Makai Kvamme smoothly orchestrates DePaul Prep's Class 3A state championship win against Mount Carmel

CHAMPAIGN—Makai Kvamme was the unsung hero of DePaul Prep’s run to the Class 2A state title last season. His job was to handle the ball, distribute and defend.

The junior guard stepped into the spotlight on Saturday at State Farm Center, doing plenty of scoring while orchestrating the offense as the Rams beat Catholic League rival Mount Carmel 49-41 to win the Class 3A state championship.

Kvamme finished with 18 points and six rebounds. He took two three-pointers in the first quarter and made both. That helped establish an early lead that DePaul Prep’s steady defense never surrendered.

“We fought through adversity,” Kvamme said. "[Mount Carmel] cut it to three and we kept going, we never gave up. It feels amazing. I don’t even have words. It’s amazing.”

Northwestern recruit Angelo Ciaravino made a three-pointer with 6:35 left in the game to pull the Caravan (32-6) within five points and a three-pointer from sophomore Noah Mister cut the DePaul Prep (35-2) lead to three points with 1:45 to play but that was as close it would get.

“Ever since we won last year a lot of people said we were going to struggle and have a rough time in 3A and couldn’t get to this point we are at right now,” DePaul Prep senior PJ Chambers said. “That only fueled our fire and made us work harder.”

The Rams made ten consecutive free throws in the final 1:32 to seal the victory.

“[The loss to Normal earlier in the season] really showed me I needed to work on my free throws,” Kvamme said. “I did it every day in practice since then and I had confidence to knock them down.”

DePaul Prep dominated the first half. The Rams shot well in the first quarter and then ground down the second quarter with long possessions. Kvamme’s smarts and ball handling ability were the keys to the DePaul Prep’s stretches of turnover-free ball that didn’t allow the Caravan a chance to get back into the game.

Senior Jaylan McElroy finished with eight points and seven rebounds for the Rams and Chambers, a Sun-Times All-Area selection, added eight points. McElroy’s rim protection was one of the special factors in DePaul Prep’s run to the title.

“[The two title] runs were kind of the same,” Kvamme said. “Both years we had players injured and kept fighting and came out on top.”

Mount Carmel held DePaul Prep to just one field goal and five points in the third quarter but couldn’t ever change the momentum of the game.

Ciaravino led the Caravan with 24 points and Mister added seven, all in the fourth quarter.

DePaul Prep’s only losses this season were to Homewood-Flossmoor and Normal, the teams playing in the Class 4A state championship game.

Mount Carmel’s last appearance in the state championship game was in 1985. The Caravan beat Springfield Lanphier for the Class AA title.

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