Virus affecting schedule
That was a rough week. My plan for the last few days was to cover St. Patrick vs. Notre Dame, Evanston at New Trier and DePaul Prep against Benet. Only one of those games happened, which is the way things are going these days. About 40 games were canceled over the weekend.
Make sure to triple-check that a game is actually happening before you head out to one this week. Twitter is probably the best source for that, especially with a lot of the schools already out for the holidays.
This week is pretty quiet. The Hinsdale Central Holiday Classic starts up Tuesday, and the Jacobs Tournament continues.
Marian Catholic and Oak Forest dropped out of the rankings. The Spartans lost to Tinley Park and Brother Rice, two talented teams. Richards beat Oak Forest.
Larkin and Benet, two teams that have done nothing but win this season, join the rankings. The Redwings only have lost to Proviso East, and Larkin’s loss was the first week of the season against Rockford East.
Young in Florida
Tyrone Slaughter’s Dolphins picked up their first big victory of the season over the weekend, knocking off Gill St. Bernard’s from New Jersey 70-38 at the prestigious City of Palms tournament in Fort Myers, Florida.
The City of Palms isn’t one of those instances in which a talented team heads to the middle of nowhere to play in front of a crowd of 12. It’s a national event that attracts eyeballs and attention.
Young junior Marcus Pigram took advantage. He scored 19 points and only took seven shots.
“He was phenomenal,” Slaughter said. “He has played well for us all along. People underestimate him because he may not score a lot of points. But he does everything else you need to win.”
Pigram picked up a scholarship offer from Eastern Michigan after the game. That’s his first offer and will lead to more.
Gill St. Bernard is the No. 4-ranked team in New Jersey. It has two of the best prospects in the country. Junior MacKenzie Mgbako and sophomore Naas Cunningham are in contention for the top spot in their classes.
“We controlled the game overall from beginning to end and never trailed,” Slaughter said. “We had a 15- or 16-point lead most of the game and then they cut it to four. We were able to put it away late thanks to Dalen Davis. He was spectacular.”
Davis scored 15 points. The emergence of both guards is a good sign for Young. NIU recruit Xavier Amos and Miami recruit AJ Casey are dependable double-double machines.
The Dolphins lost to national powerhouse prep school Oak Hill in the second round on Sunday.