Chicago Public League Sports Blog

New Trier Stomps Taft

New Trier 81 Taft 52

Kevin Siudut(6-7,sr, C) and Princeton bound Steven Cook(6-4) of New Trier.

Taft had a good start and actually led 15-14 in the first quarter. But after that it was all New Trier. The Trevians ended the first quarter with 6 straight free throws followed by a Jordan Thomas(so) half court shot. In the second quarter, despite star Dartmouth bound Conor Boehm(sr) sitting out with 2 fouls, New Trier extended their lead to about 16 at the half. Taft's John Joyce(so- 6/5 G/F) started the game with 3 3 pointers.

New Trier is most known for its two big men 6-7 Boehm and Austin Angler(6-4,sr), but what really hurt Taft was the play of it's guards Princeton bound Steven Cook, sophomore Jordan Thomas(5-10, G), and #1 David Bragiel(5-10, sr). Their stifling defense caused numerous turnovers by Taft guards Taylor Kuehn(sr), Pierrenzo Pozzi(sr), and Joshua Doss(sr).

John Joyce(so) led Taft with about 16 points, but fouled out of the game early in the 4th quarter after getting a technical foul for hanging on the rim.

Taft plays Lane Tech on Monday in a make up game. Taft needs to win if it wants to stay in the hunt for the Red-North crown. I will say that after today, I still feel Taft is a good team, but their guard play seems susceptible to a good defense and Lane has a good defense.

Taft freshman guard Jovan Oyola guards New Trier sophomore Jordan Thomas.

Corey Thomas of Lindblom Verbally Comitts to NIU?

Corey Thomas(6-3, 280lbs, OT/DT, class of 2012) of Lindblom (MP photo)

I am getting unconfirmed reports that Corey Thomas, a senior defensive end from Lindblom has given a verbal comittment to play football for Northern Illinois University. When, I get official word, I'll comment.

If that is the case, this is the second Public League football prospect to verbally comitt to NIU in Dekalb, IL. Last summer defensive end Mario Jones(sr) of Hubbard verbally comitted to the Huskies.

Thomas is little talked about in these board, mainly because Thomas goes to Lindblom- a small CPS school in the Chicago Greal Lakes Conference (the Phillips and Payton conference). But at 6-3, 280lbs and good showings at combines at camps, Thomas was noticed.

Here is my take on Thomas from an eariler post:

Offensive Line
Corey Thomas(6-3, 280lbs, OT/DT, class of 2012), Lindblom
Really good broad jump (8-6") and shuttle times (4.52) for someone 6-3, 280lbs. Corey Thomas really has some potential and deserves to get more attention.

 

New ITTCA Blog

Defending class 2A state champion in the 100 meter hurdles and 400 meter (both state record times) Shamier Little(jr), picture courtesy of the new ITTCA blog. Little, by herself scored 27 points to lead Lindblon to a 6th place state finish.

A bunch of us ITCCCA coaches have started a website to help new track coaches. 

http://newtrackcoach.wordpress.com/

Good stuff on track and field coaching fundamentals.

 

Whitney Young vs Glenbrook South in the finals of the Raider Tournament

Thank you to creamrich for providing great footage from the Glenbard South Raider Chess Tournament last Saturday. Most of this video features the exciting final round match between undefeated (in the tournament) Glenbrook South and defending state champion Whitney Young. As you can see, Whitney Young had to sweat out a win. The very deep Whitney Young took the first 4 wins from the bottom 4 boards (boards 5,6,7, and 8). Then Glenbrook South went on a rally winning boards 2,3, 4. The match came down to the teams Board #1's. A match up between Whitney Young National Master Sam Schmakel(so-2237 chess rating) and Gauri Manoj(sr-2300 chess rating) of Glenbrook South (notated game). Manoj is the defending state board 1 state chess champion. Schmakel came up with an upset to give Whitney Young the victory to give Whitney Young a slim 38-30 win. See how the crowd gathers at the 1:45 mark.

Whitney Young came up with the win this time, but I will say this. Glenbrook South beat Whitney Young in 3 of the top 4 boards- any team that can do that to Whitney Young is a team to reckon with!

