Here are a dozen storylines that developed over the course of holiday tournament play this past week.
1. Curie is better than anyone thought
There were a lot of questions surrounding the Condors heading into the 2019-2020 season.
That’s to be expected from a team that returned just one starter from last year’s 35-2 team that finished third in the state in Class 4A.
However, we are roughly halfway into the season and there is no denying that Curie is a much better team than anyone thought. Coach Mike Oliver’s Condors headed into the 2020 calendar year unbeaten and ranked No. 1.
A year ago DaJuan Gordon was the bonafide star with a balanced supporting cast. Gordon averaged just under 18 points a game while three others averaged in double figures. The Condors have a similar profile this year with Ramean Hinton as the player to lean on and a host of others contributing in a balanced way.
The four wins at Pontiac were a microcosm of that productive balance. Hinton led Curie in scoring in all four games, averaging 19.7 points in the four wins, with Elijah Pickens, Saiveon Williams and Armond Williams all in double figures.
The Condors play extremely hard, spearheaded by the relentlessness Hinton plays with at both ends of the floor. Their guards, Elijah Pickens and Nick Owens, play under control offensively. And their defense has been outstanding.
“We are thinking defense first,” says Oliver of his team’s mentality. “We also have recognized that we have a star [in Hinton] and are understanding our roles around him. This is a very unselfish team.”
2. Could this be Mike Oliver’s best coaching job?
A year after being named the City/Suburban Hoops Report Coach of the Year, Curie’s Mike Oliver is putting together arguably his best coaching job.
Curie wins a lot. Every year. The bottom line, however, is that the common denominator each season, no matter the talent level, is Oliver and the expectations of the program. Oliver’s teams always seem to play with a sense of purpose. This team is no different.
Curie is fresh off winning the Pontiac Holiday Tournament. The Condors knocked off uber-talented Bloom along the way. But there is only one player (Ramean Hinton) the average high school basketball fan could even name on this roster. Maybe.
Hinton was the lone returning starter but Oliver has done a masterful job of continuing to get his players to buy into their respective roles –– and be disciplined within those roles. Like clockwork, Oliver’s program reloads from an always strong sophomore team, and it’s a program that regularly features quality depth.
3. Thornton, HF move up south suburban food chain
The south suburbs are loaded. When the season began Bloom was No. 1 in the Super 25 rankings while Marian Catholic was No. 6 and Hillcrest No. 10.
But now Thornton and Homewood-Flossmoor, who both won holiday tournaments last week, are top 10 teams.
Homewood-Flossmoor was especially impressive in winning the Hinsdale Central Holiday Classic, arguably the second strongest tournament in the state. The Vikings, who took care of Simeon before the holidays, beat two ranked teams at Hinsdale Central –– Stevenson and DePaul Prep –– and head into January with a sparkling 11-1 record.
Veteran coach Marc Condotti has had more talented teams than this one. But there is a continuity with this group, more of a togetherness. There is quality guard play to go with 6-5 R.J. Ogom.
It’s a team led by Ogom, who was MVP of the Hinsdale Central Holiday Tournament where he averaged 17.5 points a game, but one that has been bolstered by the breakout performance of guard Josiah Palmer. An extremely efficient Palmer is a three-point marksman who averaged 13 points a game in the four wins.
While both HF and Thornton were preseason top 25 teams, the emergence of these two only strengthens the south suburbs and turns an already extremely strong sectional into an absolute minefield.
Bloom, HF and Thornton are all ranked in the top 10. Marian Catholic remains in the top 25 at No 13 this week. Then these standout teams litter the Bloom Sectional and line up behind the big four: Oak Lawn (12-2), No. 25 Lincoln-Way East (10-2), Brother Rice (10-5) and Eisenhower (10-4).
4. Dante Maddox Jr., has taken game to another level
Cal-State Fullerton, you have a recruiting steal.
That’s what we can take from the early-season performance of Dante Maddox, Bloom’s athletic, put-together 6-2 guard who is putting up some impressive numbers while doing it in a way that screams next level.
Maddox was sensational at times at Pontiac, including a 30-point performance against Oak Park and 20 more against Benet. And it’s when Maddox is playing at his highest level that you say, “Wow! Cal-State Fullerton?”
Maddox, always known as a shooter and scorer, continues to do just that with 19 points a game while shooting 46 percent from the three-point line. But his all-around game has improved –– he’s averaging seven rebounds and five assists a game –– and he’s impacting games in so many ways.
Maddox’s deep threes, versatile scoring and powerful dunks catch the eye, but the physical, on-the-ball defense he provides shouldn’t go unnoticed. This is an all-around guard who has taken his game to another level.
5. Joliet West is more than just an improved team
With a 11-2 record through December following a five-win season a year ago, Joliet West can lay claim to being the most improved team in 2019-2020.
