Michael O’Brien’s high school basketball notebook

DePaul Prep knows how to run a shootout. Everything ran pretty much on time, there was wifi and rosters you don’t have to beg for and a nice table to sit at. I could spend the entire season sitting up in the balcony watching basketball. Well done Pat Mahoney and Tom Kleinschmidt.

The basketball was pretty good. Highlights below and there’s a full story on St. Ignatius beating Bolingbrook. The Wolfpack looked pretty good playing fast early in that one. Bolingbrook speeds everyone up and St. Ignatius handled it really well.

After driving home through the ice I watched Kenwood take on Christian Brothers, a team out of St. Louis, at the Highland Shootout. The Broncos jumped out to a big lead early behind some big plays from guard Darrin Ames, who is back from his injury.

Christian Brothers has a really intriguing sophomore, 7-2 John Bol. Kenwood dominated most of the first half and led into the fourth quarter but wound up losing 73-69. That’s a win the Broncos should have been able to finish off. Technicals and some really unwise decisions cost them a victory.

Ames finished with 21 points and Trey Pettigrew scored 17. Bol had 14 for CBC and Robert Martin led them with 26.

Saturday’s top games

Glenbard West 60, Benet 45: The Hilltoppers take care of business in the final game at DePaul Prep’s shootout. Caden Pierce had 17 and Bobby Durkin added 15. Braden Huff scored 11. Big senior Kyle Thomas led the Redwings with 16 points.

DePaul Prep 45, Homewood-Flossmoor 35: Vikings fans are going to start bribing me to leave the gym before their team plays. H-F just always falls flat when I watch. The Rams were in control from start to finish in this one. Dylan Arnett was very aggressive and senior guard Julian Green had some nice moments for DePaul Prep.

Loyola 55, St. Patrick 53: I watched the fourth quarter of this one. The Shamrocks led early but Loyola took the lead on a three from junior Alex Engro with 2:26 to play. St. Patrick senior Brandon Adorno made it a one-point game with nine seconds to play, but sophomore Miles Boland was 3-for-4 from the free-throw line in the final 18 seconds to seal the win for the Ramblers.

Peoria Notre Dame 50, St. Rita 38: Did everyone expect too much of a loaded sophomore team? Maybe. I received a few texts after this one. I guess I’m not as worried as everyone else. It was always going to be more important how good the Mustangs looked in late February and March than right now. They lost by 12 to a good team. Kaiden Space scored 14 and Illinois recruit Morez Johnson had 11.

York 65, Sandburg 44: The Dukes win on the road behind a big effort from Drew Kircher. The senior scored 31. James White led Sandburg with 17 points.

Morgan Park 56, St. Viator 47: The Mustangs have receded from the spotlight since Nick Irvin moved on but they’ve been a tough matchup for opponents this season. Big man Lidell Miller had 20 points and 16 rebounds and star quarterback Aaron Warren added nine points. They improve to 5-5.

Hyde Park 84, Vocational 59: Another nice win for the Thunderbirds. No letdown after a quick turnaround with an early-afternoon game after winning at Riverside-Brookfield last night. Malik Jenkins scored 15 and Cam Williford added 14 points. Damarion Morris contributed 11 points and six assists. The Thunderbirds are 11-3 and have won seven consecutive games. LaShawn Pollard continued his breakout senior season with 35 points and eight rebounds for the Cavaliers.

St. Louis Chaminade 103, Yorkville Christian 59: A rough one for the Mustangs at the Highland Shootout. Duke recruit Jaden Schutt led Yorkville with 22 points.

Lake Forest Academy 67, Proviso East 65: I never know what to do with LFA. They usually play a lot of local teams, but they aren’t in the IHSA state playoffs so it is easy to kind of forget about them. They now have two different teams popping up in the standings and I’m not sure what that’s about. Anyway, they knocked off the Pirates today. Simon Weisserman, a 6-7 junior, led the Caxys with 23 points and 15 rebounds.

Leo 71, De La Salle 55: The Meteors knocked of DePaul Prep last night but fell short tonight at Leo. JaKeem Cole scored 29 and Tyler Smith added 13 points, five assists and six rebounds.

Lindblom 49, Palatine 43: What a solid win for the Eagles, taking down a good Mid-Suburban League team. Senior Zachary Royser had 14 points, 10 rebounds and six blocks. Sophomore Je’Shawn Stevenson scored 17 and senior Reggie King had 9 points and 10 rebounds. Lindblom is 11-3.

Wheaton Warrenville South 40, Lake Park 28: Another high-quality win for the Tigers. Tyler Fawcett scored 13 and Braylen Meredith added nine points.

Young 75, Totino Grace, MN 67: Darrin Ames isn’t the only talented Public League guard that returned today. Dalen Davis had a huge game in Minnesota with 31 points, seven assists and three steals.