Devante Lee of Simeon Picks Up Recruiting Interest

Devante Lee(jr-DE) of Simeon

Devante Lee was a bit overshadowed last fall on a Simeon city championship team that featured several division prospects including Jordan Diamond (a Parade All-American lineman), Shaquille Joyner (has at least 3 Division 1 offers), and Robert Gregory (accepted an offer to play for Arkansas).

But at At 6-6, 220lbs, and 4.87 40 speed, college scouts are becoming interested in Simeon's Devonte Lee. Lee is getting college recruiting looks from Ball State, Kansas, Michigan, Nebraska, and Vanderbilt among others.

Lee could add to that list as he has several college visits planned. Keep an eye out on this blog for additional information on Lee as breaking news comes available.

Lee, along with class of 2013 rising prospect Reggie Spearmon will be the highlight players on next year's Simeon team which earlier looked like was going to be a bit down. Then again, Simeon just keeps reloading.

Red-North Boys Basketball Scoreboard

games 01/19/12

Foreman 34 Lane 29
Lincoln Park at Von Steuben
Prosser 57 Mather 38
Schurz 66 Senn 43
Taft 61 Steinmetz 39

Taft Eagles Soaring

Taft win sets up possible showdown with Foreman for the Red-North....New Trier this Saturday!



Northside Prep transfer Taylor Kuenh(5-7, 140lbs, sr, point guard) gets some quality playing time for Taft.

Taft's 61-48 win over Prosser on Tuesday put them in sole possession of 2nd place in conference. They are looking forward on running the table in the red north and getting Foreman next Tuesday at
Taft. But first at Steinmetz Thurs and at Lane Monday. If they win all three games, Taft will win the Red-North conference and surely get a favorable seeding come the city and state playoffs.

Taft's recent winning success includes wins over state ranked Marist, winning the Luther North Holiday Tournament, and then beating Maine South. One reason for their gaudy 13-6 overall record and 5-1 conference record has been the play of sophomore John Joyce. Ever since battling the flu bug in December during the Luther North Tournament, Joyce has played 4 games since(St. Pats, Maine South, Senn and Prosser. He is really on roll. In the last 4 games he is shooting 80% on 25 of 31 shots, including 13 of 16 from 3 pt land(81%). He has all the confidence in his shot now and is not hesitant on
driving creating some free throws(75% for season).

Looming for Taft is a big game against New Trier this Saturday. New Trier is a state ranked team- one of the best in the north suburbs. New Trier advanced to the finals of the prestigious Proviso West Tournament.  Taft matches up well with New Trier in the size category. Both are big teams. New Trier features 7 guys on its roster 6-4 or over and has the luxury of having a 6-8 player on its bench. The biggest two names on their roster are seniors Conor Boehm  and Austin Angel. I have seen the 6-7 Dartmouth bound Boehm play on a number of occasions. He has it all size, aggressiveness, shooting, and talent. Taft can only hope to limit Boehm and then see what happens.

I plan on checking Taft play New Trier this Saturday. We'll see how Taft can perform against one of the state's best.

 

Coach Craig Collins Leaves Phillips for Chicago State

Coach Craig Collins (center) left a promising Phillips program to try to build a track program at Chicago State.

Craig Collins is known in CPS track circles having coached at North Lawndale (yes that North Lawndale) and most recently at Phillips. At Phillips last year, he was at the starting stages of developing a real track program. He had a good start at Phillips where he led a Phillips team to an 11th place finish at the CPS frosh-soph meet. 11th place does not sound like a lot, but believe me at Phillps, a school which has not seen any kind of track pulse let alone success for decades, having a team that scores points is a major step in the right direction.

That is why, when I heard Collins left to accept the coaching job at Chicago State, I was mildly surprised. I was hoping Collins would continue to develop the Phillips program. See developing a track program takes at least 4-5 years to develop. At the same time, I am happy for Collins to be at Chicago State.

He will truly be developing that program. Chicago State (on 95th street), is one of those colleges that has had a very difficult time developing any kind of track program. There are many junior colleges that are much more advanced in their development stages compared to Chicago State.

