Chicago Sports

Friday, February 3, 2023

BIG NORTHERN

Dixon at Genoa-Kingston, 7:00

Rockford Christian at Byron, 7:00

Rockford Lutheran at Rock Falls, 7:00

Stillman Valley at Oregon, 7:00

Winnebago at North Boone, 7:00

CATHOLIC LEAGUE – BLUE

Fenwick at St. Rita, 6:30

Mount Carmel at Brother Rice, 7:00

St. Ignatius at DePaul, 7:00

CATHOLIC LEAGUE – WHITE

Providence at St. Laurence, 7:00

Providence-St. Mel at Marmion, 7:00

CATHOLIC LEAGUE – CROSSOVER

Loyola at De La Salle, 6:30

CENTRAL SUBURBAN – NORTH

Deerfield at Highland Park, 7:00

Maine East at Vernon Hills, 7:00

Niles North at Maine West, 7:00

CENTRAL SUBURBAN – SOUTH

New Trier at Evanston, 7:00

Glenbrook North at Maine South, 7:30

Niles West at Glenbrook South, 7:00

DU KANE

Batavia at Geneva, 7:00

Lake Park at Glenbard North, 7:00

St. Charles North at St. Charles East, 7:00

Wheaton North at Wheaton-Warr. South, 7:00

DU PAGE VALLEY

Naperville North at Naperville Central, 7:30

Neuqua Valley at Metea Valley, 7:00

Waubonsie Valley at DeKalb, 7:00

EAST SUBURBAN CATHOLIC

Benet at Marian Catholic, 7:00

Joliet Catholic at Nazareth, 7:00

Marist at St. Patrick, 7:00

St. Viator at Carmel, 7:00

FOX VALLEY

Cary-Grove at Burlington Central, 7:30

Huntley at Crystal Lake South, 7:30

Jacobs at Dundee-Crown, 7:30

McHenry at Hampshire, 7:30

Prairie Ridge at Crystal Lake Central, 7:30

ILLINOIS CENTRAL EIGHT

Herscher at Coal City, 6:45

Lisle at Peotone, 6:45

Manteno at Streator, 6:45

Reed-Custer at Wilmington, 7:00

INDEPENDENT SCHOOL

Francis Parker at North Shore, 6:00

University High at Northridge, 6:00

INTERSTATE EIGHT

Kaneland at Plano, 7:00

LaSalle-Peru at Sandwich, 7:00

Morris at Sycamore, 6:00

Ottawa at Rochelle, 7:00

METRO SUBURBAN – BLUE

St. Francis at IC Catholic, 7:30

Timothy Christian at Chicago Christian, 7:00

Wheaton Academy at Aurora Christian, 7:30

METRO SUBURBAN – RED

St. Edward at Elmwood Park, 7:00

Westmont at McNamara, 7:30

MID-SUBURBAN – EAST

Buffalo Grove at Prospect, 7:30

Hersey at Elk Grove, 7:30

Wheeling at Rolling Meadows, 7:30

MID-SUBURBAN – WEST

Fremd at Conant, 7:30

Hoffman Estates at Schaumburg, 7:30

Palatine at Barrington, 7:30

NIC – 10

Belvidere at Auburn, 7:30

Freeport at Harlem, 7:30

Hononegah at Boylan, 7:15

NORTH SUBURBAN

Lake Forest at Lake Zurich, 7:00

Mundelein at Libertyville, 7:00

Warren at Waukegan, 7:00

Zion-Benton at Stevenson, 7:00

NORTHERN LAKE COUNTY

Antioch at Grayslake North, 7:00

Grant at Wauconda, 7:00

North Chicago at Lakes, 7:00

Round Lake at Grayslake Central, 7:00

SOUTH SUBURBAN – BLUE

Thornton Fr. South at Thornton Fr. North, 6:30

SOUTH SUBURBAN – CROSSOVER

Argo at Tinley Park, 6:30

Bremen at Eisenhower, 6:30

Lemont at Evergreen Park, 7:00

Oak Forest at Shepard, 6:30

Richards at Hillcrest, 6:30

SOUTHLAND

Crete-Monee at Bloom, 5:00

Rich at Thornridge, 6:30

Thornwood at Kankakee, 6:30

SOUTHWEST PRAIRIE – EAST

Joliet West at Plainfield East, 6:30

Plainfield Central at Plainfield South, 6:30

Romeoville at Joliet Central, 6:30

SOUTHWEST PRAIRIE – WEST

Oswego at West Aurora, 6:30

Oswego East at Yorkville, 6:30

SOUTHWEST SUBURBAN – BLUE

Lincoln-Way East at Bolingbrook, 7:00

Lockport at Sandburg, 7:00

SOUTHWEST SUBURBAN – RED

Andrew at Lincoln-Way West, 6:30

Stagg at Bradley-Bourbonnais, 7:00

TRI-COUNTY

