Michael O’Brien’s notebook: Feb. 6, 2017

Well, I’m clearly not a good luck charm for Max Christie and Rolling Meadows. It was rough going for them tonight against Deerfield, which has been the case every time I’ve seen them the past two seasons.

It was the second really good performance I’ve seen from Deerfield big man Brandon Lieb. The 6-10 junior is loaded with potential.

Emerging big man Brandon Lieb leads Deerfield past Rolling Meadows: Deerfield is taller than plenty of college teams. The Warriors’ starters are 6-1, 6-3, 6-7, 6-9 and 6-10. That’s a massive problem for any high school team to deal with and visiting Rolling Meadows didn’t have an answer for that size on Wednesday.Deerfield beat the Mustangs 55-40 and had a 36-19 rebounding advantage. The Warriors held Rolling Meadows star Max Christie, the state’s most highly-regarded prospect, to just six points. Read the story.

There was some really good news in Arlington Heights tonight.

I always forget to plug the podcast in the notebook. Give No Shot Clock a listen.

-Who is the best suburban player this century? Best suburban team?

-The .500 teams that could make a run in the state playoffs

-This season’s late-blooming senior prospects

-Things are looking up at Oak Lawn

-Revisiting Geneva’s playoff chances

-Simeon vs. Belleville West, what did it mean?

Wednesday’s top games

Providence-St. Mel 73, Marmion 58: The 20th win of the season for the Knights. Deion Jackson had 18 points and Jason Mason scored 16.

Kankakee 50, Rich South 48: The Kays hold off the upset bid. TJ Wicks hit the go-ahead jumper with 18 seconds left to play. Darion Binion had 13 points and eight rebounds and Lavell McIntosh scored 11 and grabbed 11 rebounds. The Kays are 15-5.

Grant 48, Antioch 37: Five wins in a row for the Bulldogs.

Lockport 68, Lincoln-Way East 38: Quite a dominant victory for the Porters. Matt Hatzopoulos led the way with 16 and Jake Karli scored 13. Lockport was 11 of 23 from three-point range and had 19 assists on 24 field goals.

Stevenson 55, Lake Zurich 42: I really liked what I saw from the Patriots over the holidays (and that was without Matt Ambrose), but I can’t say I expected them to win 10 consecutive games. That’s quite a run in this season of parity.

Glenbard East 69, Elgin 55: The Rams’ junior backcourt was big. Daron Hall scored 22 and Alijah Nelson added 16 points.

Austin 71, Chicago Tech 64: Sophomore Kevin Gentry scored 16 points. Senior Jeffrey Smith and junior Andrew McClain each scored 14.

Bolingbrook 90, Sandburg 68: The Raiders cruise. Joseph Yesufu scored 23 and Darius Burford scored 17.

WEDNESDAY’S FULL SCOREBOARD