Chicago Sports

There’s nothing wrong with Blackhawks defenseman Seth Jones’ shots — at least at even strength.

They’re simply not going in.

”I’m playing pretty well, moving the puck well, [but] I just can’t put the puck in the net,” Jones said Saturday. ”It’s just frustrating the hell out of me this entire year.

”I’ve been having some chances here and there. I probably need to shoot a little bit more on the power play, get some action there. [It would] be nice to see a couple go in. If that happens, [my] confidence comes from there.”

Jones touts only three goals on the season, down from five last season with the Blue Jackets and way down from a career-high 16 in 2017-18. He hasn’t scored since Dec. 2, more than three months ago.

He produced several grade-A chances Saturday against the Senators, but found himself stymied every time yet again — even while brother Caleb Jones scored twice to pass him in goals, with four.

To the original point, though, Jones’ underlying shooting statistics at even strength look great, which means bad luck probably is playing a big role in his drought.

His on-goal rate (shot attempts that aren’t blocked or missed and make it successfully on goal) of 59.1% is a career best, reflecting steady improvement over the last few years. He has averaged .026 expected goals per attempt, the second-best of his career. And he has done so while attempting 10.5 shots per 60 minutes, roughly around his career average.

Among 183 regular defensemen NHL-wide, Jones ranks ninth, 39th and 57th, respectively, in those three categories — well above the medians.

Interim coach Derek King also lauded him Saturday for his play without the puck.

”Even though he’s not scoring, he brings so much more to the team,” King said. ”[He] defends well, kills penalties [and helps] our breakouts.

”There’s always pressure when you’re that type of player that you need to score all the time. But it’s like anything: When goal-scorers aren’t scoring, they better be doing all the other little things right. And this is what he does.”

King did say he would like to see Jones shoot more on the power play. And Jones’ power-play performance is a bit more worrisome.

On the power play, his on-goal rate of 47.8% is well below his even-strength rate and down from his last two seasons. His .031 expected goals per attempt are the lowest of his career, and his 14.5 attempts per 60 minutes are the second-lowest of his career.

Among 77 defensemen leaguewide who regularly play on power plays, he ranks 44th, 55th and 57th, respectively, in those three categories — well below the medians.

Erik Gustafsson (11th, 56th and 40th, respectively) has outperformed Jones, based on those numbers. But neither Gustafsson nor Jones has scored a power-play goal, making the Hawks one of only two teams without a power-play goal from a defenseman this season.

Lafferty breaks through

Like Jones, forward Sam Lafferty had been waiting for a while for his production to start reflecting his impressive play.

That finally might have started Saturday, when he ripped through the Senators’ defense in the second period to score his third goal with the Hawks.

Lafferty also has been working with trainer Brian Keane to improve on tipping and deflecting pucks, which might be the key to jump-starting his scoring even more, given how eagerly he crashes the crease.

”[It’s about] just controlling your speed on when you get to the net,” Lafferty said. ”If you get there too soon, it’s easy for the ‘D’ to tie you up and get your stick. So maybe waiting, being a little more patient and knowing where to be [will help].”

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Monitoring new Bears general manager Ryan Poles’ moves as the legal tampering period starts Monday and the league year begins Wednesday:

March 11

5 p.m.: The Bears claimed running back Darrynton Evans, a third-round pick of the Titans just two years ago, off waivers. He has 16 career rushes for 61 yards.

3:30 p.m.: The Bears also plan to cut nose tackle Eddie Goldman, who had a disappointing 2021 and no longer fit their scheme.

11:30 a.m.: As expected, the Bears told running back Tarik Cohen they would be cutting him with an injury designation about a year-and-a-half after he tore knee ligaments returning a punt against the Falcons.

March 10

4 p.m.: In a franchise-altering move, the Bears agreed to trade edge rusher Khalil Mack, the face of the franchise, to the Chargers for a 2022 second-round pick and a 2023 sixth-rounder. Ryan Poles’ first major move as the Bears’ GM signified the start of a rebuild, while Mack’s Bears career ends as a risk worth taking.