Dwight at Roanoke-Benson, 7:30

Lowpoint-Washburn at Henry-Senachwine, 7:00

Putnam County at Marquette, 7:00

Seneca at Midland, 7:00

UPSTATE EIGHT

Glenbard South at Glenbard East, 7:45

Larkin at Elgin, 7:00

South Elgin at Bartlett, 7:00

Streamwood at Fenton, 7:00

West Chicago at East Aurora, 6:30

WEST SUBURBAN – GOLD

Morton at Leyden, 7:30

Proviso East at Hinsdale South, 7:30

Willowbrook at Downers Grove South, 6:00

WEST SUBURBAN – SILVER

Downers Grove North at Proviso West, 7:30

Lyons at York, 7:30

Oak Park-River Forest at Hinsdale Central, 7:30

NON CONFERENCE

Bulls Prep at Notre Dame, 6:30

Christian Liberty at South Beloit, 7:00

Islamic Foundation at Montini, 6:00

Juarez at Cristo Rey, 6:00

Lake Forest Academy at Morgan Park Academy, 6:0

Raby at Francis Parker, 6:00

Scales Mound at Glenbard West, 8:30

LITTLE TEN TOURNAMENT

at Somonauk

IMSA vs. Somonauk, 5:00

Newark vs. Earlville, 6:30

Serena vs. Hinckley-Big Rock, 8:00

PUBLIC LEAGUE PLAYOFFS

Second Round

Brooks at Young, 5:00

Lincoln Park at Curie, 5:00

Clark at Simeon, 5:00

Lindblom at North Lawndale, 5:00

Lane at Kenwood, 5:00

Phillips at Orr, 5:00

Perspectives-Lead at Westinghouse, 5:00

Farragut at Hyde Park, 6:30

RIVER VALLEY TOURNAMENT

TBA at Beecher

Donovan at Grant Park, 7:30

St. Anne at Momence

Clifton Central at Gardner-So. Wilmington, 7:00

Read More

Tee Higgins to Bears trade rumors were popping up this week

The Chicago Bears will be in the market for just about every position this offseason. They’ll have plenty of cash and picks to make big moves in free agency in the draft. Following a report, and a significant miscommunication, the Bears were urged to sell the farm for another number two wide receiver. Tee Higgins to Bears trade rumors were all over social media.

Paul Dehner Jr. wrote in The Athletic about offseason options for the Cincinnati Bengals. Dehner suggested the Bengals could trade Higgins to a team in the first round like other teams have done in recent years:

“Higgins is not a free agent. His contract dictates he reports and plays for the last year of his deal, worth $4 million, but conversations need to be had about a long-term contract. If the numbers are outrageous and it’s clear the two sides won’t see eye to eye, the Bengals could go the route taken by multiple teams in recent seasons and deal the receiver for a top draft pick and start the cycle over with a rookie receiver.

A.J. Brown was dealt in Tennessee to Philadelphia for picks 18 and 101 last year. The first-round pick turned into receiver Treylon Burks. Minnesota traded Stefon Diggs to Buffalo for the No. 22 pick, which turned into Justin Jefferson. Both veteran receivers promptly were given large extensions by the acquiring teams. There are other examples, but you get the point.”

I don’t really get the hint for the Bears. But after a misrepresentation of Dehner’s piece by Dov Kleiman, for which Klieman later apologized, ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky, among others, promoted Tee Higgins to Bears trade rumors on social media.

Please. No. Bears.

This trade idea would be a disaster for a team that needs a number-one wide receiver. The Bears already gave up what really is a first-round for a number two wide receiver in Chase Claypool. While Higgins is a good number two option, he plays beta to Ja’Marr Chase.

