By Paul Bowker
MaxPreps.com
Advantage, Chicago hoops.
Last weekend’s Windy City Showdown at Loyola University in Chicago produced match-ups between five highly-rated Chicago boys basketball teams and five notable teams from around the Midwest. You’ll have to excuse Whitney Young High School, the team that includes Marcus Jordan, son of Michael, because the Dolphins were in Hawaii for the Iolani Prep Classic.
The city teams were, you could say, protecting their turf.
Three of them did.
Curie, Brooks College Prep and St. Joseph each won, but in the marquee evening games, De La Salle fell to nationally-ranked Detroit Country Day in overtime and Simeon lost to Lawrence North of Indianapolis, Ind., the alma mater of Greg Oden.
De La Salle, losing for the first time in eight games, actually had a 12-point lead on unbeaten Detroit Country Day (4-0) with a mere three minutes to go in regulation. A 3-pointer by Jordan Dumars, son of former Detroit Pistons star Joe Dumars, forced overtime.
Country Day’s DaShonte Riley, a 6-foot-11 center, had 14 rebounds and 11 points. De La Salle’s Michael Shaw, battling Riley, had 13 rebounds and 11 points.
“It was rough and I expected it,” Shaw told the Chicago Tribune.
Wayne Blackshear, one of the city’s most highly-recruited sophomore stars, was benched for the first two minutes of Curie’s game against Bishop Luers of Fort Wayne, Ind., for being late to practice. However, he still scored 16 points, collected 8 rebounds and added 4 blocks and 4 steals in a 65-58 win over Luers, the defending Class 2A champ in Indiana.
Jamil Wilson of Racine (Wis.) Horlick, one of the nation’s top recruits, scored 30 points, but Horlick lost 55-52 to Brooks College Prep.
Simeon, which has played a series of games against national opponents in tournaments since the season began, lost for the fifth time in seven games. Dominique Ferguson, a Kentucky recruit, scored 17 points and had 13 rebounds for Lawrence North in its 63-61 win over Simeon.
Colvin, Starks star at Iolani Classic
Whitney Young’s Chris Colvin, an Iowa State commit, and Ahmad Starks, an Oregon State verbal, were named to the All-Tournament Team at the Iolani Prep Classic in Hawaii after the Dolphins went 2-2 in a star-studded event won by nationally-ranked Oak Hill Academy of Virginia.
The Dolphins defeated Moanalua of Hawaii and Putnam City of Oklahoma and fell to DeMatha Catholic and Montrose Christian of Maryland.
Starks scored 21 points in a 59-46 loss to Montrose in the quarterfinals.
Samuel Thompson, Young’s brightest sophomore, won the tournament’s slam-dunk contest.
Cruising in the north ‘burbs
Waukegan has won its first eight games, including three straight victories in the Central Suburban League. Jereme Richmond scored 20 points for the Bulldogs in a 59-53 win last Friday over neighboring New Trier.
Waukegan is off until Monday, when it begins play in a three-day tournament at Pontiac.
Girls Basketball: Bolingbrook No. 2 at Nike
Bolingbrook knocked off nationally-ranked Oak Ridge (Tenn.), Riverdale (Md.) and Dayton (Ohio) Chaminade-Julienne in the Nike Tournament of Champions tournament at Phoenix. However, the Raiders lost to Cardinal O’Hara (Pa.), 48-41, in the title game.
The Raiders have won eight of their first 10 games, and were not walking away from Phoenix with a sense of total satisfaction.
“Our goal was to come down and win it all,” Bolingbrook coach Tony Smith told the Chicago Sun-Times. “Any time you come up short, you’re disappointed.”
Hot starts
* Thornton, which defeated Simeon in the Public League Shootout earlier this month, ran its record to 8-1 with a 53-51 win over Homewood-Flossmoor.
* Marist got its ninth win of the season, 66-51, over Evergreen Park on Tuesday night in the championship game of the Luther South Tournament. Nick Valla scored 28 points. The Redhawks are 9-3.
* Anthony Kelley scored 25 points and had 4 blocks as Aurora Central defeated Glenbard North 68-68for its 11th win in 12 games.
* Hoffman Estates’ Luke Mead scored 30 points in a battle of unbeaten. Hoffman Estates (8-0) edged South Elgin (7-1), 54-53.
* A 32-point game by Jeremy D’Angico helped Geneva to its 11th win in 12 games, 96-67 over North Grand in the DeKalb Tournament.
* Loyola’s girls team is off to a 10-1 start. Katie Faught, a sophomore, scored 17 points in her first varsity start as Loyola defeated Lake Park, 65-54.
Football: Drummond in All-American Bowl
Craig Drummond, a defensive end at Morgan Park High School who sat out most of this season due to an injury, will play in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl on Jan. 3 at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.
Drummond, 6-foot-5 and 260 pounds, is one of the nation’s top defensive recruits. He has verbaled to the University of Illinois. He was an All-City and All-State selection as a junior.
The only other Chicago-area player named to the game is Glenbard West offensive lineman Chris Watt, 6-foot-3 and 280 pounds. He is a Notre Dame verbal, turning down offers from Ohio State, Penn State and Illinois, among others.
Paul Bowker covers the Chicago area for MaxPreps. He may be reached at bowkerpaul1@aol.com
