City Lights Public League notebook No. 59/Basketball
News, notes and highlights from around the Public League.
Seniors Quentin McCoy (11) and Je’Shawn Stevenson form a potent 1-2 punch for Lindblom.
Lindblom will be playing at 9 a.m. in the Chicago Elite Classic and that doesn’t bother Quentin McCoy one bit.
The senior guard can’t wait to step out on the floor at Credit Union 1 Arena on Saturday morning when the Eagles meet Joliet West.
“That is huge,” McCoy said of being invited to one of the season’s marquee showcases. “Growing up in Chicago, that’s really – as a basketball player – one of the events you dream of playing in. I mean, I’ve dreamed about that since probably third or fourth grade – since I knew what it was.
“I was really frustrated last year that we didn’t get in. It just felt like we put ourselves on the map enough. But they didn’t think so.”
It’s different this winter.
The Eagles have eight players back from the team that went 18-15 overall and 4-5 in the Red South-Central with just one senior as a major contributor. Six returners started multiple games and two of them are the heart and soul of the team: 6-4 senior guard Je’Shawn Stevenson and the 6-2 McCoy.
Stevenson, who recently signed with Cleveland State, and McCoy both can put up big scoring numbers.
“The past two seasons we really built a bond, built a chemistry,” McCoy said. “We’ve learned how to play together.”
Other veterans expected to make an impact include 6-2 senior Kolby Capers, 6-0 senior Rayshon Colvin, 6-4 senior Agsan Branch, 6-4 junior Hasan Johnson and 5-11 junior Omari Kamal Jr.
“We’re older, we’ve been through the fire,” Stevenson said. “We played the Simeons, we played the Kenwoods last year.”
That makes for a team that won’t get rattled and won’t be focused on individual goals.
“Maturity is going to be the biggest thing,” Stevenson said. “It shouldn’t be nothing selfish, no egos getting in the way. It should just be straight to work.”
And the Eagles know part of the job is proving they should be in the same conversation as longtime South Side powers like Kenwood, Simeon and Curie.
“I don’t think a lot of people are on to what we’ve got going on over here yet,” McCoy said, noting Lindblom will meet Kenwood on Dec. 5.
“I feel like we’ve got a chance to wake a lot of people up,” he added. “Lindblom as a school is just historically on the level of Kenwood. Kenwood is run by the Irvins; that’s history in Chicago basketball. Whitney Young’s got coach (Tyrone) Slaughter. Simeon – one of the greatest coaches ever (Robert Smith) just retired over there.
“They’ve got the notoriety. They’ve got history. They’ve got pros they can point to. … It’s important to us just being the start of something.”
On to the results, and as you’d expect, there are a ton of them from Thanksgiving week. Will include all that come my way via tagged tweets, DMs or emails (mikeclarkpreps@gmail.com), along with any others I come across. Keep them coming …
Tuesday, Nov 28
Girls
Mather 35, Chicago Academy 20: Temi Yesefu paced the Rangers in their conferencev opener with 13 points, seven rebounds and five assists. Ashley Lopez also starred on defense.
Monday, Nov. 27
Boys
Lake View 98, Roosevelt 28: Ayden Reed and Alex Hilton each scored 15 for Lake View, one more than Daniel Loza.
Lincoln Park 70, Manley 66: Keyshawn Barfield led the Lions with a double-double of 17 points and 11 rebounds along with four blocks. Also in double figures: Ahmad Lee (14 points, 8 assists), Tyshawn Robinson (13 points) and Semaje Howard (10 points). Manley was led by Jonathan Calmese (27 points), Jaali Love (16 points, 11 rebounds) and Keyontae Mays (13 points).
North Lawndale 66, Brooks 52: Corleone McKinney almost had a 20-20 double-double for North Lawndale, finishing with 18 points and 19 rebounds. Tyshun Moore added 18 points.
Saturday, Nov. 25
Boys
Westinghouse 84, Latin 83 (at De La Salle/St. Ignatius): All-tourney pick DJ Boldenhad 26 points and six assists as the Warriors (3-1) finished third. Manny Fuller (15 points), Jaquan Brown (15) and Matthew Sims Jr. (14) also hit double figures.
Friday, Nov. 24
Boys
Ag. Science 65, Gardner-South Wilmington 33 (at Coal City): Tim O’Brien (14 points), Bryce Tillis (14) and Dillion Gray (10) paced the Cyclones, who also were sharp on defense.
Kennedy 54, Universal 45 (at Oak Lawn/Reavis): The Crusaders picked up their first win, led by Patrick Baliczek with 12 points and five rebounds and Joseph Dahl with 10 points and nine rebounds.
Girls
Kenwood 70, Batavia 63 (at Naperville Central): The Broncos won the tourney title behind big games from Ariella Henigan (30 points, 4 assists), Danielle Brooks (13 points, 4 assists, 3 steals), Diann Jackson (13 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists) and Talya Tillman (12 points, 5 rebounds, 4 steals).
Wednesday, Nov. 22
Boys
Englewood 71, Parker 51 (at DePaul Prep/Lane): Marcus Owens (29 points, 2 blocks, 2 steals) and Demarion Coleman (26 points, 5 rebounds, 7 steals) paced Englewood.
Sandburg 70, Kennedy 42 (at Oak Lawn/Reavis): Ryan Dahl had 15 for Kennedy.