The Bears would need to trade down significantly from the one pick to be in the territory where Brown and Diggs were traded in previous drafts. And those wide receivers are actual number-one options. There will be plenty of wide receiver talent in the first round that will be cheaper for several years on a rookie contract. If the Bears wanted Higgins, they shouldn’t have blown their wad of future cap cash and draft capital on Claypool.

For More Great Chicago Sports Content

Follow us on Twitter at @chicitysports23 for more great content. We appreciate you taking time to read our articles. To interact more with our community and keep up to date on the latest in Chicago sports news, JOIN OUR FREE FACEBOOK GROUP by CLICKING HERE

Read More

The White Sox made a minor trade Friday, acquiring right-handed reliever Franklin German from the Red Sox in exchange for righty Theo Denlinger. Right-hander Jason Bilous was designated for assignment to make room for German on the 40-man roster.

German, 25, was named Red Sox Minor League Pitcher of the Year in 2022 after posting a 2.72 ERA and seven saves for Double-A Portland and Triple-A Worcester, his first season as a reliever. He struck out 11.6 batters per nine innings and owned a 0.91 WHIP over 43 appearances.

German was called up to debut for the Red Sox in September and did not fare well, allowing eight earned runs on seven hits including two home runs over five appearances. The Red Sox DFA’d him Tuesday to make room on the 40-man roster after trading righty Matt Barnes to the Marlins for lefty Richard Bleier.

German, who possesses 97-98 mph velocity, has a 3.93 ERA with 264 strikeouts over 2451/3 innings in 97 games in five minor-league seasons.

Denlinger, 26, owned a 4.47 ERA with 66 strikeouts over 481/3 innings with High-A Winston Salem and Double-A Birmingham last season.

Bilous, 25, split the 2022 season between Birmingham and Triple-A Charlotte, posting a 7.15 ERA in 31 games (21 starts).

The Sox 40-man roster remains at 40.

Read More

The strongest bonding agent in the world is not epoxy or cement. It’s nostalgia.

Just try separating a man of a certain era from a positive childhood memory. Tell him that the Chevy Corvair was a death trap. He’ll tell you that that’s when cars were cars. Tell him that racism was rampant back in the day. He’ll tell you he didn’t have time to think about such things when he was young because he was too busy playing with friends from morning until dinner time. Parents never worried where their kids were in the ’60s and ’70s!

We’re seeing this phenomenon at work in the raging debate on social media about how former Blackhawks star Bobby Hull should be remembered. Almost immediately upon the announcement of his passing Monday at 84, the battle was on.

On one side are the sentimentalists. Hull was The Golden Jet, a beautiful blend of grace and power. If a circus strongman were to take a hockey stick to a hard rubber disk, Hull’s slapshot is what it would look like. The puck was a blur to spectator and goalie alike. He was a hero to the people who lined up to see him on the Chicago Stadium ice in the 1960s.

On the other side are the realists. Hull was a wife beater, possibly a racist and maybe not the most pleasant guy in the world.

Now, you might think that the stories about a furious Hull beating his second wife bloody with a shoe and then dangling her over a balcony might be enough to turn one’s stomach and alter one’s view of a childhood icon. You’d think that her comments about the incident in a 2002 ESPN documentary — “I thought, ‘This is the end, I’m going’ ” — might convince even the most resistant person that the rampant rumors about Hull over the years were indeed true.

But if you go to Facebook, where many of my contemporaries hang out, you’re likely to see some version of this:

Yes, I know Bobby Hull had his faults, but when I was growing up in (a neighborhood or a suburb), I used to draw his No. 9 on a white T-shirt and pretend I was him. One time I met him in the produce department at Jewel and …

The domestic abuse documented by two of his ex-wives? It’s not part of some fans’ memories of Hull. It’s not necessarily that the incidents didn’t happen. It’s that they occurred in some other time and place, in an alien world. Those incidents don’t fit the old movie playing in their heads. They’re not interested in watching anything else.

It’s not a good look.

Then there were the comments attributed to Hull in a Russian newspaper story in 1998. During an interview, he reportedly expressed dismay that Blacks were reproducing too quickly. The paper also quoted him as saying: “Hitler had some good ideas. He just went a little bit too far.” Hull denied saying it. In his sea of issues, this was the easiest one to dismiss. Who would believe something called The Moscow Times? One problem: His daughter told ESPN that, upon hearing the quotes, “The first thing I thought was, ‘That’s exactly like him.’ “

This didn’t fall on deaf ears in Chicago. It fell on selective ears. Hull’s fans could ignore his ugly side because the other side of him — the side that scored 604 goals for the Blackhawks — was so much bigger and so much more a part of them. When the Hawks hired him to be one of their ambassadors 15 years ago, it was an official signal that all was forgiven, even if his fans didn’t think anything needed forgiving. Imagine a U.S. president naming a known wife-beater to be ambassador to Canada. It boggles the mind.

