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Morton College Christmas Tournament Notebook: Geneva Gets MVP Performance From Arni

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Morton College Christmas Tournament Notebook: Geneva Gets MVP Performance From Arni

The second consecutive year of the Morton College Christmas Tournament did not disappoint me in my expectation of seeing competitive basketball played at a high level.

For the second consecutive season I saw big games that went down to the wire and have plenty to write about after the fact. 


In a first, I covered  high school games with a shot clock. 

Hersey 56, Batavia 52

No Meghan Mrowicki (2023) for Hersey caused some problems for the Huskies, which dropped two games in the competitive tournament after the Huskies had won 14 straight. 

That said, Katy Eidle (2023) dropped a big 32 points in a win over the Bulldogs, who came with a lot of bite to the tournament.

I caught the fourth quarter of this one and boy am I glad I got there for the end.

The Huskies entered the fourth ahead 48-39. Batavia responded with a 7-0 run keyed by energy from emerging guard Addie Prewitt (2025), who did have some turnover issues Friday. Batavia and Hersey combined for 40 turnovers on what was each team’s fourth game in as many days. Alexa Schorr sank a corner 3 to pull the Bulldogs within 2. 

Prewitt put the Bulldogs up 51-50 on a tough bucket through contact and made the free throw.
A dagger of a corner 3-pointer from Katy Eidle with 1:05 left put Hersey back on top ad Annika Manthy slammed the door shut with an and-1 layup with 16 seconds to go. 

Brooke Carlson(2024) scored 27, had 6 rebounds, 6 steals, 3 assists and 2 blocks. The Bulldogs are succeeding in a year of transition as a much smaller team than years past considering Tessa Towers isn’t manning the front court for Batavia. 

Kelsey Neary, one of the state’s top assists leaders, assisted on 10 Hersey buckets.

Evanston 64, Sycamore 46

Since moving to Illinois, this is the fifth season of basketball I’ve covered, and only in the covid-shortened 2020 season that was played entirely in Feb/March 2021, did I not see Sycamore play. 

I used to cover the Spartans for the DeKalb Daily Chronicle and have seen them play a lot of good basketball. A handful of Division I caliber players have competed for the Spartans in recent years.

Evanston got going right away, erasing any early questions about inconsistent offensive play they’ve exhibited from time to time this season.

Zuri Ransom (2023) showed off the type of off-the-dribble pull-up game that should have more college coaches come calling. Unless I’m missing something, she’s not getting the attention her game should command.

The Wldkits’ 6-4 forward Ciara Gentile (2023) has been impacting games all season with her length, and caused a few problems, blocking 5 shots vs. a smaller Sycamore team that does boast Western Michigan commit Evyn Carrier. Carrier went on to sustain an ankle injury in the third quarter that ket her out the rest of the game. 

Monroe McGee (2024) and Lexi Carlsen (2024) showcased Sycamore’s capable backcourt, combining for 22 points, but were outmatched by strong games from Ransom and Evanston’s much-improved Kailey Starks (2024) and Arianna Milam-Pryor (2024)

Starks, who has been doing a bit of everything statically as of late for the Wildkits, tied Ransom with a game-high 17 points, and had 8 rebounds and 5 steaks.

Lake Zurich 46, Deerfield 41

Any time I take a look at stats for Lake Zurich, I see someone else stepping up. The Bears are winning simple, relatively low-scoring basketball games, just the way coach Chris Bennett likes it. 

Seemingly always under control and making strong decisions is Baylie Parks (2023)

“We have a lot of balanced scorers,” Parks said. We play team basketball. We do a really good job. It’s almost a different high-scorer every game.”

Nikki Kerstein (2025) scored 8 first-quarter points, and Aubrey Galvan heated up in the second quarter, scoring 11 points by half as Deerfield led 21-20. Deerfield even led 27-20 in the third. 

But the Bears’ defense, as it tends to do, locked in. Parks hit a 3-pointer that gave LZ a 32-30 lead. Different players continued to make plays. A Layne Nordstrom (2026) shot-fake and floater. A Molly Friesen (2025) jumper. Anna Gilbertson (2024) pushed through contact for a make. 

Vermont commit Lexi Kerstein (2023) was uncharacteristically quiet before sinking a go-ahead triple with 1:27 left for a 41-40 Warriors lead.

But 6-2, athletic forward forward Avery Cooper (2025) owned the boards and combined with Parks to sink 6 free throws over the final stretch to clinch the dub. Parks and Cooper each scored 11 apiece. 

