Chicago Public League Sports Blog

Uplift Advances to Sweet 16

Uplift 47 Gordon Tech 44

Uplift defeated Gordon Tech 47-44 to win the Senn Class 3A boys basketball regional. Uplift is the Red-North's only remaining team in the state playoffs. Uplift advances to the Antioch Sesctional semi-finals where they will face top 5 state ranked North Chicago.

Red-North Scoreboard for 1/22/13

Corey Congora(left-6-4, 210lbs, jr) and Uplift handed Taft their first Red-North loss.

Lane 60 Schurz 48
Mather 79 Amundsen 49
Uplift 74 Taft 58
Foreman 67 Prosser 37

There is no team hotter (including Foreman) than the Uplift Titans. Uplift handed Taft a 74-58 loss. The win gives Uplift an impressive 14-5 overall record overall and 8-1 in conference play. Their only conference loss was a close 63-58 setback to conference leader Foreman back on December 18th of last year. Since then Uplift has been on a tear and has won 11 straight wins. Looking ahead, Uplift is in the class 3A Antioch Sectional, where they will be seeded relatively high. The top seed in the Antioch Sectional will be top 10 state ranked North Chicago. Playoff pairing and seeds will be released by the IHSA February 7-8.

Mather's 79-49 thumping of Amundsen gives Mather 2 conference wins and is probably good enough to keep them in the Red-North for another year. If the CPS does what it did last year and drops the bottom two Red conference teams to the Blue, it seems like Amundsen and no conference win Schurz will be the teams to go. Lane's 60-48 win over Schurz basically sealed Schurz's fate.

Red-North Scoreboard for 1/16/13

Uplift is flying high with a  7-1 conference record after thrashing Amundsen 64-17. Uplift plays a huge game against Taft next Tuesday .

Mather 51 Schurz 41
Uplift 64 Amundsen 17
Taft 56 Von Steuben 54
Lane Tech 63 Prosser 59

Uplift has to be one of the biggest stories in the Red-North this year. They are 13-5 overall and is an impressive 7-1 in their first year in the Red-North conference. Uplift is led by 6-4 senior guard Jerrard Davis. Davis is averaging over 18 points a game.

Uplift is tied with Taft for 2nd place in the Red-North. Both have 7-1 conference records. The two play a giant game against each other next Tuesday, January 22nd at Uplift. If Taft wins that game, they will play an even bigger game against conference leader Foreman on January 24th in what will probably decide conference.

Mather's 51-41 win over Schurz was a major win for Mather. The win prevents Mather from being in the last place in conference. Schurz is winless in conference play and tied with Amundsen for last place. Amundsen and Schurz play next Thursday. The loser of that game will almost surely get sent down to the Blue-North next year.

Speaking of the Blue-North. Urban Prep-West is in first place with a 5-0 conference record. You will probably see them up to the Red-North next year.

Watch Out for Uplift, Davis

Uplift captain Jerard Davis(6-4,195lbs, sr,F) has elevated his game and is hoping to make some noise in the Red-North.(UP photo)

Uplift is one of those obscure CPS school. Located in the north side on Wilson Avenue near the lake, it is a very new CPS school compared to the ancient north side schools like Lake View, Senn, and Amundsen - which are nearby. Plus, its football team is in the lower tiered Chicago Conference and its basketball team is usually in the Blue.

So when Uplift won the Blue-North got promoted to the Red-North in boys basketball, I admittedly didn't really have much expectations for them. Despite, their 9-0 Blue-North record last year, I had Uplift dead LAST on my Red-North pre-season projections.

However, Uplift's 58-44 win over Lincoln Park last Tuesday in the Red-North opener, quickly made me reevaluate my thinking on Uplift.

I'm not going to go on great detail here, but a further analysis is giving me indications that Uplift could be way better that I had them in the pre-season.

It starts with captain Jerard Davis(6-4,195lbs, sr,F). Davis is a stud all around player. Last year, he led the Uplift Titans with a 14.8 points per game average, 7.5 rebounds per game, and 2.6 steals per game. Those stats mean that not only can he score, but he can also rebound and is very good defensively. Also, at 6-4, 195lbs he is a big guy.

So far this year, Davis has elevated his numbers. He's now up to 17 points per game and 8.3 rebounds per game. He can also improved his 3 point shooting. Last year he shot only 23 percent from beyond the arc. This year he's upped that to over 40 percent.

With Davis and up and coming players like 6-4,210lbs Corey Congara(F,jr)(13.8ppg, 10rpg) and 6-2 sophomore guard Jeremy Roscoe(G,so)  who scored 16 points and had 7 rebounds in Uplift's win over Lincoln Park, I see Uplift having a chance to make a serious impression in the Red-North this year.

CPS at state wrestling meet

Nikko Liotta (sr) of Mather placed 5th in the state wrestling meet.

Class A
4th @ 119lbs - Jameel Carter (sr) - Uplift
4th @152lbs - Jamal Carter (sr) - Uplift

Class AA
4th @ 215lbs - Dequence Goodman (jr) - Bowen

Class AAA
5th @ 130lbs - Nikko Liotta (sr) - Mather

CPS Advances 4 Wrestlers to state wrestling semi-finals

Jameel Carter of Uplift

CPS advancers to state wrestling individual semi-finals

Class A
Jameel Carter, Uplift
Jamal Carter, Uplift

Class AA
Ronzel Darling, Bowen
Duquence Goodman, Bowen

 

 

 

Prosser victory over Uplift enough to keep them in the Red Conference

Tim Ward (6-1, sr, Forward) and Prosser's 59-50 win over Uplift gives them 3 conference wins and enough to keep them out of the dreaded last two spots of the Red-conference and the demotion to the Blue conference.