The Hawks knew their fans all too well.

Many Chicagoans choose to remember Hull for bringing them to the game of hockey. They remember how he made them feel as children and teenagers. They were proud of his working-class origins and proud that he was now theirs. Never underestimate the power of parochialism.

When Hull died Monday, his fans criticized the obituary writers for bringing up his dark side. They thought it was too soon. They thought it lacked respect for the dead. But there’s no pause button for something as serious as domestic abuse. And when the dead person is as famous as Hull was, the entirety of a life is fair game.

I suspect what those fans really thought was that they didn’t want the memory of their hero sullied. He had brightened their formative years, and nothing could extinguish that light. It had prevailed when the whispers about his nastiness had gained steam over time.

Hull’s most ardent admirers sure as hell weren’t going to let his death drudge up a past they didn’t want to remember. No matter how much the truth pressed in on them.

Read More

The Chicago Bears appear to already have suitors for the No. 1 pick in the 2023 NFL draft

With the month of February here, the NFL draft process will start to heat up. This week prospects had the chance to impress scouts during the Shrine Bowl and Senior Bowl, and as things pick up, so will the rumors about potential trades.

And at the center of those rumors are the Chicago Bears.

Holding the No. 1 pick and having a player they believe is the franchise guy at quarterback, the Bears are in great shape to move the top pick. They should have suitors too with Bryce Young, C.J. Stroud and Will Levis being the top prospects at the quarterback position. While trades wont happen for a bit, the Bears are reportedly already seeing teams show interest and it’s not the two teams that you think.

DaBearsBlog tweeted out that two teams have already floated out offers for the first pick and none of them are the Colts and Texans.

Chicago Bears will have options….

The two teams that have been connected to the Bears the most so far are the Texans and Colts due to them needing a quarterback. Houston picks No. 2 overall, so they are in a better spot than Indianapolis but it also opens the door for the Colts to trade up and jump their AFC South rival.

However, other teams like Carolina, Las Vegas, and even Tennessee are options as well. The good thing about the Bears situation is that they don’t have to take a quarterback and can really take the best offer they deem right to kick start this rebuild and land future picks in the draft if possible

Buckle up because the next two months will be very interesting for trade rumors in the Windy City.

For More Great Chicago Sports Content

Follow us on Twitter at @chicitysports23 for more great content. We appreciate you taking time to read our articles. To interact more with our community and keep up to date on the latest in Chicago sports news, JOIN OUR FREE FACEBOOK GROUP by CLICKING HERE

Read More

Billy Donovan seldom does semantics.

The Bulls coach will try and answer every question thrown his way with as much honesty and transparency as he can, but also do so in a way that will protect his players and the brand.

So when asked last week about the status of Lonzo Ball (left knee) and a possible date in which the injured point guard would simply run out of runway for a 2022-23 regular-season debut, Donovan threw out the All-Star Break as a possible deadline in which the organization would make it official, and then said, “As much as he’s made some progress, and some slow progress, I’d be the first one to tell you he’s nowhere near playing, he’s just not.”

It’s not even about reading between the lines. It was Donovan all but saying Ball’s return this season was not happening, without making it official.

Expect the organization to do that sooner than later, and could actually show their hand in that decision by the Feb. 9 trade deadline.

While it was nice for Ayo Dosunmu to match his season-high 22 points in Thursday’s win over the Charlotte Hornets, it still didn’t cover up the fact that the Bulls could use more help at the point guard position, especially late in games.

Is it a high priority? Not the only one, but if the organization actually feels like they have a chance for a late-season push to try and climb to the No. 6 seed and get out of the play-in tournament it is. Dosunmu has been inconsistent, while 36-year-old Goran Dragic has been solid, but also playing the final few holes of his career.

Addressing – or ignoring – the point guard spot will also tell the rest of the league exactly how confident the Bulls are in Ball long-term. If they try and land a Fred VanVleet from Toronto, and have to use another asset not named Ball to do so, be concerned.

