Dec. 18--In the calm before the holiday tournament storm, some quality hoops can be found.
A pair of top Public League games on Thursday, No. 1 Morgan Park at No. 8 Bogan and Hyde Park at No. 2 Curie, kicks off a pretty good weekend of action in the area.
Bogan is no longer built around Luwane Pipkins for what feels like the first time in many years, but the Bengals still have James Jones and Bryce Barnes to contend with the best backcourt in the state -- Morgan Park's quartet of Charlie Moore, Jarrin Randall, Ayo Dosunmu and Jamal Burton.
Jones, a Buffalo recruit, is one of the area's most unheralded players despite the Division I commitment, while the playmaking Barnes is coming off a 38-point showing in Bogan's victory against Harlan on Tuesday.
One of the great things about these Red-South games is that intimidation plays no role whatsoever. These guys have played against and even with one another many times -- Barnes is a member of the Mac Irvin Fire -- so Morgan Park's swagger does not give it any psychological advantage.
Bogan, after all, is the defending city champion, though it was swept by Morgan Park in the regular season. The game at Bogan was an only-in-the-Public-League classic.
The lights in the gym went out in the final minute. When they came back on, Moore hit a 3, then Marcus LoVett stole the inbounds pass and beat the buzzer with a tough fadeaway to give the Mustangs a most improbable victory.
Assuming the lights stay on and no side baskets stand in the way, it should be another good one tonight.
No Pipkins and no LoVett, but also no love lost and no shortage of talent. Get there if you can.
Here's a look at this weekend's other top games:
No. 3 Fenwick (7-0, 2-0) at No. 18 De La Salle (5-1, 1-1), 7 p.m. Friday: The Catholic North is now the Catholic Red. I don't know if De La Salle's 35th Street location had anything to do with it, but the Meteors could be a factor in a race that favors Fenwick and St. Joseph on paper. De La Salle's fast start has been spearheaded by George Willborn, a 6-foot-2 guard who's on his way to a huge season. Willborn and the Meteors nearly pulled off an upset of No. 8 St. Joseph last week, dropping a 51-47 decision, then rebounded for a 20-point victory against a solid Lincoln Park team. Willborn and his Fenwick counterpart, Mike Smith, should put on a show. There's plenty of season left, but a division title won't be easy with losses to the two highest-ranked teams.
No. 15 Hinsdale South (6-1, 2-0) at Downers Grove South (5-2, 2-0), 7:30 p.m. Friday: Another early game with considerable relevance in a conference race. Hinsdale South and Downers Grove South have replaced Proviso East and Morton as the teams to beat in the West Suburban Gold and are the only teams without a conference loss. Barret Benson, Hinsdale South's Northwestern-bound center, has lived up to the billing early on and figures to be part of the Mr. Basketball conversation all season. Downers Grove South's T.J. Clifford, a 6-6 junior, is making a name for himself in the strong Class of 2017 and could be on his way to high-major offers.
Fremd (8-1, 2-0) at Conant (7-1, 2-0), 7:30 p.m. Friday: The Mid-Suburban West doesn't get a lot of attention outside the Northwest Suburbs and doesn't produce much in the way of Division I talent, but there's no denying the success of these programs this winter and in the recent past. A regional champion last year, Conant has size, a seven-game winning streak and high-scoring junior guard Jimmy Sotos, who had 30 points and missed just three shots in a 50-37 victory against Barrington last week. Fremd has been even more impressive, winning seven straight by double-digits since a 61-56 loss to reigning Class 2A champion Uplift in November. The Vikings' streak includes a 72-60 victory against Downers Grove South in which 6-6 junior Kyle Sliwa scored 33 points.
Mike Helfgot is a freelance reporter for the Chicago Tribune.