March 8

5 p.m.: The Bears agreed to bring back center Sam Mustipher, tight end Jesper Horsted and guard Lachavious Simmons on one-year deals at the league minimum. All three are exclusive-rights free agents. Players with less than three seasons of experience must accept such contract tenders.

3 p.m.: The NFL’s deadline to apply the franchise tag came and went Wednesday without the Bears making anyone an offer. That means receiver Allen Robinson will hit free agency Monday after playing last year on the tag.

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At first, it was hard to believe it had happened again.

As defenseman Connor Murphy lay motionless on the ice just 2:40 into the game Saturday — the third time in a Blackhawks game this season a player had been knocked out by a high hit — the rest of the Hawks gathered on the ice, mentally shaken.

”It’s hard not to be rattled,” captain Jonathan Toews said later. ”For a second, your focus is taken away from the game. It’s hard to regroup and to care about the game when your thoughts are with your teammate, when you really don’t know if he’s OK.”

The anxiety and distraction lingered with the Hawks for the rest of the first period. Then it transformed into fuel.

Down to 16 healthy skaters, the Hawks dominated the second and third periods — putting together one of their best 40-minute stretches this season — to rally for a 6-3 victory against the host Senators.

”We came out in the second and said, ‘Let’s win this one for Murph,’ ” defenseman Caleb Jones said. ”We stuck together as a team. We knew we’d get our chances. We were able to finish some of them, and it ended up being a good night.”

Murphy had just started turning around with the puck when the Senators’ Parker Kelly hit him from behind, crushing his head into the glass in the lower corner of the offensive zone. Kelly was ejected, giving the Hawks a five-minute major power play, although the only goal in the five minutes turned out to be a short-handed strike by the Senators.

Later in the period, forward Tyler Johnson — in only his sixth game back from disc-replacement surgery — suffered a possible concussion when teammate Dominik Kubalik’s dump-in inadvertently hit him in the head.

Murphy and Johnson nonetheless were cleared to travel with the team back to Chicago, which interim coach Derek King called ”good news.”

It’s certainly better news than what was distributed after forward Jujhar Khaira was knocked out by the Rangers’ Jacob Trouba on Dec. 7 or after the Stars’ Tanner Kero was knocked out by forward Brett Connolly on Dec. 18.

The injuries still left the Hawks, who shuffled their lineup as much as possible after their loss Thursday to the Bruins, with 10 healthy forwards for most of the game after originally dressing 11 forwards and seven defensemen.

Toews ignited the group, first by fighting the Senators’ Zach Sanford, then by scoring twice in the first three minutes of the second period to tie the score. Patrick Kane’s assist on the first of Toews’ goals moved him into sole possession of second place on the Hawks’ career-points leaderboard.

”We got to regroup and just respond as a team,” Toews said. ”Getting a couple of goals like that helped, and we just stuck with our game from there on out. . . . Everyone was jumping in on the offense, and it was fun to see.”

Jones’ first career multigoal game — his first goal gave the Hawks their first lead of the night at 3-2 and his second their first two-goal lead of the night at 5-3 — helped keep the momentum going for the offense, which has scored 35 goals in the last eight games.

The defense, meanwhile, repeatedly stifled the Senators’ efforts to move through the neutral zone with possession, conceding only 13 shots on goal after the first period and 23 overall.

”[I told them to] relax and just play,” King said. ”We were just off a little bit, whether it was from seeing your teammate get stretchered off or not. I just kind of calmed them down and [told them to] focus on a period at a time and then go out there and play hockey. And they did. They did a great job.”

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The clapping and excitement started a slow rumble throughout the United Center just before the timeout.

Alex Caruso had made his way to the scorer’s table with 6:31 left in the first quarter, set to make his first appearance since Grayson Allen derailed his season with a flagrant-2 back in January, fracturing Caruso’s right wrist.

By the time the timeout came and went, and Caruso officially took the floor, the clapping turned into a standing ovation.

