It was a big Saturday for the south suburbs, with Homewood-Flossmoor and Thornton both earning huge wins.
The Vikings went to DePaul Prep and knocked off the undefeated Rams.
Thornton beat mighty Metamora, the Class 3A state and Jack Tosh champs, down at the Highland Shootout. It was the best performace I’ve seen so far this season from the Wildcats, who also picked up a big win on ESPN on Friday in Indiana. That’s a lot of travel and a pair of statement wins.
Super 25 results
No. 2 Homewood-Flossmoor 57, No. 7 DePaul Prep 46: The Vikings took control in the second half to get a solid win on the road. It’s the first loss this season for the Rams. Gianni Cobb scored 13 and Carson Brownfield added 12. Jaylan McElroy scored 17 for DePaul.
No. 6 Downers Grove North 46, Prospect 34: Alex Miller led the Trojans with 12 points. Jack Stanton has missed the last two games with an injury.
No. 3 Mount Carmel 50, No. 5 Benet 36: Both teams were cold shooting and never warmed up, Benet was 14-for-46, Mount Carmel 20-for-51. Grant Best led the Caravan with 15 points and eight boards. Angelo Ciaravino added 10 points, 11 rebounds and four assists. Lee Marks finished with 10 points and five rebounds. Mount Carmel is still undefeated against Illinois teams. Sophomore Gabe Sularski led the Redwings with 13 points.
No. 8 Thornton 63, Metamora 62: Morez Johnson turned in a Player of the Year caliber performance with 17 points and nine rebounds. Chase Abraham scored 19, Meyoh Swansey added 17 and Isaiah Green came up with the game-winning block. Huge win for the Wildcats.
No. 9 Brother Rice 80, Eisenhower 71: Marcos Gonzales scored 27 and junior Caden Workman added 17 points. The Crusaders are 17-2.
Normal 57, No. 11 Kenwood 43: This was a rough one for Kenwood. There was nearly a running clock in the fourth quarter.
No. 18 Marist 62, St. Rita 46
No. 22 Riverside-Brookfield 66, Nazareth 64: Teams seem to be having a lot more trouble winning on back-to-back days this season. Probably another result of the parity. Steven Brown had 23 points and eight assists for the Bulldogs in this one and big man Stefan Cicic added 21 points and 16 rebounds.
No. 23 Kankakee 54, Latin 42
No. 24 Loyola 48, Glenbrook North 38: The Ramblers scored 20 points in the first quarter, then slumped a bit before taking control late. Biggest win of the season for Loyola. Miles Boland scored 11. This will make Glenbrook North a real rankings dilemma. Remember, the Spartans knocked off New Trier on Friday.
Other notable games
Batavia 31, Wheaton-Warrenville South 29: The Bulldogs are 11-4 now. They won this one on a layup by Nate Nazos with 12 seconds left.
Evanston 58, Schaumburg 46
Glenbrook South 67, DeKalb 55: The Titans beat a talented young DeKalb team. Anestis Hadjistamoulou scored 24 and Nick Taylor added 20 points and 9 rebounds.
Rolling Meadows 66, Oak Park 58: Jack Duffer led the Mustangs with 25. Alex Gossett scored 19 for the Huskies, he played really well last week in Pontiac.
Simeon 58, Ridgewood 43
Vianney, Mo. 85, Young 70: Sean Brown led the Dolphins with 22. They face Rich tomorrow back home at Young.
Westinghouse 79, Niles North 72: This is one of the better wins of the season for the Public League. DJ Bolden scored 30. Manny Fuller added 15 points and 12 rebounds.
Top performances
Bradley-Bourbonnais’ Nick Allen: 21 points in a 62-61 win vs. Belleville West.
Hoffman Estates’ Daiquan Daniels: 28 points in a 70-62 win vs. Willowbrook.
Lake Park’s Cam Cerese: 21 points in a 52-36 win vs. St. Charles North.
Leyden’s Dreyln Jones: 22 points in a 55-36 win vs. Elk Grove.
Morris’ AJ Zweeres: 23 points, 7 rebounds, 3 stals in a 50-47 win vs. Glenbard South.
Taft’s Jayden Harris: 20 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists in a 78-43 win vs. Francis Parker.
Wheeling’s Brent Collar: 29 points in a 75-49 win vs. Addison Trail.
Saturday’s takes
- What is wrong with Kenwood? There’s just too much talent on the team for them to be as uncompetitive as they were against Normal on Saturday in Highland. I’ll be over at Young this evening to see them in the rematch against Warren.
- Hearing Jack Stanton may miss a week or so with an ankle injury. Hopefully he will be good to go by that showdown against Homewood-Flossmoor at the When Sides Collide Shootout on Jan. 20.
- It’s not surprising that Mount Carmel beat Benet, but I didn’t expect it to be by quite that margin. Suppose that is bound to happen when a team is so dependent on sophomores. But a lot of credit should be given to the Caravan as well. They had a bad shooting game as well, but still managed a 14-point win.
Sunday’s storylines
- Kenwood has the long drive back from Highland and then faces Warren. Can the Broncos muster up a real challenge in this one? They have a massive week ahead as well, with games against Simeon and Curie. Huge week for Mike Irvin’s squad.
- Young is also in major need of a big win. They host Rich, another young team, at home tonight. Feels like kind of a must win for the Dolphins.
- Curie vs. Romeville is the other marquee matchup over at Young today. The Condors are favored, but this is one of the most talented Romeoville teams I’ve ever seen. High upside. Not out of the realm of possiblity that they could pull of an upset.
