Montverde, Fla. 82, No. 6 Young 56: I’m not sure why any high school would play Montverde. Might as well just play a college team. But yeah, they have kids from all over the country and are really good. Tyler Beard scored 16 and DJ Steward added 14.

Richards 79, Hillcrest 67: Hmm. I’ve mentioned that the guards Richards has back from last season are good. They are athletic and gritty. But this is still a massive eye-opener. The Hawks were all out of sorts against Curie this weekend but most of us assumed that was just a bump in the road. Maybe not.

No. 13 Homewood-Flossmoor 57, No. 10 Simeon 44: Speaking of bumps, the Wolverines have now lost three of the their last four games. Interesting margin in this one.

Morton 84, Willowbrook 72: That’s a fun score. The Mustangs could be a factor at Proviso West. No stats from them but Everett Stubblefield poured in 37 for Willowbrook.