The Caru-Show was back on the air.

Thanks to four steals and the disruptive defense that has become his brand, as well as 11 points in 29 minutes of work, Caruso helped spark the Bulls to a dominant performance over the Cavaliers on Saturday, beating them 101-91.

Not bad for a guy on a minutes restriction, and was considered an “unknown” by his own coach because of all the time he’s missed this season.

“He’s only played in 28 games, and the one thing that’s been difficult is when he did kind of get back from that foot sprain and then he got Covid, it’s just kind of been really choppy for him – a game here, a game there,” Donovan said. “Certainly getting him back gives you a jolt, there’s no question about that, but I just don’t know where he’s at, he hasn’t played in so long. It always takes a little bit of time for these guys to get back into a rhythm, get into a flow. There hasn’t been a lot of necessarily five-on-five for him.”

Not that Caruso looked like he needed it, far from easing into his all-too familiar role of causing a defensive frenzy.

He stepped on the floor with the Bulls down a point and looking sluggish against a short-handed Cleveland team, and by the time his first stint was over the home team was up eight, with the entire team suddenly playing disruptive defense.

Call it the Caruso Effect.

“He had a major impact, just having another competitor out there,” rookie Ayo Dosunmu said. “He makes [defense] easier for a lot of us. He’s a veteran, he’s won, he’s played in those high-level games. You have that and it boosts the entire team moral.”

Cleveland found that out first hand, trying to figure out what happened to those warm feelings early on, entering the halftime locker room down 11 and searching.

“His IQ to see things happening as it’s developing, and to be able to jump into passing lanes and recognize and read, we become obviously much more disruptive,” Donovan said. “And like I’ve said, there were some things in his absence that I thought we could control better. We still have to control it.”

The Bulls held Cleveland to 36.7% shooting in that first half, turned them over eight times, and outrebounded them 26-18. It wasn’t just Caruso that pitched in on the defensive end, either. Dosunmu, who had two rough meetings against All-Star Darius Garland earlier this season, held Garland to just six points on 2-of-12 shooting.

Garland did get loose in the second half, finishing with 25 points, but the Bulls kept the Cavaliers off balance most of the night.

And even without Zach LaVine, who was dealing with left knee discomfort, the Bulls had more than enough offense, led by DeMar DeRozan’s 25 points, as well as 20 points and 14 rebounds from Nikola Vucevic.

Bigger picture?

The Bulls (41-26) needed the win with the current climate in the Eastern Conference, holding down the No. 4 seed, just behind Philadelphia and a half-game ahead of idle Boston.

“Excited to just play basketball again,” Caruso said of his return. “At the end of the day you give up 91 points in the NBA, you can be happy with that performance.”

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CHAMPAIGN, IL-Over the past five months, Glenbard West became more than a basketball team.

The Hilltoppers-Braden Huff, Caden Pierce, Ryan Renfro, Paxton Warden, and Bobby Durkin-captured hearts in Glen Ellyn.

Local adults attended high school basketball games for the first time in decades. Little kids collected Topps basketball cards of the team created by photographer Ted Piton. The cards were big hits as favors at birthday parties.

“There have been a lot of little kids come with the cards for autographs after games,” Hilltoppers senior Braden Huff said. “It’s been really cool and kind of surreal, especially after the last year.”

Glenbard West completed a goal seven years in the making on Saturday, beating Young 56-34 to win the Class 4A state championship.

“It’s an unbelievable feeling,” Huff said. “To finally accomplish this goal, I can’t even describe it. It was a great atmosphere, all the fans came out today, the whole town of Glen Ellyn. Everyone was here supporting us it was crazy.”

Back when they started playing together in middle school, the Hilltoppers couldn’t have imagined how necessary their state title run would be for their community and Illinois high school basketball.

After more than two years without state championships, it was crucial for the sport to come back with a bang, to do something to grab the interest of the casual fan and remind Illinois that high school basketball is back and as important as ever.

