Late December 2015 Report

The 42^nd Jack Tosh Holiday Classic at York H.S.

First round play opened on Saturday (Dec 26^th) the 42^nd annual Xmas venue.  The main head-liner on opening day was the performance of 6-7 unsigned senior forward Lorenzo Edwards who ignited his Lake Forest team to a 40-36 victory over T.F. South.  Edwards recorded 21 points – 7 rebounds & 8 blocks, he clearly out-played Western Michigan signee Brandon Johnson a 6-7 forward “who seemingly failed to get the memo that this was in a prime-time match-up for him”.  Lake Forest will face tournament favorite River-Side Brookfield on Monday at 6:00 pm.  This tournament has a band of on-the-brink stand-outs saddled and ready to shine the next several days.  Downers Grove South has the trio of 6-7 senior 4-man Donovan Ferguson who has drawn quite a following with D2 & D3 schools, while juniors T.J. Clifford 6-6 athlete and deadeye shooter Denis Alibegovis a 6-3 wing, Downers Grove will pose some problems for 2^nd round foe Palatine.  Glenbard East won a squeaker with an over-time win against St. Ignatius 56-55 on a game winning three pointer by senior guard Carlos Meyers.  East will play York on Monday at 8 pm, they received solid performances from junior forward Michael Finley and senior guards Davonte Smith and Myers.  Northwestern recruit Barrett Bensen continues to sizzle, he tallied 20 markers in win over Lane Tech his squad will face-off against Minooka on Monday at 4:30.  York features a talented freshman guard Nick Kosich a skilled frosh who was impressive versus Schaumburg, shot it and handled it well.  Conant boasts to highly touted young bigs in six foot eight sophomore Ryan Davis (16 points) and 13 rebounds versus Sandburg and St. Joseph transfer Mike Downing a 6-8 junior lefty with a promising future, they will be on display versus Wheatob North at 5:00 pm on Monday.  This most disappointing game of the day was De La Salle dropping an 8:30 am contest vs Providence Catholic.  George Willbourn and his crew got caught sleep walking so he will hold his auditions in the consolation bracket.  A player to watch at this event is Metea Valley 6-6 sophomore Malik Hall who can score.  This event could end up being one of the top 5 in our state this year.

Thurs – Dec 17^th

Triton 92 – Kishwaukee 91

Freshman swingman Donte Thorpe’s tip-in with 3 seconds left, sealed an on-the-road victory for Triton College, snapping Kishwaukee’s five game winning streak.  With 1:55 remaining in a hard fought contest Kishwaukee held, on to a 89-85 margin, but a 3 pointer by Josh Doss (Taft) with 1:29 left cut the margin to one for Triton, 89-88, two free throws from Bryson Butler (Lincoln Park) gave Kish a three point advantage at 91-88 with 39 seconds left.  But Thorpe tallied Triton’s final four points, he came up with a steal & basket with 38 seconds remaining, then he converted a tip-in with 3.7 seconds left which pretty much doomed the Kougars, Thorpe, finished with 11 points; 6-6 soph Percell Washington (Foreman) a high energy inside beast, finished plays and demonstrated he has a wealth of athleticism, while grabbing 11 rebounds and leading all scorers with 24 points.  Eric Gillespie 15, Eddie Miles (Hales) 13 and Josh Doss tallied 10 for Triton who came into the game as region IV #1 team.  The Kougars were led by point-guard Bryson Butler 19, Austin Patterson (Morris H.S.) 18, Malcolm Reed had 17 pts for the Kougars.

Fri – Dec 18^th

Fenwick 62 – De La Salle 51

Senior Mike Smith led three players in double figures with 18 points, as the Friar’s cruised by De La Salle for a road victory.  In a Catholic league contest the Friars held the Meteors to a frigid shooting night in the second half, combined by ragged floor play, poor shot-selection and numerous miscues.  To take down a discipline squad like the Friars, playing a game of reckless abandonment clearly will strap-you with a quick L.  Senior guard George Willborn recorded 20 points & 6 rebounds, but was saddled by foul trouble most of the first half.  Junior guard William Norman tallied 13 off the bench and senior Andre Raiford contributed 12.  Fenwick had an impressive balanced attack, garnered by strong performances from Jacob Keller 13 and Mike Ballard scored 14 points and registered 8 rebounds.  Fenwick will be one of the key marquee teams on hand at the reconstructed Proviso West tournament.

Sat – Dec 19^th

Morton 81 – Kishwakee 67

A crowd of about a hundred plus watched a highly spirited Morton team defeat a Kishwaukee squad who seemed to have slept walked through most of the contest.  Morton just out-scrapped & out-rebounded the Kougars, who never seem to get un-tracked, the home team was just a step slow through most of the contest, they played as if the Xmas break couldn’t come any sooner.  Morton scored 30 points off turn-overs and 20 points off 2^nd effort attempts.  Remy Price (Kenwood) 18, Chris Poole was 7-10 & 4-7 from 3 pt mark claimed 18 points, Quawone Harris 12, Chris Soczek had 10.  Daniel McFadden finished with 10 markers and Javonte Peals also tallied 10 points and Bryson Butler went for 9 pts.  The Kougars fall to 8-6.  They will play Madison Community College the 2^nd of January.