Tuesday, Nov. 21
Boys
Chicago Richards 67, Orr 50: Big win for the White Central Warriors over a Red North-West opponent. David Thomas led Richards with 26 points, six rebounds and five assists. Also contributing were Davon Simpson (12 points, 4 rebounds, 2 steals), Juelz Baker (14 points, 12 rebounds) and Ryan Pack-Boykins (10 points, 5 rebounds, 3 steals).
Curie 64, Gary (Ind.) Bowman 37 (at Rich): Will Gonzalez scored 20 for the Condors.
Dyett 55, Carver 43 (at Rich): Jayden McKinnon had 17 points, six rebounds and two steals for Dyett.
Englewood 59, Notre Dame 56, OT: Englewood had four players in double figures: Marcus Owens (17 points), Matrell Britten (14 points, 5 rebounds), Ryan Henry (14 points, 2 steals) and Demarion Coleman (12 points, 8 rebounds, 3 steals, 2 blocks).
Hyde Park 57, TF North 26 (at Rich): Jurrell Baldwin did a little bit of everything for the Thunderbirds with 20 points, 13 rebounds, five assists, five steals and two blocks. Germaine Benson added 10 points, four assists and six steals, while C.J. Thomas had seven points, four assists and four steals.
Lane 61, Prosser 23 (at DePaul Prep/Lane): Dalton Scantlebury led the Champions with 13 points and five rebounds, while Shaheed Solebo and Trevor Goodhart both scored 12.
Manley 70, Gary (Ind.) 21st Century 63: Jonathan Calmese (26 points, 11 assists, 7 rebounds) and sophomore Jaali Love (21 points, 13 rebounds, 4 blocks) had double-doubles for the Wildcats.
North Lawndale 86, Crane 65: Corleone McKinney had a double-double (18 points, 17 rebounds) for North Lawndale, while Tyshun Moore had 23 points, eight rebounds and four steals. Jemarion Walker added 14 points.
Payton 45, Unity Christian 25 (at Glenbrook North/St. Patrick): LeMoyne commit Jakob Blakley had 21 points for Payton.
Taft 50, Lake Forest Academy 37 (at Loyola/New Trier): The Eagles won behind Jayden Harris (15 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals), Frank Paszkowski (14 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals) and Lyle Scibor (13 points, 6 rebounds, 3 steals).
Wells 76, UIC Prep 35 (at Wells): Brandon Harris (16 points, 16 rebounds, 5 blocks) and freshman Cornell Barrow (10 points, 10 assists, 6 steals) had double-doubles for Wells. Maurice Carswell (26 points, 9 assists) and Damon Gillikin (11 points) also were in double figures.
Westinghouse 75, Hope Academy 64: The Warriors had four scorers in double figures: DJ Bolden (24 points, 4 assists, 4 rebounds), Treyvon Ali (17 points), Matthew Sims Jr. (13 points, 6 rebounds), and Manny Fuller (10 points, 6 rebounds).
Girls
Kenwood 88, Naperville Central 36 (at Naperville Central): The Broncos had balanced scoring from Talya Tillman (16 points, 9 rebounds, 2 steals), Ariella Henigan (15 points, 7 assists, 3 rebounds, 2 steals), Danielle Brooks (12 points, 5 assists) and Diann Jackson (10 points, 7 rebounds, 3 steals).
Westinghouse 55, Bremen 45 (at Perspectives-Leadership): LaMonyca Bryant had a double-double of 17 points and 11 rebounds for the Warriors and Nina Israel added 11 points, six assists and five steals.
Monday, Nov. 20
Boys
Dyett 100, DRW Prep 33: Juniors Jayden McKinnon (21 points, 9 rebounds, 3 steals) and Rickey Coleman (24 points, 4 dunks) led Dyett.
Kenwood 77, Hansberry 54 (at Rich): Chris Riddle scored 26 for the Broncos.
Lane 60, Jones 41 (at DePaul Prep/Lane): Shaheed Solebo led the Champions with 12 points, five rebounds and four assists.
Lake Forest 66, Taft 60 (at Loyola/New Trier): Jayden Harris (23 points, 6 assists, 3 steals) and Frank Paszkowski 14 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists) led Taft.
Lincoln Park 68, Lindblom 67 (at Rich): Chase Turner’s 14 points led Lincoln Park. Je’Shawn Stevenson had 32 points, 10 rebounds, four steals and three blocks for Lindblom. Quentin McCoy added 19 points, seven rebounds and two steals.
Manley 76, Urbana 72 (at Rich): Jonathan Calmese scored 28 and Jaali Love added 21 for Manley.
Niles West 57, Payton 55 (at Glenbrook North/St. Patrick): Jakob Blakley had 32 points and five assists for Payton, while Myles Townsend added 16 points and five rebounds.
Phillips 70, Proviso East 67 (at Rich): Amari Edwards (21 points) and EJ Horton (20) paced Phillips.
Reavis 61, Kennedy 52 (at Oak Lawn/Reavis): The Crusaders had three players in double figures: Vincent Carrero (16 points, 3 steals), Joseph Dahl (12 points, 4 rebounds) and Patrick Baliczek (11 points, 5 rebounds).
Rich 59, Bogan 54 (at Rich): Jarvis McNeal had 25 points and Divonne Nangle added 15 for Bogan.
Young 78, Springfield Lanphier 44 (at Rich): Antonio Munoz paced the Dolphins with 23 points.