That’s what the group of kids from Glen Ellyn accomplished this year. The Hilltoppers opened the season with 26 consecutive wins. Their only loss of the season was to Sierra Canyon, CA and it came at a three-pointer at the buzzer. The sold-out crowd showed the power of Glenbard West’s fan base and the excellent game against a national powerhouse featuring Amari Bailey and Bronny James showed the quality of the teams.

“They are unbelievable people and words can’t describe how I feel right now,” Glenbard West coach Jason Opoka said. “If a group comes together for a common goal anything is possible. If you put the hard work and dedication in at anything in life you can achieve it. Just go out and get it.”

Glenbard West (37-1) led 25-16 at halftime. Huff, who took his normal game to another level against Sierra Canyon, did the same immediately against the Dolphins. Even athletic, 6-8 NIU Xavier Amos was unable to stop Huff in the post.

Huff scored 19 points, he was 8 of 13 shooting and had five assists. Warden led the way with 21 points. Renfro contributed 10 points and five rebounds.

The Hilltoppers beat Young 74-59 at a shootout on Jan. 22. The Dolphins heated up after that loss and won the city championship. But the rematch wasn’t any closer.

Amos led Young with 14 points. AJ Casey and Dalen Davis each added six.

It’s the first state title and the first state finals appearance for the Hilltoppers. Young won the AA state title in 1998 and Class 4A titles in 2009, 2014, and 2017. The Dolphins lost the Class 4A title game in 2010 and 2018.

The Public League’s streak of 14 consecutive years winning a state title in basketball is over. A Public League team had won a state title in every season since Derrick Rose and Simeon won the AA title in 2006, 20 titles total in the 14 seasons.

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Bulls guard Zach LaVine detailed his left knee issue 10 days ago in Miami, insisting that he was basically day-to-day the rest of the season.

Nothing to panic about, but that was just the reality for the All-Star guard.

His reality hit yet again on Saturday.

After an off-day, and then taking Friday’s practice off, LaVine and the Bulls were hoping that he would get over the latest bout of discomfort in the knee in time for the game with the Cavaliers, but that just wasn’t the case.

“It’s going to be something that we have to manage,” coach Billy Donovan said. “When a player feels like he’s got discomfort and he shares that with me after the Detroit game, you know we wanted to see how he would feel after the game.

“It’s not one of these things where we’ve mapped out, ‘This is what we’re doing, we’re sitting him out in this back-to-back, we’re sitting him here.’ It’s got to be almost day-to-day. I don’t know if it’s concerning or not just the fact that he had two days. It’s just that there’s some discomfort there. Listen, I’m not in every single conversation with those guys. I talk to Zach, I talk to medical, and then get the update, but the feeling was it was better for him to take this game and see where he’s at [Sunday] and where he’s at out West.”

What Donovan was adamant about was that the knee was not regressing. LaVine has battled with discomfort and fluid on the knee for months, but when he went to Los Angeles before the All-Star Break and met with specialists, the overall conclusion was the knee wouldn’t get worse.

The problem was it also wasn’t going to get better.

“Everything I’ve gotten from the doctors has been they feel totally comfortable with him playing,” Donovan said. “There’s obviously a team of doctors involved in this. One of the doctors involved is the guy that handled his ACL surgery [back in 2017], obviously our doctors here, our medical staff, there’s a lot of people involved that are making these decisions, and everybody feels comfortable that him playing is OK. It’s not necessarily regressing. It’s just something he’s going to have to manage and deal with over the course of the season.”

LaVine did say that he would have to deal with the knee later – meaning in the offseason – but never detailed what that meant exactly.

The other point he stressed was making sure his priorities were well understood. LaVine will be a free agent this summer, but has made it clear to his teammates and the organization that sitting and missing games will be done for the betterment of the team, and not his contract situation.

“If it was about worrying about a contract, there are people who shut that stuff down immediately,” LaVine said recently. “I have a big responsibility here with the team, my teammates, my coaches, the city of Chicago. I take a lot of pride in that. It means something to me. And I hope people understand that I’m going out here and definitely not putting myself first here in this situation.

