Saturday Game Day Hoops Mania

“Saturday Game Day Hoops Mania”

Curie 59 – Farragut 55

(Saturday, February 13^th)

On a frigid afternoon in Chicago this city quarter-final ball-game at Curie High-School drew a full house who witnessed the host team escape in a nail biter.  Unfortunately, the slippery playing surface took away some of the game’s luster which should have been in the recorded as a high-level public league game with approximately 9 or 10 division one prospects on the floor.  “For us hoop junkies that’s like being at Maestro’s Steakhouse for a free entre of food and drinks.”  Back to the game – Farragut controlled the game from the start, unsigned senior guard Dulan Scott got things going immediately, scoring seven points in the opening quarter.  In fact the Admirals had the lead up to 12 before Curie’s pressure started to prevail.  Late in the second quarter, the Condors managed to go into the locker-room before half down 28-21.  Farragut came out in the second half playing tentative and uncertain of the Condor’s pressure spots.  Roller skate conditions might have contributed to some to the Admiral’s spree of miscues.  Junior point-guard Mike Johnson’s three point play put the Condors up 36-35 with 1:38 remaining in the third.  The Admirals split two foul shots to tie it, but then talented freshman guard Aaron Strong capped the scoring in the period to put Farragut up 38-36.  Johnson, a DePaul Prep transfer really stabilized Curie’s offense in the third/fourth quarter which enabled DePaul University recruit Devon Gage to string together 11 points in a crucial fourth quarter, his late game clutch performance sealed the outcome for Curie who will advance in the semi-finals next week against newly red central rival Kenwood.  Gage finished with 20, Alante Pickens drained several huge three’s in the 2^nd half, he tallied 17, junior stand-out Elijah Joiner managed 9 for the Condors.  Farragut got 19 points, 12 rebounds, 5 assist performance from Scott who has raised his profile immensely this season.  His game is starting to resemble one-time Farragut star Chris Singletary.  “Yes, Scott can play in the A10, Valley, Horizon leagues.  He’s a big-body punishing type guard.  Farragut will be viewed as a dark horse squad in 3A when the state format takes place in a few weeks.  6-8 post Tawon Keith, 6-4 JR Darnell Jones, 6-3 JR Kawanise Wilkins and freshman Aaron Strong who I consider one of the top 10-15 freshmen in the state, this outfit will pose some difficult challenges for upcoming opponents. 

St. Xavier 85 – Chicago Roosevelt 54

(Saturday, February 13^th)

After the Farragut-Curie barnburner, I scooted over to the beautiful downtown campus of Roosevelt University to watch a small college matinee.  “For me it’s important that I spread my wings this time of year to see this kind of environment, which helps me align myself with climate.”  The vast majority of high-school players lay in bed at night pondering dreams & hopes of landing in a division-one setting, unfortunately it’s not in the cards for everyone, some student-athletes are more suited for settings such as this level or Ivy league experience.  Andre Raiford, Sidney Mason, Mike Ballard, Mike Dade, Daniel Ogele, Donovan Ferguson, Ibraham Dosunmu, Miles Curry, Bennett Fuzak, Darius Branch, Christian Soderholm, Lou Griffith and Conner Fuller could enjoy an illustrious career playing collegiately in this environment.  This lop-sided outcome was merely a back-drop of what the ultimate goal should be (education & long-term financial security).

Wright State 61 – Valparaiso 59

(Saturday, February 13^th)

Senior guard Biggie Minnis tip-in with 1 second left won it for the visiting Raiders, who notched their second victory in Horizon League play against the division front runners.  This was a physically hard fought contest, great crowd, excellent climate watched Wright State come out in avenges which seemingly was expected after the Raiders ran into the cartel at Illinois-Chicago on Thursday night and got popped by a fast improving Flames squad.  Wright State obviously has Valpo’s number, they extended their lead in the first half to nine and went into intermission with a 33-24 cushion.  Valpo stormed back to open the second half, cutting the deficit to 37-33, behind the hot shooting of junior forward Alec Peters (Washington, IL).

This was a track to Northwest Indiana that was on my schedule for a while and my faithful companion “Slug” and I couldn’t pass on the opportunity to connect with the Drew’s and our Illinois Warrior alum’s Roger Powell (Joliet West) and Matt Lottich (New Trier) both assistants at Valpo and two guys we absolutely love.

Evansville 74 – Loyola-Chicago 73

(Sunday, February 14^th, 3:00 pm start)

B.J. Balentines’s driving lay-up with 14 seconds left was the game winner for the visiting Purple Aces.  This was a heck of a Missouri Valley Conference rumble on a snowy blustery day in Chicago, but a good crowd was on-hand to support the Rambler’s spirited performance.  In the waning seconds there was a flurry of action at the mid-court mark near Rambler’s end where the Purple Ace’s lost the ball while leading 74-73 with 6.3 seconds remaining Loyola had the last possession, but Marshall alum Milton Doyle’s fall-away jumper from the foul line area fell-off-the mark to end all of the suspense.  Evansville’s six foot ten center Egidijus Mockevicius was impressive, recording game highs with 24 points 16 rebounds and 7 blocks – several NBA teams were on-hand to witness his outing.  Balentine accounted for 16 and Jaylon Brown tallied 12.  Ramblers were down nineteen points at one stretch, stormed back to make it a respectable contest behind the play of Devon Turk (22), Earl Peterson (15), Montel James (8) and sophomore guard Ben Richardson a Kansas City area product did score but in his significant 23 minutes was pivotal as he spear-headed Loyola’s comeback attempt.