“She’s a real good player now,” Parks said of Cooper. “I know she’s going to be a beast. She’s only a sophomore. I really like playing with her.”

The Warriors executed several offensive play calls down the stretch to get looks they wanted, but couldn’t get them to go. 

Galvan scored 17 and Nikki Kerstein contributed 12 points. 

The Bears have the type of experience in Brooke Wahlund and Parks to feel confident about making a postseason run, but the type of underclassmen talent they have makes them truly a team to be excited about. 

Naperville North 47, Benet Academy 43

Naperville North came into Cicero and made a bold statement: Watch us. 

That’s my perspective of the matter at least. The Huskies, were led on this day from a big effort on both ends of the floor from Abby Homan (2023, had 13 points) and scoring outputs of 15 apiece from Abby Drendel (2023) and Peyton Fender (2023). 


With fellow senior Layla Henderson making plays and contributing, the experienced squad overcame a halftime deficit with a big third quarter and early 4th quarter run.

When all was said and done, Naperville North had held  Indiana-bound Lenee Beaumont (2023) to 11 points. North came out of the tourney with a 4-point loss to champs Geneva, and wins over Mother McAuley, Hersey and Benet, three teams that have spent lots of time this season in the Illinois-Basketball.com rankings. 

Geneva 50, Fremd 42

Fo large swaths of the game, both teams struggled to convert shooting, but Geneva repeatedly got to the charity stripe. 

There, they put on a clinical free throw shooting display (28 of 36) in a win avenging a loss in the same event’s championship game a season ago. Considering Fremd had also beaten Geneva by 10 earlier this season, it was a huge victory for Geneva. 

“They’re a good, strong, big, physical team,” Arni said. “We knew came in here and knew it was going to be aggressive. We just had to be be prepared and I think all of our players knew that.

Tournament MVP Cassidy Arni (2023, a Wisconsin-Parkside commit) scored 17, pulled down rebounds and blocked shots. Arni and Lauren Slagle (a 6-2, 2023 forward committed to Grand Valley State) had to have blocked at least 10 shots 

“They played hard, they pounded us on the boards and they got to the free throw line,” Fremd coach Dave Yates said. 

Arni hit big free throws, a huge 3-pointer that banked off the glass to end the third quarter, and defense plays throughout he game, which did not slow in the fourth quarter. 

“She (Arni) had the big task of guarding Todd and she did a nice job on her and she had 29 against us the first time we played and we knew we had to limit her,” Geneva coach Sarah Meadows said. “She’s going to score, but we didn’t want to give up 29.”

Rilee Hasegawa (2023) also had a stretch in which she sank an important 3-pointer, grabbed a defensive rebound on the other end, with lead to her feeding Arni for an open layup and a 7-point Geneva lead in the fourth. 

“Those were huge, she reads me so well,” Arni said. I’ve played with her since we were little. She feeds me, she sees all the little cracks that are open.”

Ellie Thompson (2025),  Maddy Fay, (2023 NIU commit)) Kace Urlacher (2023, IUPUI commit)) and Todd all made their contributions on the offensive end, but Geneva kept all of them from getting into a sustained groove. Thompson did get into a hot streak in the second quarter, but was shut out after that. 

Having seen Fremd twice this year, I am of the opinion that the team is a bonafide 4A title favorite.

But I’m of the mind that Geneva also stands a good shot of making a run to Redbird Arena. I wasn’t sure where I stood on the mater before, but I do now. Geneva found a way to win in a high-pressure environment while it did not shoot the ball well from the floor. That spells a serious contender. 

Girls 2022-2023 High School Basketball Week 7 Rankings

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Girls 2022-2023 High School Basketball Week 7 Rankings

Happy New Year all! This week’s edition of the girls basketball rankings, the first of 2023 mean were through 7 weeks of games this season on the girls side. 

Where do teams across Illinois stand?

Previous rankings: 

Week 2

Week 4

Week 5

(Week 5 rankings in orange parentheses)

1. Nazareth (1)

Won Montini’s tournament, grabbed a notable win over Whitney Young in the final. Grace Carstensen and Danielle Scully excel in win over WY and Olivia Austin hits the winner. 

2. Fremd (2)

It didn’t make much sense to me to move Fremd down without moving Geneva up past Bolingbrook and Kenwood.  And seeing as how Fremd and Geneva have split their two games this season, and I’ve seen both of them play, I’m confident Fremd has the better all-around team. However, this is a good reminder that the 4A field is not a shoe-in title run for anyone. I would be ecstatic to see them play Geneva in the postseason. 