“I don’t get my contract right now. I’m not a free agent until the end of the season. It’s pretty black and white to me.”

Schedule blues

The second-half schedule gauntlet will continue for the Bulls this upcoming week. After playing the Kings on Monday, they take on four straight playoff teams, and three of the games will be on the road.

Toronto is the lone home game, while the Bulls will be the visiting team for games in Utah, Phoenix and Milwaukee.

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GLENDALE, Ariz. — The White Sox got busy addressing a pair of needs Saturday night.

They strengthened their pitching staff by signing right-handed reliever Joe Kelly and filled an opening at second base by signing another veteran, infielder Josh Harrison, a day before spring training officially opens at Camelback Ranch.

A two-time All-Star with the Pirates, Harrison is a career .274/.318/.401 hitter in 11 seasons. He batted .279/.341/.400 with eight homers, 60 RBI and nine stolen bases with the Nationals and Athletics last season.

Kelly, 33, pitched to ERAs of 1.80 and 2.86 in his last two seasons with the Dodgers. He has appearned in 40 postseason games with the Cardinals, Red Sox and Dodgers, posting a 3.55 ERA.

The Sox did not announce the deals, which are pending physicals, on Saturday night.

Harrison’s deal is for a reported $5.5 million, with the Sox holding a $1.5 million option for 2023.

The Sox bullpen was already a strength, and Kelly’s addition adds even more depth, although Craig Kimbrel’s status is uncertain. Manager Tony La Russa earlier Saturday said he expects Kimbrel to be on the Opening Day roster, but the Sox may be exploring a trade after he struggled in a setup role last season. Kimbrel is set to earn $16 million in 2022.

In any case, a deep pen would take pressure off a starting rotation that is getting off to a late start due to the lockout and shortened spring training.

“Everyone is worried about the arms,” La Russa said before earlier Saturday.

Kelly joins closer Liam Hendriks ($13 million in 2022), Kendall Graveman ($8 million), Aaron Bummer ($2.5 million), Garrett Crochet, Ryan Burr and possibly Kimbrel on what could be one of the most expensive bullpens in baseball.

The terms of Kelly’s deal were not immediately known. The Dodgers elected not to pick up his $12 million option last season, paying a $4 million buyout instead.

Harrison, a 34-year-old right-handed hitter, has played second base, third base, shortstop and all outfield positions, although most in the corner spots, during his career. His addition allows La Russa to use the switch-hitting Leury Garcia in his multipurpose role in which he excelled last season.

La Russa on Saturday agreed with with general manager Rick Hahn said a day earlier, that the Sox’ most pressing need going into the season was pitching, even though a starting rotation of Lucas Giolito, Lance Lynn, Dylan Cease, Dallas Keuchel and Michael Kopech looks good on paper.

When staff were finally free to have contact with players after the lockout, pitching coach Ethan Katz learned that Kopech had done some throwing off a mound but wasn’t as far along as Lynn, who threw 34 pitches in a sim game Friday, and Dallas Keuchel, who pitched two innings of sim game Saturday.

Or Hendriks, who went from athletic field to athletic field, facing hitters.

“If you’re not ready right now, it’s on you,” Hendriks said Saturday.

Transitioning to an expected starter’s role and fill the void left by Carlos Rodon, don’t expect Kopech to pitch six innings in his first start in mid-April, that is if he is even ready to start by then.

“How much stamina can he build,” La Russa said. “So we’re just going to take what we’ve got, be intelligent and pull for him. We need him, build him up as healthy and as slowly as we have to.”

A deep bullpen can take some innings off the rotation’s plate. Whether Kimbrel is part of it bears watching.

La Russa acknowledged Kimbrel didn’t fare well in his role last season and his role would be the same, perhaps hinting that a deal might be the best for all involved.

“He really likes it here,” La Russa said. “But he really likes closing.

“If he’s here, another dynamite arm. We’ll see.”