"I plan on giving Chicago State my full effort, I'll give it at least 5 years no matter what happens," said Collins.

 I wish Coach Collins luck in his new endeavor.

Reader Says: "Watch Out for Agriculture Science Baseball Team"

Chicago Agriculture Science baseball team photo from a reader.

I got the following email from reader:

Can you write an article on the Agricultural Science high school baseball team? They are a hidden gem in the public league and I feel you should pay attention to them. I always see you write About Simeon and Lane baseball. I went to their practice today and I was highly impressed. They have. 2 strong juniors and 2 strong seniors.

I have a team picture attached. But yea they are a very good team. Out of the last 5 years, they won conference 4 times. Their 1st game will be against Morgan park. They have alot of top college prospects. Thank you for your time and I hope to hear from you soon.

 

NOBODY CAN STOP LANE TECH!

Lane Opens as the CPS Pre-Season #1 in Boys Track


Lane Tech, and all-city sprinter Matt Rowe(sr- holding the baton), are going to be unstoppable in its quest for an incredible 7th city boys track championship in a row.

During Lane city championship streak of 6, Lane had to sweat a bit. During the last 6 seasons, I even had Lane ranked 2nd pre-season a couple of times. But they always somehow put it together to win a title. This year, I don't have any doubt. I just can't see any CPS team coming close to Lane. That is why I have Lane Tech as the easy choice as the #1 team on my CPS pre-season boys track rankings.

Sprints
Lane's sprint squad start with returning all-city sprinter Matt Rowe(sr). Rowe is easily recognizable with his flaming red hair (of course he's Irish). Rowe has steadily improved every year. He went from running a season best 12.01 seconds in the 100 his freshman year to a 11.38, his sophomore year, and then a 11.16 his junior year last year.

Supporting Lane will be all-city 200 meter runner Antonio Abreu(jr). Abreu finished 7th in the city at the varsity level in the 200 meters as a sophomore. Abreu, a football star and varsity basketball player, enters this season as one of the city's top returning 200 meter runners.

Also look out for sprinters Eric McMiller(so- if healthy), Amery Fredricks(jr), and emerging sprinters Jason Gutierrez(jr) and Celso Ramos(so).

Jumps
Lane graduated star jumper Mark Brand- now at UIC. It will be hard to replace Brand. However, the long and triple jumper you will probably hear most of is Jason Gutierrez(jr). Gutierrez leaped a surprising 39'-3.5" to win the triple jump in last year's CPS frosh-soph meet.  Also look out for Alejandro Reyes(jr) and returning all-city high jumper Emmanule Odiase(sr).

Hurdles
Lane had no all-city hurdlers last year, but it does not mean they will be weak in hurdles. Lane does return Gabriel Mendoza(sr) and Michael Sliwiak(sr) who both barely missed the finals last year in the 300 hurdles. They finished with the 9th and 10th qualifying times. Due to great hurdles coaching at Lane, both dramatically improved last year as the season progressed. I expect both to shave a couple seconds off their hurdles times from last year. Also keep an eye out on sophomore Celso Ramos(so).

Distance
Distance will be the strength of the Indians this year. Defending 800 meter and runner up in the 1600 meter, David Timlin(sr) could be one of the best in the state this year in the 800 or 1600. Look out for Lucas Beltran(sr), Danny ZImny-Schmitt(sr) , Mansur Soleman(jr), and Kevin Perez(sr). All are all-city cross country runners.

Throws
Lane will rebuild this year in throws after the graduation of city discus champion Kyle Mitchell. But I am hearing good things about their new throws coach - a Lane Tech alum who coached throws at Lake Forest High School. He has returning throwers to work with such as football player Alex Mueller(sr) and frosh-soph discus champ Tim Pinner.

Relays
Lane returns 3 of 4 legs from its state qualifying 4x400 and 4x800 relay teams. The 4x400 ran a 3:23.69  and the 4x800 ran a 7:58.47 at sectionals last year. Look for both relays to be very strong again this year- with goals of at least making it downstate again.