That means the Bulls aren’t confident in Ball’s future, and neither is the rest of the Association.

If they stay pat at the point guard position, then that could very well mean they believe in staying patient with Ball, and possibly addressing the position in the offseason if need be.

As of Friday, all that was known about the Bulls was the front office was in the war room, and taking more calls than they were making. One league executive told the Sun-Times that the asking price on Bulls talent remained very high, which goes back to last summer, when teams were inquiring on players like Coby White and Nikola Vucevic.

The Sun-Times reported last July that White was asked about by several teams, and that price was uncomfortably steep.

Considering the offseason plan was always “continuity,” it makes sense that executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas would ask for the moon, just in case anyone wanted to pay the launching fee.

But that was July. What exactly is the plan now? That’s where it gets cloudy.

Very little leaks out of the Advocate Center, and trade deadline time is always fluid, considering not every team has shown its hand just yet. The current feeling about the Bulls from one executive, however, was a complete blow-up was not in the cards. Instead, they might try and add draft currency or salary cap flexibility, while still trying to stay competitive.

Not an easy tightrope to walk in a league that is so all or nothing.

The real storyline, however, will be is this front office willing to admit mistakes with this current roster build and have the ability to pivot off of it?

The first roster flip for Karnisovas was easy because they weren’t his players.

He not only drew the blueprints for this current build, however, but picked the land and bought all the material.

A good front office can assess outside talent. A great one is fluent in self-scouting their own talent on a regular basis, and knowing when it’s run its course.

Your move, Arturas.

Read More

The Chicago Blackhawks aren’t necessarilly a team worthy of an All-Star but every team gets to have one (unless your guy is hurt or gets traded away, looking at you Seattle and Vancouver). For the Hawks, Seth Jones is the guy going this year.

It is kind of surprising that the Hawks aren’t sending Patrick Kane but he isn’t having his best season so it is probably good for him to go home and reset. The second half of his season is very blurry right now so he might as well enjoy his time away.

During his time with the Columbus Blue Jackets, Jones had plenty of appearances in the All-Star game so this is nothing new for him. On Friday, we learned who is going to be doing what at the Skills Competition Friday. It is going to be an incredibly fun event for all hockey fans to watch.

For Jones, he is going to be competing in the NHL’s Hardest Shot Competition for the third time in his career. It will be his first time as a member of the Chicago Blackhawks. This is the perfect comp for him as he can shoot the puck very hard.

The Chicago Blackhawks have a very good player competing in this event.

Jones is competing against Rasmus Dahlin of the Buffalo Sabres, Josh Morrissey of the Winnipeg Jets, Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals, and Elias Petterson of the Vancouver Canucks. This is a group of hockey players that can absolutely bring it with their shots.

This is an event that can be won by literally anybody and Jones has as good of a chance as anybody. It should be really cool to see how this goes for Chicago’s top defenseman.

Following this skills competition, Jones will play with the rest of the Central Division All-Stars on Saturday in the three-on-three tournament.

Jones might be a defenseman with a big shot which is why his Skills Competition event is the hardest shot but he can also skate and make plays which will really help his team when the actual games are played.

With it being three-on-three, people will really see how good he is but it would also be nice to see him win the hardest shot with a triple-digit clapper. Beyond that, hockey fans are in for a treat with all of these amazing players putting on a show this weekend.

Read More

Read More

MOBILE, Ala. — Bears offensive coordinator Luke Getsy considered himself a mastermind years ago, long before any NFL team thought about hiring him.

After a nice run as Akron’s quarterback and a training-camp stint with the 49ers, -Division II West Virginia Wesleyan signed him to be their offensive coordinator for about $30,000. Getsy practically strutted into the job.

“I was a know-it-all,” he said with a laugh. “You’re the 24-year-old that thinks you know everything and you’ve figured it out.

“Then they start asking you questions and you don’t have answers.”

It was humbling and illuminating. Getsy ended up taking a fairly conventional path of working up from grad assistant to position coach to coordinator, but his stop at Wesleyan gave him an early glimpse of what he wanted to become.

“I learned more about myself as a coach that year than any other year,” he said. “It was an opportunity to really put myself in the fire and challenge myself to learn the entire thing, not just the quarterback.”