3. Kenwood (5). 

Lost to a good West Bloomfield team from Michigan by 3. The more time passes, the more I’d like to see a Kenwood-Bolingbrook matchup. 

4. Bolingbrook (6)

I’ve actually been struggling a bit to find info on Bolingbrook this season. I’m a bit too reliant on social media, but that’s sort of how it is when trying to keep tabs on so many teams. Bolingbrook is playing out of state a lot too, and playing good competition. As they begin to take on some better Illinis teams, I’ll have a better grasp of where they’re at (hopefully!) Bolingbrook was supposed to play in Tampa for a holiday tourney, but had their flight canceled.

5. Geneva 

Given the circumstances, it might be fair to describe Geneva’s Morton College Christmas Tournament title game win over Fremd as the best victory for any team in the state this season.  Cassidy Arni is tough as nails and makes winning plays. 

6. Alton (13)

I finally got to see Alton play (via NFHS stream) and all it took to reach 15-0 was a victory over undefeated Okawville and a second win this season over O’Fallon. It was a frantic finish for O’Fallon and Alton barely held on, but it feels necessary to recognize Altons ascendence and reward them with their top spot they’ve achieved in these rankings. 

7. Benet (4)

Even the state’s best players have down games. Naperville North was able to slow Lenee Beaumont and Benet dropped two games at the Mortoon tourney, one of them to Fremd. 

8. Lake Zurich (9)

All three of the Bears’ losses are to teams ranked higher than them, and Lake Zurich looks completely capable of beating ANYONE in the state.

9. Hersey (3)

Now 15-3 even after losing two games at Morton College. Beat Sycamore and Batavia at the tourney.

10. O’Fallon (14)

Defeated a very good Vashon (MO.) squad to reach title game of Mascoutah tourney, 

 

11. Whitney Young (15)

Made a run to the championship game of Montini’s tourney, came back from 19 down to tie the state’s top-ranked team, but fell in the end. Great wins over York and Lyons. 

12. Libertyville (17)

Winners of 13 straight. They’re scorching! 

13. Quincy Notre Dame (16)

Still winning. Beat Cardinal Ritter College Prep (MO.) and has a game with Okawville coming up Saturday. 

14. Normal 

Defeated Washington a second time this season to win the large school girls bracket of the State Farm Holiday Classic. Beat Carmel Catholic. Un-de-fea-ted.

15. Maine South (UR)

This young team is on the rise in a big way. 

Held off Barrington to win Dundee-Crown’s Komromy Tournament. Also smashed Huntley, a borderline top 25 team, by 34. Between Meegan Fahy, Ava Blagojevich, Katie Barker, Ally Pape and crew, this Hawks bunch has the potential to do something special. 

16. Barrington (11)

Fell to Maine South in the Komromy tournament. Had to come back from big deficits vs. Stevenson and Maine South, did so for the former, came up just short vs. the latter. 

17. Carmel (10)

Took third at the State Farm Holiday Classic.

18. Loyola (18)

The defensive, low-scoring style continues to lend itself to wins, we’ll see how upcoming conference and invitational games work out. 

19. Peoria Notre Dame (12)

Fell to Peoria in overtime to lose the Manuel tourney championship, but also holds a win over Peoria this season.

20. Lincoln (24)

Who has beaten the Railers? No one. Beat undefeated 2A Dixon this past week. It’s still a few weeks out, but a game with Peoria on Jan. 21 stands out as a must-see.

 

 

21. Peoria (23)

Knocked off Peoria Notre Dame, though not without some controversy. Aaliyah Guyton and Denali Craig Edwards are a truly special duo. 

22. Montini (19)

A 14-point win over Lyons Township is no small thing. Broncos have won 5 of last 6. 

23. Lyons Township 

Their 3 losses are to 2 teams (Benet and Whitney Young) that have been ranked all season, and to Montini, which has been surging as of late. 

24. Deerfield (21)

Talk about a team that will be battle-tested come the postseason. Notched a big win over Hersey at Morton College. 

25. York

Their 4 losses are to teams that have been ranked in the top 25 all season, none by more than 10 points. Played Whitney Young close at Montini, then bested Neuqua Valley and St. Charles East. 

