Friday, December 16, 2022

Boys Basketball

RED NORTH-WEST

Clark at Lane, 5:00

North Lawndale at Lincoln Park, 5:00

Perspectives-MSA at Farragut, 5:00

WHITE NORTH

Amundsen at Senn, 5:00

Mather at Lake View, 5:00

Northside at Sullivan, 5:00

Schurz at Foreman, 5:00

Von Steuben at Taft, 7:00

WHITE WEST

Payton 60, Jones 51

Legal Prep at Wells, 5:00

Marshall at Crane, 5:00

Ogden at Austin, 5:00

Raby at Collins, 5:00

BLUE NORTH

Alcott at Uplift, 5:00

ASPIRA at Marine, 5:00

CMSA at Rickover, 5:00

Intrinsic-Belmont at Chicago Academy, 5:00

North-Grand at Disney, 5:00

Roosevelt at Steinmetz, 5:00

BLUE WEST

Chicago Collegiate at Chicago Tech, 5:00

Clemente at Juarez, 5:00

Little Village at Douglass, 5:00

Manley at Kelvyn Park, 5:00

Spry at Phoenix, 5:00

CENTRAL SUBURBAN NORTH

Highland Park at Deerfield, 7:00

Maine West at Niles North, 7:00

Vernon Hills at Maine East, 7:00

CENTRAL SUBURBAN SOUTH

Glenbrook South at Niles West, 7:00

Maine South at Glenbrook North, 7:00

CHICAGO CATHOLIC BLUE

Brother Rice at Leo, 7:00

Fenwick at St. Ignatius, 7:00

St. Rita at DePaul Prep, 7:00

CHICAGO CATHOLIC WHITE

De La Salle at Providence, 7:00

Montini at Providence-St. Mel, 7:00

CHICAGO PREP

Northtown at Christ the King, 7:30

DUKANE

Geneva at Batavia, 7:00

Glenbard North at Lake Park, 7:30

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

Wheaton-Warrenville South at Wheaton North, 7:15

DUPAGE VALLEY

DeKalb at Waubonsie Valley, 7:00

Metea Valley at Neuqua Valley, 7:00

Naperville Central at Naperville North, 7:00

EAST SUBURBAN CATHOLIC

Carmel at St. Viator, 7:00

Marian Catholic at Benet, 7:00

Nazareth at Joliet Catholic, 7:00

St. Patrick at Marist, 7:00

FOX VALLEY

Crystal Lake Central at Prairie Ridge, 7:30

Crystal Lake South at Huntley, 7:30

Dundee-Crown at Jacobs, 7:30

Hampshire at McHenry, 7:30

ILLINOIS CENTRAL EIGHT

Manteno at Lisle, 6:45

Reed-Custer at Peotone, 7:00

Streator at Coal City, 6:45

Wilmington at Herscher, 7:00

INTERSTATE EIGHT

Kaneland at LaSalle-Peru, 7:00

Morris at Rochelle, 3:00

Ottawa at Sycamore, 6:00

Plano at Sandwich, 6:45

LAKE SHORE

Beacon at Roycemore, 5:30

Waldorf at Horizon-McKinley, 7:00

Wolcott at Intrinsic-Downtown, 6:30

LITTLE TEN

Hinckley-Big Rock at LaMoille, 6:00

Newark at Earlville, 7:00

METRO SUBURBAN BLUE

IC Catholic at Timothy Christian, 7:30

St. Francis at Riverside-Brookfield, 7:00

Wheaton Academy at Chicago Christian, 7:30

MID-SUBURBAN EAST

Elk Grove at Prospect, 6:00

Hersey at Wheeling, 6:00

Rolling Meadows at Buffalo Grove, 6:00

MID-SUBURBAN WEST

Conant at Palatine, 6:00

Hoffman Estates at Fremd, 6:00

Schaumburg at Barrington, 6:00

NORTHERN LAKE COUNTY

North Chicago at Round Lake, 7:00

SOUTH SUBURBAN BLUE

TF South at Lemont, 7:00

SOUTH SUBURBAN CROSSOVER

Shepard at Hillcrest, 6:30

SOUTHLAND

Crete-Monee at Thornridge, 6:00

Thornwood at Bloom, 6:30

SOUTHWEST PRAIRIE EAST

Joliet Central at Plainfield Central, 6:30

Romeoville at Plainfield East, 6:30

SOUTHWEST PRAIRIE WEST

Minooka at West Aurora, 6:30

Oswego East at Plainfield North, 6:30