But after getting a good look at the Tigers, including their third-place finish at the Pontiac Holiday Tournament, this team is more than just “a much-improved team.” It’s a team that gained momentum and confidence, even in its loss to Curie in the semifinals. And it’s a team you can realistically envision winning a sectional title, especially when considering the group of teams in the very winnable Lockport Sectional in March.
The Tigers can beat teams in multiple ways offensively and there is some real defensive potential with their length and quickness. Plus, the 1-2 scoring punch guards Jamere Hill and Jaiden Lee provide is potent.
6. Jamere Hill is a legitimate Division I prospect
Yes, some more Joliet West.
There simply are times when a player blossoms later than others. And when that blossoming occurs in a player with the physical gifts that Jamere Hill possesses, the alarms sound in the evaluation and recruiting world.
Hill is a very athletic guard with legitimate 6-3 size. He looked the part of a Division II prospect this past summer. But he’s clearly taken his game to another level this season and is now a bonafide Division I prospect.
The competition was higher, the games mattered in Pontiac and Hill shined by averaging 17 points 4.8 assists and 3.2 rebounds a game. He made six three-pointers (6 of 14) and was pretty automatic from the free-throw line.
While explosive, long and rangy at that size, Hill also produces in a big way –– to the tune of nearly 20 points a game and filling the stat sheet in other ways as well –– and still has a considerable amount of upside left in him.
7. No one is more important to a ranked team than Dom Martinelli
Glenbrook South won 24 games last season in a breakthrough season under then first-year coach Phil Ralston. The Titans graduated four starters from that team.
But Dom Martinelli returned.
Thanks to Martinelli, Glenbrook South is 13-1 on the year and nearly unbeaten after falling in a tight one to Notre Dame in the final of the Wheeling Hardwood Classic.
After Glenbrook South put together the best start to a season in school history with its 13-0 start, and then after watching the Titans at Wheeling, this much is clear: Martinelli is the single most important player to any ranked team in the Chicago area.
Yes, sophomores Cooper Noard and Nick Martinelli have provided a big boost to this team, and seniors Stevon Boyd and Danny Pauletto play their roles nicely, but Martinelli is front and center in everything this team does.
He led the entire tournament in scoring with 99 points in four games. But it’s more than just the 6-4 senior forward’s scoring. It’s about his presence, his will and way to win and what he provides a team that certainly has its limitations. Martinelli finds a way.
But the stats don’t lie. Through 14 games this season, Martinelli is not only averaging a whopping 26.6 points a game but also contributing 6.1 rebounds and 2.3 assists while doing everything in an efficient way. Martinelli works fouls and makes a living at the line where he shoots 90 percent (115 of 127). He also is shooting 61 percent from the field.
A combination of Martinelli, who scored 45 percent of his team’s points at Wheeling, a disciplined defense and the comfort players have in Ralston’s three-year-old system and culture, Glenbrook South could surpass last year’s 24-win total. The school record of 25 wins, set during the 2005-2006 season, is also within reach.
8. Class 3A will be as good as ever this March
With four state titles in the last seven years, the Class 3A discussion generally starts with the talent-laden Morgan Park program.
But what transpired over the holidays when it comes to Class 3A teams has only enhanced what we thought when the season began: Class 3A basketball will be at its best this March.
There has always been some great quality in Class 3A, but the bugaboo it has been the quantity. That’s not the case this year.
Bogan, last year’s state runner-up, won the Proviso West Holiday Tournament. A loaded Notre Dame won the Wheeling Hardwood Classic. Rock Island was impressive in capturing the State Farm Classic in Bloomington.
Ranked Kankakee won its own holiday tournament and is 11-1, while Oak Forest went 4-0 at Maine East to improve to 12-1 on the year.
DePaul Prep reached the final of the Hinsdale Central Holiday Classic, falling to Homewood-Flossmoor in overtime, while Hinsdale South, Benet and Fenwick all made runs to the semifinals of quality tournaments featuring mostly Class 4A schools.
Overlooked Peoria Notre Dame won the Plano Christmas Classic and sports a 13-1 record. Lincoln, with its only loss coming to Mundelein, is 12-1 after finishing third at Collinsville.
9. Downstate Collinsville is a legit state title contender
Collinsville was expected to be the best team in southern Illinois. Coach Darrin Lee returned his top players, including five players who started at some point last season.
That alone won’t always get you to where you want to be in March, but it clearly puts you in position to be playing in a super-sectional at Illinois State against a Chicago area team. This is a proud basketball program with a ton of tradition but one that hasn’t won a sectional title in 25 years.
But from the looks of it, Collinsville will be more than ready for whatever team comes out of the Lockport Sectional in a little over two months.