Teams on the fringe

Naperville North 

LWW

Lake Forest 

Hononegah

Huntley 

Stevenson

Glenbrook South 

Marian Catholic

Butler College Prep

St. Ignatius 

Lincoln-Way East

Okawville

Ridgewood Notebook: Indrusaitis Settling In With St. Rita; Notes on Bloom’s Brown, WV’s Langendorf

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Ridgewood Notebook: Indrusaitis Settling In With St. Rita; Notes on Bloom’s Brown, WV’s Langendorf

By Kaleb Carter

Nojus Indrusaitis is drawing eyes on a national level after an explosive sophomore season. But his prep career has taken him into Chicago, as the rising junior has a new squad.

The class of 2024 wing was previously part of a burgeoning young group at Lemont. Early June he shared his intent to transfer and has been playing with the St. Rita Mustangs since.

He’ll join an already talented group with power conference recruiting prowess from the likes of fellow rising juniors Morez Johnson, an Illinois commit, and James Brown.

After going 23-12 a season ago, Indrusaitis’ arrival places the Mustangs among the upper echelon of the state a season removed from a sectional finals appearance (a 75-68 loss to consensus Illinois top-10 squad Kenwood). 

The Sun-Times’ Michael O’Brien actually had Lemont ranked higher in his 2021-22 end-of-season Super 25 rankings (Lemont at 13, St. Rita at 22). But Indrusaits’ presence makes St. Rita instantly superior to last season’s team in terms of talent on the floor. 

“It was just an opportunity to play against the best, and getting better is my main priority,” Indrusaitis said. “My goal would be to be a better defender for next year.”

At the Ridgewood Live Event (June 24-26) and Riverside Brookfield Shootout (the weekend prior), Indrusaitis’ athleticism was on display. The lengthy 6-6 combo player, said he’s hit a growth spurt since last year.

The capable scorer recently picked up offers from Marquette, Missouri and Iowa. He’s held an offer from Illinois since last season, and has offers from DePaul and Maryland as well. 

Indrusaitis said that needed chemistry with his new teammates will come through time spent together on the court. 

“I want to have a good relationship with them,” Indrusaitis said. “(I’m) looking for the best opportunity like finding out where I could impact winning.”

Indrusaitis has been playing on the Meanstreets 16U AAU team, and is plenty familiar with teammate Brown. 

“Our mindset is to win every time we step on the floor and be aggressive on defense,” Indrusaitis said. “Just being the best that I can motivates me.”

Jordan Brown Finding His Voice for Reloaded Bloom Township

Jordan Brown is an unassuming presence on the basketball court. But he should begin to draw eyes as Bloom reloads with a talented bunch of returners and transfers. 

Bloom lost its top two scorers from a season ago in brothers K.J. and Gianni Cobb, as the pair transferred to Perspectives. 

Brown is a 6-3 senior guard who facilitates aplenty and was able to step into big scoring role at times a season ago. He will have to more in 2022-23 as the top returning scorer. 

Coach Dante Maddox Sr. said that while 6-7 senior center Michael Garner is the most vocal of those on the floor, he’s pushing Brown to take on a bigger role in that facet of the game. 

“I’ve just been trying to use my voice,” Brown said. “I used to be real quiet because I was scared to talk. But as coach is trusting me more, I started to get comfortable with talking to my teammates.”

“Jordan is a 3.5 [GPA] student,” Maddox Sr. said. “High character, low maintenance and is selfless. He is about the team and has been raised right by his family. Family-oriented young man. He will help a program because he is a winner on and off the court.

Maddox also noted that Raeshom Harris, a 6-4 senior guard, will be key in helping new transfers adapt to the culture of the program, as will junior wings Jaden Clark (6–4) and Santana Flowers (6-5). 

Transfers Elijah Livermore (sophomore point guard), and seniors Jayden Watson (6-6) and Lierre Collier (6-2) will contribute majorly. 

At the Ridgewood Live Event, the Blazing Trojans trounced St. Charles North and handed New Trier a double-digit defeat, both of which Illinois-basketball.com was in attendance for. Bloom also defeated DePaul Prep and Normal West. 

Brown said he has lofty goals for the season. To get there, he knows his shooting has to improve, and he’s confident the college offers will soon begin to roll in. Improving his shooting is his most immediate goal. 

“I noticed throughout the course of last year’s season, teams having been making me shoot because I go the basket so much, so shooting 100,” he said. 

Langendorf Keys in on Defense for Waubonsie Valley

The offensive production isn’t in question for Waubonsie Valley 6-6 senior forward Jackson Langendorf. 