Yorkville at Oswego, 6:30

SOUTHWEST SUBURBAN CROSSOVER

Lincoln-Way Central at Lockport, 6:30

Lincoln-Way East at Lincoln-Way West, 6:30

TRI-COUNTY

Dwight at Ottawa Marquette, 7:00

Seneca at Putnam County, 7:00

WEST SUBURBAN GOLD

Downers Grove South at Willowbrook, 7:30

Hinsdale South at Proviso East, 6:00

Leyden at Morton, 7:00

WEST SUBURBAN SILVER

Hinsdale Central at Oak Park-River Forest, 6:00

Proviso West at Downers Grove North, 7:30

York at Lyons, 6:30

NONCONFERENCE

Amboy at Somonauk, 7:00

Andrew at Evergreen Park, 6:00

Eisenhower at Kennedy, 7:00

Elgin Academy at St. Martin, 7:00

Evanston at Loyola, 6:30

Hansberry at Ellison, 7:00

Lindblom at U-High, 6:00

Mooseheart at Walther Christian, 7:30

Oak Forest at Sandburg, 7:00

St. Francis de Sales at Mount Carmel, 7:00

Stagg at Oak Lawn, 6:30

TBA at Richards, 6:30

Universal at Argo, 6:30

UP-Bronzeville at Muchin, 6:00

Westlake Christian at Harvest Christian, 7:30

BENTONVILLE, ARK.

Simeon 72, Little Rock Central, Ark. 54

Young vs. Harvard-Westlake, Calif., 5:30

LOS ANGELES, CALIF.

Prosser vs. Rialto Eisenhower, Calif.

MADISON, WIS.

Joliet West vs. La Crosse Central, Wis., 8:00

SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ.

New Trier vs. Scottsdale Horizon, Ariz., 6:00

WATSEKA

St. Anne vs. Hoopeston, 5:45

Watseka vs. Illinois Lutheran, 7:00

Girls Basketball

Loyola 55, Evanston 33

Read More

Read More

The Chicago White Sox finally make a move as they agree to a deal with oufielder Andrew Benintendi

The White Sox have signed, free agent outfielder Andrew Benintendi to a five-year deal worth $75 million. According to Jesse Rodgers “With a $75 million guarantee, Benintendi’s contract is the highest free agency agreement in team history. Yasmani Grandal’s four deals worth 73 million dollars held the previous record.

Andrew Benintendi’s deal with the Chicago White Sox is for five years and $75 million, sources tell ESPN.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) December 16, 2022

In his time with the Kansas City Royals and New York Yankees, who acquired him in a deadline trade, Andrew Benintendi, 28, hit.304/.373/.399 this season. Benintendi, a left fielder who won a Gold Glove, had a top 25 strikeout rate and the ninth-best hitting average in Major League Baseball in 2022.

Andrew Benintendi was previously regarded as the Red Sox’s best outfield prospect. He hit a career-high 20 home runs and collected 90 RBIs in 2017, which helped him place second in the voting for Rookie of the Year. In 2018, he had yet another excellent season, batting.290 with 16 home runs and 87 RBIs, and ultimately assisting in the Red Sox’s World Series victory. He collected four extra-base hits in the postseason and hit.333 in the World Series.

The White Sox wanted Benintendi to be a part of the four-player prospect package they received from the Red Sox in exchange for Chris Sale following the 2016 season because they have admired him since before he was selected one position ahead of their pick in the 2015 draft. For a while now, the White Sox have been prepared and eager to support Benintendi.