NOTE: Not everyone will be in camp Sunday, the first official day. Eloy Jimenez and Jose Abreu are expected to arrive Monday.

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MESA, Ariz. – During new Cubs pitcher Marcus Stroman’s bullpen session Saturday, pitching coach Tommy Hottovy turned around to see a couple minor leaguers standing off to the side.

“I’m his biggest fan,” pitcher Aneuris Rosario told him.

“Come watch,” Hottovy said.

Stroman’s first bullpen drew an audience of players and media members at the Cubs’ spring training facility on Saturday. His new teammate Yan Gomes caught him. Both signed with the Cubs in December, on the eve of the Major League Baseball lockout.

“Before that, I tried to talk the tough game about, ‘Oh if it’s not there, I’ll wait,'” Gomes said “… Things got settled, so guys are starting to sign, but I’m not sure I would have handled it very well.”

For Gomes and Stroman, getting deals done pre-lockout gave them the option to report to camp as soon as the lockout ended. Both came to the Sloan Park complex Friday and Saturday, before Sunday’s official report date.

Stroman threw 37 pitches on Saturday, but he said he’s been throwing 50-plus pitch bullpens leading up to the start of spring training.

“My arm’s ready to go,” he said.

Stroman estimates that with four starts in this condensed spring training, he can build up to five or six innings before opening day.

“The athleticism is insane, just how well he moves and how in tune he is with his body in everything he does,” Hottovy said. “So, really fun first bullpen and interaction there. Obviously really excited about bringing him on board and getting to see what we can do in the next couple years.”

Hottovy said he texted Stoman when the Cubs signed him, before the lockout cut off communication between coaches and their players. But the Cubs executed the deal so close to the collective bargaining agreement deadline, and Stroman got on a flight so soon after his signing, that they didn’t get to talk.

“Fun to finally get to see guys in person after watching so much video over the winter,” Hottovy said with a chuckle.

That started on Friday, for both Hottovy and Gomes, when right-hander Kyle Hendricks threw a bullpen on Friday. Gomes has faced both Hendricks and Stroman as a hitter, but it’s different working with them.

“Really, the baseball stuff for me is the last thing because we’ve gotten to see guys from the other side,” Gomes said. “So, it’s really just trying to get to know the guy personally, see what clicks for him and really learning how to talk.”

The early stages of that process played out during Stroman’s bullpen Saturday. On the first pitch, Stroman let Gomes know what to expect from his four-seam fastball – coming in at his catcher’s mask – and positioned him a little further on the edge of the plate.

Their get-to-know-you time will be condensed this spring. But they’ve already gotten several firsts out of the way before official workouts begin Monday.

“First block of the year, baby!” Gomes said after dropping in front of a pitch in the dirt.

He pounded his chest protector with a smile: “First block of the year.”

Heuer facing ‘bump in the road’

Even though Hottovy knew Codi Heuer wouldn’t be pitching for the Cubs this season, after undergoing Tommy John surgery last Monday, the 25-year-old reliever was one of the first players Hottovy texted when MLB lifted the lockout.

“I told him, ‘Look, this is a bump in the road,'” Hottovy said. “He’s going to be a huge part of what we want to do here in the future, and he knows that. And then just reassuring [him] that a lot of us have been through it. There’s a lot of people that he can lean on through this process.”

Hottovy himself underwent Tommy John surgery in 2008, years before his major-league debut.

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GLENDALE, Ariz. — Manager Tony La Russa agrees with general manager Rick Hahn. The White Sox’ most pressing need going into the season is pitching.

The Sox have other needs — second base and perhaps a good defensive No. 2 catcher — but it was apparent they’d need more championship caliber depth in the starting rotation even before concerns of a short spring training limiting ramp-up time to the regular season came into play.

“Everyone is worried about the arms,” La Russa said.

When staff were finally free to have contact with players after the lockout, pitching coach Ethan Katz learned that Kopech had done some throwing off a mound but wasn’t as far along as Lance Lynn, who threw 34 pitches in a sim game Friday, and Dallas Keuchel, who pitched two innings of sim game Saturday.

