Michael O’Brien’s high school basketball notebook

Analysis, scores and highlights from the best games of Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2020.

SHARE Michael O’Brien’s high school basketball notebook
Kankakee’s AJ Storr gets a wide open shot against Thornton.

Kankakee’s AJ Storr gets a wide open shot against Thornton.

Allen Cunningham/For the Sun-Times

A friend of mine told me earlier this season that he read somewhere that Kankakee was named the worst town in Illinois or the country or something. I told him it wasn’t even close and was fairly confident that was true.

That conversation had me thinking as I drive around this season and I’ve picked out the worst town in the Chicago area. That is not something I’ll be divulging in the notebook, but it is not Kankakee. My drives in and out of town tonight just backed up my previous opinion. Kankakee had pretty lights strung across a main street downtown and some new bike lanes. I even drove by two new looking places that looked like great spots to grab a beer.

You could do a lot worse than Kankakee.

The Kays drew a nice crowd tonight for the showdown with Thornton but it didn’t go their way.

Tuesday’s top games

Zion-Benton 90, No. 2 Evanston 71: The big result of the night. This one was in Evanston. The Wildkits lose their first game of the season. They have a huge weekend ahead with games against New Trier and Bloom. It will be interesting to see how they respond. Unfortunately the Zee-Bee’s were not included on No Shot Clock’s list of the best teams no one is talking about. That was clearly a mistake.

No. 24 Simeon 63, Brooks 36: The Wolverines recover quickly from the heavy loss to Fenwick. Ahamad Bynum led the way with 22 points and freshman Davius Loury, who I don’t think I’ve seen play this season, had 10 points, seven rebounds and three blocks. The Battle of Vincennes is up next for Simeon on Thursday at Morgan Park

No. 1 Curie 61, Corliss 53: Solid win for the Condors. Ramean Hinton and Armond Williams each scored 13. The Trojans have played well against most of the big boys in the Red-South/Central again this season.

Brother Rice 55, Marist 47: This is one of my favorite games every season, I was sad to miss it. The Crusaders win The Battle of Pulaski behind 22 points from Rico Powell. Deandre Hagan added 12 points and 10 rebounds. Alex Knight led the RedHawks with 18.

Longwood 65, South Shore 58 OT: The Panthers win the White-South. I would add the leading scorers but there were no first names in the tweet.

Carmel 65, North Chicago 38: Five consecutive wins for the Corsairs, who are now 11-9. Kimahri Wilson nearly had a triple double with 15 points, 13 steals and eight rebounds.

Fenwick 60, Marmion 49: The Friars are on a nice roll. Bryce Hopkins had 21 points, 10 rebounds and five assists and Trey Pettigrew added 19 points.

St. Ignatius 58, Sandburg 40: I like this game. Something a little different on a Tuesday with a Catholic League team against a steady south suburban program. Sophomore Kolby Giles led the Wolfpack with 12 points and Daniel Florey added 11.

Jones 54, Stagg 50: Rron Thaci, a 6-6 senior, scored 26 points and grabbed 16 rebounds. He passed the 1,000 point mark for his career.

York 55, Proviso West 49: Interestingly close but the Dukes pick up the win. I suppose they have played a ton of games over the last few days. Nate Shockey passed the 1,000 point mark for his career.

Ag. Science 67, Julian 40: Shawn Frison scored 16 and Corey Jones added 14. This is the second consecutive season that Ag. Science has finished 8-1 in the White-South and finished second.

Dyett 69, Chicago Military 45: The Eagles win the Blue-South and will be promoted to the White. Senior Jarret Rhone scored 29 and junior Ja’Bar Wheatley added 16 points and eight rebounds.

The Latest
White Sox fans from all over will flock to Guaranteed Rate Field on Thursday for the team’s home opener against the Tigers.
Many kids in the audience came dressed up. I would recommend parents encourage it, as their youngsters will undoubtedly make new friends at intermission finding others who love the characters they do, or who identify with other ones.
They mayor made it clear he will not remove the City Council member for appearing at a rally where an American flag was burned to protest U.S. support for Israel.
Archer Courts, 2242 S. Princeton Ave., will soon get a new hot water system, ventilation system and rooftop solar panels through a grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Leasure will make his major league debut on Thursday.