The strong and the week
It has been a long time since Public League basketball was in the spotlight.
Last year’s weird and short season was played in empty gyms. The labor issues between Chicago Public Schools and the Chicago Teachers Union canceled most games last week.
Curie and Simeon played for the title in Pontiac, while Young and Kenwood met for the Proviso West championship, but those games don’t have the same electric atmosphere as a Public League gym with students in the stands.
Hopefully the CPS labor issues are worked out early this week and students get to attend games, because this could be the best week of Public League basketball in two years.
On Tuesday, Simeon is at Kenwood. On Thursday, Kenwood is at Curie and Hyde Park is at Simeon. Young travels to Orr for a RedNorth/West showdown on Friday.
Those are just the top-tier games, there are rivalry games scheduled all over the city.
Stars return
Dalen Davis is back with Young after missing a few games. The junior guard had a breakout performance in a victory in Minnesota against Totino Grace, a Catholic school located in the suburbs of the Twin Cities. He finished with 31 points, seven assists and three steals. AJ Casey scored 12. The sky’s the limit for the Dolphins if Davis continues to play like that.
Kenwood junior Darrin Ames has recovered from his injury. He scored 21 for Kenwood in the Broncos’ 73-69 loss Saturday to St. Louis Christian Brothers at the Highland Shootout.
Kenwood dominated the first half and led well into the fourth quarter. Some technical fouls and silly plays overall let Christian Brothers back into the game. It will be interesting to see if the Broncos can finish better this week against Curie and Simeon.
Rankings talk
It was a week where a lot of teams played themselves out of the rankings but absolutely no one played their way in. That always makes things tough. A lot of teams stayed in the rankings despite losing this week.
Bolingbrook drops out for the first time this season. The Raiders lost to Andrew and St. Ignatius. They have a challenging week ahead and could get back into the Super 25 next week if they pull off a nice win.
Evanston also drops out. The Wildkits lost to Maine South. I think Mike Ellis’ squad has a chance to be pretty good this season, but like many teams in the area, it’s a work in progress.
Bloom is back. The Blazing Trojans were upset by Joliet West at Pontiac (playing a good team in back-to-back games is tough, just ask Glenbrook South), but they have a very solid résumé.
DePaul Prep also returns to the rankings. I dithered about what to do about the final spot for awhile. Barrington and Huntley were considered, but both lack the overall strength of schedule. Also, keep a close eye on Lake Park, Andrew and Glenbrook North
It’s striking how many good teams are not in the rankings. Thornton, Clark, Marian Catholic, St. Ignatius, St. Rita and North Lawndale have shown the potential to beat the very best teams in the area but are sitting outside the Super 25 for various reasons.