Michael O’Brien’s high school basketball notebook

The holiday tournaments are under way. I’m not sure that starting them before Christmas is a very good idea for buzz and attendance, but here we are.

Hinsdale Central

First round
No. 9 Homewood-Flossmoor 51, Maine South 34: RJ Ogom scored 17 and Josiah Palmer adds 15 for the Vikings. Casey Clark led the Hawks with 14 points. Maine South out-rebounded the Vikings 24-17, which is interesting.

St. Charles East 64, Lincoln-Way Central 43: Chase Monkemeyer led the Saints wit 13 points and Zack Clodi scored 12. Rough one for the Curran family. L-W Central coach Bob Curran picked up a technical earlyish and his son Sean was in foul trouble throughout. Matt Maloney (not the Oak Park coach obviously) scored 17 for the Knights. L-W Central was 3 for 21 from three-point range.

Oswego East 56, Rockford Auburn 36: Oswego East has a new nickname and no one told me. Wolfpack replaces Wolves. And Sam Schultz is back from injury, makes them an interesting team. Schultz scored 15 and had 5 rebs. Will Wolfe added 9 pts, 10 rebs.

No. 18 Stevenson 51, Glenbrook North 31: This one was close for a quarter. Matt Kaznikov led the Patriots with 16 points and five rebounds. John Ittounas scored 11 and had five boards. Stevenson out-rebounded Glenbrook North 38-26. Ben Foster led the Spartans with 16, he made four three-pointers in the first quarter.

St. Rita 61, Willowbrook 59: St. Rita junior Christian Henry had the ball in his hands with the game tied and just seconds left. He heard Willowbrook say it was in a man defense. That was all he needed. Read all about it and WATCH the buzzer-beater.

No. 8 Marian Catholic 57, TF South 54: The Rebels had a chance to tie it with a long three at the buzzer but it didn’t fall. Joe Green led the Spartans with 17 points. Ahron Ulis added 14 points, five rebounds and five assists. Isaiah Lewis scored 18 for TF South.

Westinghouse 78, Hinsdale Central 73: This was a shootout. Devin Davis scored 33 points and was 7 of 9 from three-point range for the Warriors. Hinsdale Central star Ryan Isaacson was 6-for-7 from three and scored 30.

No. 15 DePaul Prep 75, Richards 61: Really solid win for the Rams against a feisty Richards team in the nightcap. Tyler Johnson scored 27 points and had four assists. Lance Mosley added 23 points and made five three-pointers. Albert Jones scored 24 for the Bulldogs and KaJuan Wines added 20. Richards was 2-for-13 from three.

Wheeling

First round
Libertyville 67, Elgin 43: Chase Bonder posted a double-double for the Wildcats with 17 points and 12 rebounds.

Maine West 47, Geneva 42: The defending champs lose in the first round. Jacob Reidl led Maine West with 19 points and six rebounds.

No. 3 Notre Dame 76, Mather 28: Not much of a challenge for the Dons. Louis Lesmond scored 25.

Prospect 59, Deerfield 32: The first upset of the holidays. Matt Woloch led the Knights with 14 points and six rebounds.

Niles North 77, Waukegan 48: Another big game for Aquan Smart, who is likely to be the a large attraction for college coaches over the holidays. The unsigned senior had 30 points and six steals. Jalen Butler added 26 points.

Fremd 52, Buffalo Grove 48 OT: The Vikings are back. First they took down Schaumburg, now Buffalo Grove. Kayman Hopkins had 16 points, eight rebounds and three big dunks. Sophomore Kam Craft led the Bison with 21 points and 10 rebounds. Looks like this was a fun one. It was the game I most wanted to see today. Guess I should have made the trip to Wheeling.

St. Viator 66, Wheeling 36: Connor Kochera scored 29 to lead Viator into the quarterfinals.

No. 17 Glenbrook South 73, Ridgewood 37: Dom Martinelli scored 32 points to crack 1,450 points for his career in this game and became the leading scorer in Glenbrook South school history. The record was set in 1987.

Jacobs

Payton 68, Prairie Ridge 47: Jabari Chiphe scored 23 and grabbed seven rebounds. Eamon Glascott added 20 points and seven rebounds

East Aurora

Plainfield Central 61, Metea Valley 50: Senior Mekhi Lunford scored 19 and Javari Johnson added 17. Will Hopkins led the Mustangs with 14.

Joliet Catholic 72, Wheaton Academy 71: The Hilltoppers pull off the upset by dominating the fourth quarter 72-71. Two underclassmen led the way. Junior Ante Acosta scored 18 and sophomore Conor Sukel added 16 points. Marcus Bult led Wheaton Academy with 21 points.

Steinmetz

Clemene 68, Steinmetz 55: Terrell Taylor had 29 and Trey Spires 16 to lead the Wildcats to victory in the championship game at Steinmetz. Clemente is 10-4.