Fifteen years into his career, with influences ranging from Dave Wannstedt to Matt LaFleur, he’s as confident as ever — but with much more basis for it. And that’s good because he’s trying to solve a problem that has hindered the Bears for much of their modern existence: scoring.

If Getsy has the answer, he’ll get the head-coaching job he has coveted.

He got an interview with the Broncos last year, but that feels like forever ago to him -after everything he picked up from coach Matt Eberflus this season.

“I’m so much more tuned in and dialed into the whole package,” he said. “Way more prepared for when that opportunity does come.”

Given that the Bears stripped their roster and had a second-year quarterback in Justin Fields, whose rookie season was mostly wasted, Getsy’s first season was good. The -offense started slowly but averaged 25.3 points over a seven-game span before crumbling because of injuries.

But the criteria gets stricter now that the teardown is done. Like everyone else at Halas Hall, Getsy will be graded on concrete results like wins, points and Fields’ production next season rather than unmeasurable progress like “establishing championship habits,” as Eberflus says.

At the moment, he doesn’t have all the pieces to the puzzle. When asked this week, while he’s coaching the American team at the Senior Bowl, about scheming for next season, he asked the same thing everyone wants to know from general manager Ryan Poles: “Who do we have?”

The biggest component, though, is Fields. He’ll have as much at stake as Getsy next season.

“It’s important that you find that relationship,” Getsy said. “You lay it out and you put the work in and you find this trust between the two of you, and then that trust continues to grow.”

Fields took a step under Getsy this season, but it’s time to make a leap.

Going into his third season, and playing for an administration that didn’t draft him, he’s short on time. He was the most electric runner at his position this season and improved in his efficiency as a passer, but the passing production wasn’t there.

He averaged 149.5 yards passing per game, which was last among qualifying quarterbacks and simply not viable. It’s great that Fields can run like no other, but as Getsy noted this week, that needs to be merely a part of his game rather than the majority of it.

In some ways, this season wasn’t all that different from Getsy’s immersion as offensive coordinator at Wesleyan. A lot of it was new. He’d never worked with Eberflus, nor any of his position coaches. He inherited a quarterback fresh off a year of dysfunction under Ryan Pace and Matt Nagy.

And he made it work.

Now, for the Bears’ sake and his own, he needs to make it better.

Read More

Following major midweek upsets, including St. Charles East over Wheaton South, Prairie Ridge over Burlington Central and Marmion over Mount Carmel, what will the weekend bring?

There are several compelling conference matchups that will heat up the Weekend Forecast across the area high school basketball scene. Here are seven games, with some picks, to keep tabs on.

Last week: 5-1

Season: 24-13

Mount Carmel (21-3) at Brother Rice (23-3), Friday

Another massive Catholic League tussle with definitive storylines.

For starters, how does Mount Carmel rebound from a shocking loss to Marmion earlier in the week?

There is also the heavyweight battle at point guard: DeAndre Craig vs. Ahmad Henderson. They are two of the best, most productive players in the state.

And most importantly, the conference race. Mount Carmel is tied with Loyola on top of the Catholic League Blue with identical 9-1 records. Brother Rice is hanging in there with a 9-2 mark.

This won’t be easy but Craig, Anthony and Angelo Ciaravino and the Caravan go on the road and get back on track.

The pick: Mount Carmel 60, Brother Rice 57

Lincoln-Way East (21-3) at Bolingbrook (20-6), Friday

Bolingbrook has won or shared a Southwest Suburban Blue title in each of the last four seasons. The Raiders are on the verge of a fifth straight championship.

Lincoln-Way East is in the midst of a record-breaking season. The Griffins have their third 20-plus win season in program history and are just three wins away from winning the most games ever in a season. But the only way Lincoln-Way East can grab at least a share of its first Southwest Suburban Blue championship is with a win at Bolingbrook.

Can a balanced Lincoln-Way East, led by George Bellevue, Tylon Tolliver and Kyle Olagbegi, make a little history?

Bolingbrook will again have the best, most dynamic player on the floor in point guard Mekhi Cooper. The Miami-Ohio recruit is averaging 19.5 points.

The Raiders won the first matchup between these two, and they win again while locking up another conference championship along the way.

The pick: Bolingbrook 65, Lincoln-Way East 58

Oswego East (21-5) at Yorkville (22-4), Friday

The conference race has been put to bed. Oswego East is unbeaten, has a three-game lead and is on the verge of clinching its second straight unbeaten Southwest Prairie West title.