The unbeaten Kahoks (13-0), who are the No. 1 team in the St. Louis area, have already beaten mighty Morgan Park. They also just handed previously unbeaten Mundelein its first loss of the season in the championship of the Collinsville Prairie Farms Holiday Classic.
There is a star player in RaySean Taylor (23.8 ppg), a signature recruit for coach Brian Barone and SIUE. The 6-1 combo guard averaged 24.7 points, 5.5 assists and 4.5 steals in leading the Kahoks to four tournament wins. And there is size and balance beyond Taylor with 6-6 Keydrian Jones, 6-7 Nate Hall and guard Cawhan Smith (10.2 ppg).
Collinsville will play Simeon at the O’Fallon Shootout in February.
10. These three conferences made the biggest holiday impression
The Southwest Suburban Blue, the Public League’s Red-South/Central and the Southland Conference did the most damage over holiday tournament play. Let’s take a look at how prosperous the holidays were for these three conferences:
There was no conference that fared better overall than the mighty Red-South/Central. Curie won the state’s toughest holiday tournament at Pontiac, while Bogan captured the Proviso West Holiday Tournament title. Corliss reached the championship game at Effingham before losing to Lincoln-Way East in the championship, and Simeon went 3-1 at Pontiac to finish in fifth-place.
The Southwest Suburban Blue opened some eyes over the holidays with teams making deep runs. Bolingbrook, Homewood-Flossmoor and Lincoln-Way East all captured holiday tournament titles. Those three are now a combined 32-6 heading into January.
There were three teams from the Southland Conference that played in holiday tournament championship games, with Thornton and Kankakee both winning titles. Bloom lost to Curie in the championship game at Pontiac. Those three teams are now a combined 37-3 and make up what should be an interesting conference race.
In addition, Rich East finished 3-1 at the Big Dipper to finish third, losing only to Thornton in the semifinals.
11. Can the Proviso West Holiday Tournament be saved?
When the coach of the winning team of your tournament is wavering about whether to return next season following his team’s title game victory, it’s a major red flag.
But that’s what Bogan coach Arthur Goodwin had to say in Michael O’Brien’s championship game story in the Sun-Times after the Bengals discarded Morton Sunday night.
A state-ranked team leaving Proviso West, however, isn’t anything new.
“It’s not the same,” Goodwin stated in O’Brien’s story regarding the Proviso West Holiday Tournament.
No, it’s not. The field of teams at Proviso West is drastically different and, more importantly, less impressive. Gone are the days where the tournament brought in seven, eight or even nine or 10 ranked teams.
We’ve watched the once attractive and always entertaining Big Dipper Tournament at Rich South slowly dissipate. Are we now in the midst of the same happening at Proviso West? Remember, it wasn’t too long ago when this was the tournament everyone –– from teams to fans to media to college coaches –– had to be a part of.
There are so many different ways to break down the demise of the Proviso West Holiday Tournament. Without getting into those specifics, the storyline coming out of this year’s tournament is whether it can ever regain its past glory?
12. There’s Pontiac and everyone else at Christmas
There are so many holiday tournaments across the state. And so many put together outstanding tournaments.
It’s been several years since I’ve been to Centralia or Pekin, but I thoroughly enjoyed both of those tradition-rich tournaments when I’ve attended. There is an easy-to-feel tradition at both of those tournaments with the community rallying around their tournament.
The State Farm Classic has been a regular stop of mine until the past couple of years, while York’s Jack Tosh Tournament has become a must-see over the holidays with its 32-team field. Both have carved out their own niche.
The Wheeling Hardwood Classic has always been a bit underrated and does a wonderful job, while the Hinsdale Central Holiday Classic is an upstart tournament with quality teams but still building a tradition and searching for a true identity.
The demise of the Big Dipper at Rich South and the once powerful and proud Proviso West Holiday Tournament has been sad to see. But both still offer locals a certain brand of basketball and familiarity.
But the Pontiac Holiday Tournament is the best in Illinois. Every year. Rinse and repeat.
I wrote in-depth about why this tournament is so special five years ago.
But it’s worth noting once again in simpler terms.
The tournament, which will turn 90 next year, is in a class of its own and checks off all the boxes.
The best tournament field of teams? Check.
You’re not going to find any tournament with a combination of high-level talent, top teams and quality depth.
Best combination of atmosphere and hospitality? Check.
While so many tournaments are losing fans, the attendance figures at Pontiac remain rock solid. Those fans, made up of mostly locals who simply support the community event that its evolved into and high school basketball in general, show such an appreciation for the teams and the play. There is always a certain energy in the gym.
The hospitality is second to none. The fans, media, officials and participating teams take notice in how they’re treated. And no event treats you better. There is flawless organization, and the endless amount of volunteers who work the tournament take such pride in it. And it shows.
