UPBEAT ABOUT BLUE

Move over, football. Catholic League Blue emerges as ‘best conference in the state’ for basketball.

The Catholic League Blue is wrapping up one of the most successful basketball regular seasons in the history of the storied conference.

Entering Monday, Brother Rice (26-3) and Mount Carmel (26-4) have flexed their muscles both in and out of league play, picking up tremendous wins along the way. As has DePaul Prep (26-2).

While outsiders have bemoaned the Catholic League’s football dominance over the years, the conference has sneakily ascended toward the top of the boys basketball landscape.

And now? Well, let’s hear from Brother Rice’s Marcos Gonzales.

“I think it’s the best conference in the state,” Gonzales said.

I’m with you, Marcos. The Catholic League Blue has clearly been the best in the state this winter.

It helps that the Chicago Public League is a bit down, but the CCL Blue has set itself apart.

Aside from the trio at the top of the standings, Loyola (24-6), De La Salle (18-11) and Fenwick (16-10) have had strong seasons and are positioned to make strong postseason runs.

St. Ignatius (15-13) finished fourth last season in Class 3A and brought back some key pieces from that team, but the Wolfpack went just 2-5 in the CCL Blue. No other conference has a seventhplace team remotely as talented.

“There’s toughness all around,” Gonzales said. “Us, Mount Carmel, Loyola, De La Salle and a bunch of other teams.

“It’s always fun, especially with some of those teams being rivals. It’s always good to beat them. I’m just having fun and playing with a smile on my face.”

Coaches have had to endure the grind of constantly preparing for a tough opponent.

“This is my 27th year coaching in the Catholic League, and this has to be one of the top years in the league,” Mount Carmel coach Phil Segroves said. “There are obviously great players, but there are really good coaches.

“Tom Kleinschmidt at DePaul, Tom Livatino at Loyola, Conte Stamas at Brother Rice. We’ve got guys who coach their kids hard and teach them good, and we’ve got good players on top of it.”

Here’s what has impressed me most. The Catholic League Blue lost an all-star team’s worth of talent from last season.

Mount Carmel’s DeAndre Craig, Brother Rice’s Ahmad Henderson, De La Salle’s Evan Jackson and St. Ignatius’ Richard Barron were all-state players who graduated.

In the offseason, the league also lost its three most high