But more than anything, this is a monumental measuring stick game for the host Foxes, a youthful team that has exceeded expectations.

Extremely balanced Yorkville has won 12 of its last 13 games with its only loss coming to highly-ranked Joliet West. The trio of 6-4 Lebarron Lee, 6-10 Jason Jakstys and Jory Boley are all double-figure scorers.

How far has coach John Holakovsky’s team come since losing at Oswego East, 58-52, in the middle of December?

This has the feel of an upset. Foxes win a tight one.

The pick: Yorkville 62, Oswego East 60

Palatine (19-6) at Barrington (17-3), Friday

A big one in the Mid-Suburban League West between the top two teams in the league that went four extra minutes the last time they met. Palatine won that one 57-52 in overtime.

Palatine’s Connor May was the difference in the first one. The 6-6 junior, who is averaging 18.4 points and 8.3 rebounds, put up 28 points and 16 rebounds in the win.

Palatine, which holds a one-game lead over Barrington, could take a big step in locking up an appearance in the MSL title game and a shot at Rolling Meadows later this month with a win.

The Pirates get it done on the road for the season sweep.

The pick: Palatine 55, Barrington 50

New Trier (23-4) at Evanston (19-6), Friday

How much fun would it be for Evanston to knock its rival New Trier out of first place in the Central Suburban League South?

The last battle between these two was a low-scoring dogfight where New Trier grinded out a 42-36 win. But the return to Evanston will be huge test as it’s never easy to win a New Trier-Evanston battle in Beardsley Gymnasium.

Evanston’s Prince Adams has put together an outstanding season, averaging a double-double at 14.3 points and 10.8 rebounds. But New Trier held him in check in the first game, limiting the 6-7 senior to just two points.

Jake Fiegen has been terrific for the Trevians. He puts up 20 points a game and provides a toughness others feed off. That toughness New Trier plays with, along with its perimeter shooting capability with Fiegen, Ian Brown and Colby Smith, thwarts any upset bid in E-Town.

But this will be a back-and-forth barnburner and a New Trier win — only if it shoots the ball well. The Trevians find a way to get it done on the road.

The pick: New Trier 55, Evanston 52

Benet (24-1) at Marian Catholic (21-6), Friday

Marian Catholic has quietly won eight straight games as it heads into an East Suburban Catholic Conference rematch with the league leader. Quentin Jones, a versatile 6-5 senior, along with James Bullock and Donovan Juzang, have been the go-to players all season.

But the Spartans step up in class in this one. Benet has beaten Proviso East, Riverside-Brookfield, Marian Catholic, Bloom, Joliet West, Marist and Kenwood — all teams that have either been ranked or have won 20 games on the season.

Yes, Benet has passed every test along the way, boasts a glitzy record and has looked good doing it against a strong schedule. The supporting cast of Sam Driscoll, Andy Nash and Parker Sulaver continues to step up while the trio of Brayden Fagbemi, Niko Abusara and Brady Kunka have excelled.

The Redwings beat Marian 46-37 back in December — and are playing much better now than they were then. Expect more of the same.

The pick: Benet 51, Marian Catholic 43

Libertyville (20-4) at Rolling Meadows (22-4), Saturday

There is a chance these two could meet one more time this season. There is a lot of basketball still to be played, but a super-sectional rematch isn’t out of the question as both will be high seeds in their respective sectionals.

Libertyville is in position to be a No. 1 seed in the Barrington Sectional. Rolling Meadows remains in the discussion for a top two seed in the New Trier Sectional.

But first things first.

Even while battling some recent injuries, Libertyville has piled up wins and is tied for first in the North Suburban Conference in what has been a very impressive season. Cole Bonder has stepped up of late while Jack Huber has been instrumental in all the little things.

But aside from a win over Glenbrook North, marquee wins — and opportunities — are missing on the r?sum?. This would be the biggest win to date.

Cameron Christie is the bonafide star for Rolling Meadows. The Minnesota recruit is the focus of every opposing defense. But 6-7 senior Tsvet Sotirov is back on track. He was 5 for 5 from three en route to 17 points with 10 rebounds and six assists in a blowout win over Buffalo Grove earlier this week.

The pick: Rolling Meadows 63, Libertyville 51

Read More