A quick Morgan Park-Young rewind from the opening night of the high school basketball season, a game that lived up to the preseason hype as Morgan Park claimed a 61-59 win.
➤ At this point it’s rare to find something completely new and different in high school basketball. Throughout the storied history of the sport in this state, it seems as if nearly everything has been given a shot. But last night was different.
When state powers Morgan Park and Young, two programs with state championships and a countless number of Division I players to back up that claim, took the court at Chicago State, it marked the first time two teams so highly ranked met in a season opener.
The large crowd on hand was treated to a No. 2 vs. No. 3 showdown on the first night of the season between two teams that will have state title aspirations a little over three months from now.
Coach Tyrone Slaughter’s goal in this was to kickstart the season with a splash and bring some added attention to the sport. The goal was accomplished.
➤ Early-season games during Thanksgiving week tend to be ragged. Throw in the fact it was a heavily hyped game with typical ramped-up nerves and opening night jitters and the expectation was that there would be more sloppy play than crisp play. Sure, there was some expected careless play. But this was a much cleaner game than expected which resulted in higher-level play.
It will be interesting to see if this becomes an annual game to open the season.
➤ The sidebar to two of the top teams playing on opening night was the individual battle between the state’s top two seniors. All eyes were on Player of the Year candidates DJ Steward of Young, a Duke recruit, and Adam Miller of Morgan Park, who committed to Illinois last week.
Steward, the state’s top-ranked prospect in the Class of 2020, put together an impressive first half en route to a game-high 22 points for the Dolphins. He was pretty efficient and did his best to try and impact the game in other ways.
Miller struggled from the floor, shooting a rough 4 of 18 and finishing with just nine points. The biggest culprit was settling for shots and overall shot selection. Miller seemed out of sorts throughout the game, but the talented guard will certainly have better ones ahead.
Both of these players are going to have a surplus of opportunities to build their case for Player of the Year.
➤ Hello, Brandon Weston. Morgan Park’s 6-5 athletic wing impressed early in his career at Lake Forest Academy and on the club circuit while playing with the Mac Irvin Fire. Monday night was a coming-out party on the high school scene for a player who has high-major prospect written all over him.
➤ Morgan Park’s jet-quick senior guard Marcus Watson impressed in front of his future college coach as Wake Forest coach Danny Manning took in the game from a court side seat. Also sitting court side were Illinois coach Brad Underwood and DePaul coach Dave Leitao.
➤ The fact Morgan Park beat a team like Young with Miller scoring just nine points only enhanced the fact the Mustangs are clearly the team to beat in Class 3A going forward. The Miller, Weston and Marcus Watson trio is pretty special.
➤ If the opening night was any indication, look for a breakout season from 6-7 junior Grant Newell of Young.
The versatile Newell, who is among the top 10 prospects in Illinois in the junior class, was active and engaged while showcasing both a skill level and impressive physical attributes. In the first half he had a nice finish around the rim, a smooth pull-up jumper from 16 feet and then a massive follow-up dunk. He finished with eight points and eight rebounds.
➤ After being relatively quiet in the first half, Young’s Tyler Beard, an unsigned senior and Division I prospect, spearheaded a late third quarter comeback. He closed out the third quarter with a dunk in transition and a three-pointer at the buzzer to give the Dolphins a one-point lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Beard, who with a second half flurry finished with 13 points, will have to be a constant and consistent threat for the Dolphins. At this point he has too much big-game experience not to be that type of player.
➤ There are some pretty big expectations for three freshmen at these two programs. Morgan Park’s Javonte Taylor and Darrin Ames and Young’s Dalen Davis are three of the top five freshmen prospects at this time. Ames stepped up with a game-changing three-pointer late in the game that gave Morgan Park the lead with 2:30 to play.
As these three young players gain a little more seasoning as the year plays out, their impact will surely be felt for two of the state’s elite teams. These are three very talented freshmen.