Prosser, by finishing 2nd in the Blue conference last year was promoted to the Red-conference this year. But to stay in the Red is a whole another story. This whole season was about winning enough conference games to keep them out of the last two spots of the Red. The last two finishing teams get sent back to the Red. Their win 59-50 win over Uplift clinched them from finishing in the bottom two. Prosser has wins over Uplift, Von Steuben, and Senn - all teams in the bottom half of the conference. Payton has already clinched a last place finish with a winless conference record. Unfortunately, another team will join them. With one conference game to go, it will be either Uplift, Von Steuben, or Senn that will finish 2nd to last and thus get demoted to the dreaded Blue. 

Other Red-North Scores

Mather 43 Lane 42
Lane shows it can hang with Mather.

Foreman 55 Von Steuben 53
Monstorous loss by Von Steuben puts them in precipice of being sent down to Blue.

State Ranked Class AA CPS Wrestlers

The CPS has an incredible 8 state ranked wrestlers in class AA including defending city champion at 171lbs Shelton Wallace (sr- above) of Uplift.

Class AA
2nd at 103lbs - Avery Williams (sr) - Morgan Park
11th at 125lbs - Jameel Carter (sr) - Uplift
HM at 135lbs - Jarrell Carter (sr) - Morgan Park
HM at 140lbs - Kentrell Fields (jr) - Austin
HM at 152lbs - Jamal Carter (sr) - Uplift
HM at 171lbs - Anthony Love (jr) - Kenwood
HM at 171lbs - Shelton Wallace (sr) - Uplift
4th at 215lbs- Duquence Goodman (jr) - Bowen

A couple things stood out when I compiled these rankings (via IllinoisMatMet.com).

Morgan Park in Class AA

Morgan Park has benefitted to their move down to class AA. Last year Morgan Park was up in class AAA. But, because of their enrollment this year, they got bumped down to 2A. This raises the rankings of wrestlers Avery Williams (sr) and Jarrell Carter (sr). Avery Williams has always been good. In fact he is the defending city champion at 103lbs, beating Lane Tech's Johnny McCarthy in last year's city championship. But, because he is in class AAA, he always ran into the Sandburg's and Marist's of the world at state regionals, and thus it was tough for him to advance. Now that he is in AA, Williams is suddenly ranked #2 in the state. WOW!

What's up with the Carter name?

The Carter last name seems to be popular for good athletes in the CPS. (Brian Carter of Kelvyn Park being the top name). The CPS has 3 Carter's state ranked. First is Jarrell Carter of Morgan Park. Jarrell was 5th in the city last year at 135lbs. Then there are brother Jameel and Jamal Carter from Uplift. The pair has been near the top of the CPS wrestling scence throughout their high school careers. Jameel was city runnr up at 119lbs last year. Jamal, who is a bit bigger at 152lbs, was also a city runner up last year. They are also both star football players for Uplift.

4A - Football State Playoff Pairings for CPS

#13 Chicago (Harper) (6-3) at #4 Sandwich (8-1)
#12 Chicago (Collins Academy) (6-3) at #5 Geneseo (8-1)
#11 Chicago (CICS/Longwood) (6-3) at #6 Chicago (Carver Military Academy) (7-2)
#9 Elgin (St. Edward) (7-2) at #8 Chicago (Uplift) (7-2)

Neilski's first initial reactions:

• Harper at Sandwhich - Don't know anything about Sandwhich. OK no Sandwhich jokes.
• Collins at Geneseo- Collins will have no chance against this football crazy school and town. The whole town watches thier games.
• Longwood at Carver - I don't think Longwood is a CPS school. I know they are in the city. Winnable game for Carver.
• St. Edward at Uplift - Uplift should have a chance as St. Edward will travel to the city.

 

Proving They Belong

 
Stud running back Brian Carter (jr) and Kelvyn Park play Little Village for the conference title and most importantly a promotion to the Chicago Conference.

While the top Illini-Conference schools are playing in the first round city playoffs, there are still other key CPS games going on. Here are some of them to watch out for:

Neilski's key non-city playoff games

Little Village vs Kelvyn Park -
Sat, Oct 23 @ Hanson
Both teams are 5-0 in conference. The winner will get promoted to a Chicago conference next year. The loser will face another year, trying to prove they belong. This is Kelvyn Park's homecoming.


Jameel Carter of Uplift

Uplift vs Manley
Sat, Oct 23 @ Rockne
When you think Uplift, you think of the Carter brothers (Jameel and Jamal). The pair is mainly knows as the top wrestlers in the CPS. However, they also play football. The Carter brothers have put Uplift in contention to win the Chicago Second City Conference. Going into the last game 3 teams are tied for the conference lead with 5-1 conference records - Manley, Uplift, and Collins. Saturday, one of them will be crowned conference champion and a promotion to the Illini conference next year. The top two teams qualify for the state playoffs. This game will go a long way in determining who's on top of the Second City Conference.