The Langendorf name has been a feature of Aurora-area hoops the last few years. His brother Carter, once an all-DuPage Valley Conference player, is now playing at Concordia University. 

Jackson Langendorf was an all-DVC player and second team Naperville Sun all-area while averaging 11.3 points and 4.7 rebounds per game as a junior. At Ridgewood, he showed off an array of back-to-the-basket moves in the post, as well as some face-up looks to mid-range depth. He’s already taken time to add to his offensive game this offseason. 

“I thought I had a good [junior] season, but there was a lot more I could’ve done and it was my first varsity season so I definitely learned a lot,” the rising senior said. “This year I definitely feel like I’ve gotten stronger and more athletic and will improve upon both those things throughout the rest of the summer. I’ve also sped up my shot and cleaned up the mechanics, so I’m feeling a lot more confident in that. And I feel like I’m really versatile, so I’m pretty excited about what I and the team can do this season.”

Where Langendorf knows he needs to be part of something bigger is on the defensive side of the ball in the second year under coach Andrew Schweitzer. 

“We have such long close outs we’ve got to be able to contest while not letting guys just get in the lane,” Langendorf said. “But one of the other biggest things is communication. Again that’s important in any defense but because our defense is always changing — due to personnel or play style of the other team — we really have to communicate. For me, the biggest things to make us successful is playing physical and keeping the ball out of the post when we can, then contesting shots in the corners and definitely rebounding.”

Teammate Treshawn Blissett, a junior 6-5 forward, also garnered attention at Ridgewood. 

For the weekend, the Warriors lost to Glenbrook North, Riverside Brookfield and Marist, but found themsleves in lower-scoring games, seemingly to their liking. Before Ridgewood, the Warriors had blossomed at Normal West’s shootout, which included a 16-point win over Rock Island. 

“The summer has been going really well for us,” Langendorf said. “We went 4-0 last weekend at Normal West, and we’ve been spending a lot of time in the weight room and getting more athletic. As a group this offseason we’re working on getting even better at our defense because it’s our second year playing it as a program and it’s so unique. And we’re also working on sharpening up our offense of course, but I’d say our biggest priority besides the X’s and O’s has definitely been the weight room.”

Ridgewood Live Notebook: Tinley Park, Kenwood and Others (+Photo Gallery)​

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Keon Richardson at Ridgewood Live 2021

Ridgewood Live Notebook: Tinley Park, Kenwood and Others (+Photo Gallery)

Ridgewood hosted a live event and tournament June 25 to June 27. More than 80 boys teams from the Chicagoland participated, and many of the top players in the state were on display.

Kaleb Carter stopped by the event Friday and caught a number of games and got a chance to chat with some of the standouts.

Tinley Park's Keon Richardson Eyes the Future

Keon Richardson at Ridgewood Live 2021
Tinley Park's Keon Richardson at the Ridgewood Live event. (Photo: Kaleb Carter)

Keon Richardson said that Tinley Park is starting to put the pieces together that could lead to a successful winter season. While some of his teammates have missed action thus far in the summer period, the senior point guard and the Titans showed flashes of excellence.

“Summer been good, got a lot of competition,” Richardson. “Good up and down. The Hillcrest tournament was good.”

At Ridgewood, Richardson showed off a pass-first mindset and distinct court vision that has led to college contact from Tulsa and IUPUI. He’s due for a July 1 visit to Tulsa.

“I’m looking for a school that lets the guards be free, lets the guards coach on the floor,” Richardson said.

Kenwood's Davius Loury Does It All

Kenwood Davius Loury
Kenwood's Davius Loury (0) and JJ Taylor (1) guard a St. Charles East ball-handler. (Photo: Kaleb Carter)

Kenwood assistant coach PJ Jones said that rising junior Davis Loury, a 6-7 wing with more than a handful of Division I offers, is the Broncos’ “Mr. do-it-all.”

Quite a compliment for a program that has some of most talented players in the state of Illinois. 

“He’s kind of what makes our team go, especially (since) he’s a mismatch for most teams,” Jones said. “Some of our other guys really take up the other team’s best defender, so that usually leaves Davius with someone smaller on him … just getting him to crash the boards, post up when he’s got a little guy and shoot over top of them.”

Loury received an offer Friday from Appalachian State while at the event. He also holds offers from DePaul, Illinois, LSU, Miami (OH), Nebraska and Western Illinois.

This summer alongside his talented teammates, Loury is working on several simple aspects of his game. He emphasized his need to become a better ball-handler.

“My shot, dribbling, passing the ball, drive-and-kick and more athleticism,” Loury said. 