Or Liam Hendriks, who went from athletic field to athletic field, facing hitters.

“If you’re not ready right now, it’s on you,” Hendriks said Saturday.

Transitioning to an expected starter’s role and fill the void left by Carlos Rodon, don’t expect Kopech to pitch six innings in his first start in mid-April, that is if he is even ready to start by then.

“How much stamina can he build,” La Russa said. “So we’re just going to take what we’ve got, be intelligent and pull for him. We need him, build him up as healthy and as slowly as we have to.”

As for second base and right field, a higher priority is at second as it becomes apparent the Sox believe in the offensive promise of Andrew Vaughn and Gavin Sheets and include them in the outfield and DH mix. They also have Adam Engel, a former Gold Glove candidate.

There aren’t many second basemen on the free agent market but there are a few potential trade possibilities, although La Russa said he expects general manager’s biggest trade chip, Craig Kimbrel, to be on the Opening Day roster. La Russa acknowledged Kimbrel didn’t fare well not closing last season and his role would be the same, perhaps hinting that a deal might be the best for all involved.

“He really likes it here,” La Russa said. “But he really likes closing.

“If he’s here, another dynamite arm. We’ll see.”

But the biggest concern is the arms of all pitchers, starters in particular. In a normal six-week camp (this one will be less than six), pitchers build up to 100 pitches over about six starts.

“The worry is guys will get to a one o’clock game and try to do more than they should,” La Russa said. “Instead of having a couple of bullpens, three or four batting practices, they’re going to have one or two of each. So then preach preach, preach, stay within yourself.”

While talking with reporters on the backfields at Camelback Ranch Saturday, La Russa’s phone rang a couple of times and he joked that he was getting calls from Hahn or vice president Ken Williams about deals.

On a serious note, he said knew they’ve been busy because he always has to leave a message when he calls them.

“We’re working, knowing that there’s help and I think we’ve got an attractive situation so I’m hoping, expecting that we’re going to get some help,” La Russa said.

“Whatever we got, we can win with. We’re deep enough. We’ve got talented kids. We’ve got good veterans. If we make a move to get deeper and better, happiness. They’re going to try their best. I know that. Whatever they end up giving us, we can get to October with, if we do our jobs.”

NOTE: Not everyone will be in camp Sunday, the first official day. Eloy Jimenez and Jose Abreu are expected to arrive Monday.

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CHAMPAIGN, IL-Yorkville Christian didn’t exist ten years ago. Three years ago it was a curiosity, the school no one had heard of where Jaden Schutt, the kid with one of the prettiest looking jumpers anyone had ever seen, played.

Now the Mustangs are state champions.

Yorkville Christian began the season as the overwhelming favorite to win the title. Coach Aaron Sovern scheduled a gauntlet of challenging games. The Mustangs won some and lost some, but the highs were exceptional. Yorkville Christian beat Kenwood, a Class 4A power, last month.

Yorkville Christian rolled through the state tournament, beating opponents by an average margin of 44 points. The Mustangs were somehow an even bigger favorite when the title game began than when the season began.

Liberty, a village of 489 people near Quincy, rose to the occasion on Saturday and gave Yorkville Christian a real challenge. In almost any other season, the Eagles would be state champions. There has never been a Duke recruit in Class 1A before and it is unlikely to happen ever again.

Liberty led at halftime, but the Mustangs took control in the fourth quarter to win the title game 54-41.

Schutt, the Duke recruit, didn’t have a monster game. He scored 12 points and was 1 of 6 from three-point range.

But the team that grew and improved around Schutt all season stepped up in the title game. Senior KJ Vasser scored 15, Tyler Burrows added 13 and most importantly the Mustangs (25-13) outrebounded Liberty 32-27.

Cannen Wolf finished with 15 for the Eagles (30-6) and Devin Clauser, a 6-6 senior, added 13 and 5 rebounds.

More to come…

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