Summary of a Week Around the Rim 2/3-2/5

Summary of a Week Around the Rim

Evanston 58 – (7)Maine South 51
Thursday, Feb 5th

No. 7 Maine South came-up short late in the game as they tried to rally versus a young Evanston squad.  A packed house saw one of the prime match-ups of the night go toe to toe.  Sophomore stand-out Nojel Eastern finished with 17 points and provided a steady hand in making sure his team secured the win when he made two foul shots with a minute remaining in the contest.  One thing is for certain, Maine South better have a little more arsenal offensively as they prepare for a deep push through the state play-offs, they seemed to sputter a bit Thursday night.  Evanston’s collection of talented under-classmen can be pegged right up there with Belleville Althoff, Curie, Whitney Young, and Marian Catholic.  The future looks bright for Mike Ellis’ program.

North Park 71 – Wheaton College 68
Wednesday, Feb 4th

As I sat there watching the Vikings pull-out their 4th straight win I couldn’t help but reflect back on the glory days of this program.  Sophomore guard Juwan Henry from Bogan is their spark-plug as well as their leader, freshman wiz Colin Lake will set some scoring records before he’s done at the North-Side school, his shooting range is remarkable.  Another freshman who impressed me was Jordan Robinson a 6-3 under-size 4 man who can score around the rim or foul line or from 12-15 feet.  North Park has a nice nucleus of young players, now they need to add some size and a shooter, then we can talk about revival.

Bartlett 75 – South-Elgin 53
Tuesday, Feb 3rd

A snowy track to Bartlett, but no regrets I had the opportunity to see/view exactly what I needed.  South-Elgin, though, got trounced from the onset, never-the-less I was able to see how Elgin’s junior point-guard Matty Smith would respond with his back against the wall, Smith would finish with 10 points on a subpar night.  (It’s like that some nights.)  Bartlett’s six foot three senior guard Ryan Dicanio had his offensive game in full throttle, he had the 3 ball going as well as his back-door cuts & slashes to the rim.  Dicano recorded over 20 points, the kid on Bartlett who continues to impress me each time I see him is 6-2 explosive lefty Jordan Anderson, he’s a good athlete with a strong body, drives the ball to the basket effectively and he’s an adequate shooter on the perimeter, I envision him in some Division II situations, but I’m sure D3’s are showing him major love.  Jordan’s team doesn’t require him to score a ton of points, so his stats could be deceiving in terms of how he impacts a game.  South-Elgin frosh Anthony Lynch will be a good one, he certainly has a good feel for the game and his fundamentals are solid.