According to Jones, Loury’s versatility gives Kenwood more options, especially on the offensive end. 

“He’s another option to bring the ball up and run the offense through, that’s great,” Jones said. “It relieves some pressure off the other guys. For him as a player, being able to do multiple things, he played great defense today, being able to defend all five spots is something we want to see out of him.”

In addition to a flock of major Division I coaches being in attendance for 5-star recruit JJ Taylor (Class of 2023), the Broncos showcased Darrin Ames (2023) and recently returned and highly recruited Trey Pettigrew, a senior, on the floor. 

“He left Illinois when he was ranked the the No. 2 player in the state,” Jones said of Pettigrew. “With the COVID season in limbo, he moved out to Arizona. He was ranked the No. 5 player out in Arizona. With him, getting acclimated with the guys, he’s played in the same AAU program as some of the younger guys, different teams though, 16U teams, 17U teams. Getting him acclimated and letting him know that college coaches know that you can score the ball, but we want to see you facilitate a little more, personal that’s what I want to see him down.”

With rising freshmen Bryce Heard and Rob Walls contributing as well, the Broncos’ lone loss at the three-day event came to Glenbard West, a team loaded with senior, college-level talent.

Other Notable Teams and Players

  • St. Charles East’s Trent Warren (class of 2022) had a hot shooting weekend, putting up double-digits in three straight games, including 20 against Kenwood and 25 versus Fenton. He also used our photo (we see you, Trent) for his new Twitter profile avatar. 
  • Lots of coaches were in attendance, including Michigan State’s Tom Izzo, Illinois’ Brad Underwood, Wisconsin’s Greg Hard, Bradley’s Brian Wardle, UIC’s Luke Yaklich and plenty of others. Former NBA superstar Shawn Marion was even there watching Kenwood. 
  • DePaul College Prep has reloaded, and perhaps most intriguing is Dylan Arnett (2022), a 6-9 forward who walked away from the event with a Western Michigan offer. He showed himself capable of replacing some of the production lost down low from North Dakota signee Brian Matthews. 
  • Hillcrest and Tinley Park both showcased potential in the form of talented guards and springy forwards, but both will need the extra time leading up to the season to put things together. Matthew Moore (2023) and Bryce Tillery (2023) of Hillcrest showed flashes of what could make Hillcrest nearly as good as it was in 2021
  • I don’t have much to say about Glenbard West that hasn’t been said. They look like state championship material. They’re downright huge. The 1-3-1 zone they trot out covers more space than any other zone that comes to mind at the high school level. GBW did finish the event undefeated, including a close win over Kenwood. A couple spurts from senior transfer Bobby Durkin (Hinsdale South), including a deep 3-pointer and a two-handed slam in rapid succession, opened eyes. 
  • I was witness at the end of my day to a close affair between Whitney Young and Lake Forest. Asa Thomas is no joke and is dangerous from wherever and in creating. Whitney Young’s length and athleticism plus clutch plays late from D-I recruits A.J. Casey (offered by Florida Saturday), Xavier Amos (2022) and Daniel Johnson (2023) led to the win over a charged up Lake Forest squad. Casey is so smooth and improving in his all-around game. 
  • DeKalb’s Martez Jackson (2022) is a scrappy guard who defends just the way DeKalb teams have been taught to over the last handful of years by head coaches Al Biancalana and Mike Reynolds (both of whom I covered previously at the DeKalb Daily Chronicle). 
  • Simeon’s  Rubin twins, Miles and Wesley (recent transfers from Homewood-Flossmoor) have tremendous upside as incoming juniors. They are going to be ridiculous to try and stop as a tandem in the coming years.
  • Bolingbrook has some fearless guards and lots of size. Beware of coach Robert Brost’s perennially reliable bunch. 
  • The way Batavia guard Trent Tousana carries himself showcases his confidence, and I’m excited to hear how often he scores in bunches this year. 

CPS Coaches Organize Anti-Violence Rally on Saturday, September 19

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Tim Flowers was seven years old when he first saw someone killed in his neighborhood.

Flowers, now 32, had a long-time friend shot and killed in just the past few weeks on Chicago’s South Side. Gun violence and its effects on his community — Englewood, where he grew up and now lives again — have been a near constant in his life. That violence and a desire to show young people “we shouldn’t be living like this” is a driving force in Flowers’ motivation for organizing the Soaring Above All Odds rally on Saturday, September 19, at Murray Park in Englewood.

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