Read More

The White Sox addressed their need for an outfielder Friday, signing free agent Andrew Benintendi to a five-year, $75 million contract.

The deal, not yet announced but confirmed to the Sun-Times, surpasses the Sox’ previous high for a player contract. Catcher Yasmani Grandal is entering the fourth season of a $73 million deal.

Benintendi, 28, batted .304/.373/.399 with five homers and a .772 OPS between the Royals and Yankees in 2022, striking out in just 14.8% of his plate appearances. He’s a .279/.351/.431 hitter with a .782 OPS and 73 homers over seven seasons during his career, which includes his first five seasons with the Red Sox. As a rookie, Benintendi was the AL Rookie of the Year runnerup to the Yankees’ Aaron Judge.

Benintendi was a Gold Glove left fielder with the Royals in 2021 and an All-Star last season. He has appeared in 678 games in left field and 71 in center field during his career.

With a career .808 OPS against right-handers, Benintendi provides a left-handed bat that will help balance a right-hand heavy Sox lineup as well as a defensive upgrade in the outfield. He figures to settle in at left field, with Luis Robert in center and prospect Oscar Colas competing for a starting job in right field next season.

Slugger Eloy Jimenez is expected to get considerable time at designated hitter, where he excelled last season.

With Robert dealing with injuries for much of the season and converted first basemen Andrew Vaughn and Gavin Sheets playing corner outfield positions and the defensively challenged Jimenez appearing in 30 in left field, the Sox had one of the poorest defensive outfields in the majors.

A healthy Robert — who won a Gold Glove in center as a rookie in 2020 — a swifter option in right with Colas and the former Gold Glover in Benintendi in left shores up the outfield nicely.

“We’ve got to improve defensively, obviously,” first-year manager Pedro Grifol said the day he was hired.

“Obviously, defensively, we weren’t quite the club that we are capable of being,” general manager Rick Hahn said.

Grifol, the Royals’ former bench coach, watched Benintendi play in 2021 and for Benintendi’s first 93 games of last season before he was traded to the Yankees for three minor leaguers July 27.

Read More

It took David Montgomery two games to become the Bears’ bellcow running back.

Sunday might be the last time it happens.

Then-general manager Ryan Pace traded up in the third round of the 2019 draft to take Montgomery No. 73 overall, even though the Bears had Mike Davis and Tarik Cohen on their roster.

“We envision a scenario where they’re all contributing in different areas,” Pace said then.

In the season opener, a home loss to the Packers, Montgomery ran six times. Davis was the only other running back to carry the ball, and he did so five times. The next week, though, Montgomery took 18 handoffs in a win in Denver. The rest of the running back room totaled seven.

Less than two months later, the Bears cut Davis. Cohen averaged only four carries per game throughout 2019.

Montgomery didn’t look back. From 2019-2021, only five players in the league carried the ball more than he did — the Titans’ Derrick Henry, the Vikings’ Dalvin Cook, the Cowboys’ Ezekiel Elliott, the Raiders’ Josh Jacobs and the Browns’ Nick Chubb. They have 12 Pro Bowls among them; Montgomery has none.

This year, the Bears began to rotate Montgomery with second-year player Khalil Herbert. Before he hurt his hip, Herbert was by far the more successful side of the Bears’ platoon; he still leads all NFL running backs by averaging six yards per carry. Quarterback Justin Fields leads all rushers with 7.1.

Next week, Herbert is expected to return from injured reserve after missing four games. That leaves Montgomery, whose contract is up at the end of the season, with at least one more game as the Bears’ main running back Sunday against the Eagles. That means one last big chance at showing potential free-agent suitors what he can do.

When Herbert hurt his hip returning a kick toward the end of the loss to the Lions, Montgomery was averaging 12.8 carries per game. In the three games without Herbert, Montgomery has averaged 15.

“Yeah, he’s just a worker,” head coach Matt Eberflus said Friday. “He really is a worker. … He’s used to doing that. He’s a strong kid — strong-minded and strong physically. He’s willing and able to do that.”

On an offense that will be missing receivers Darnell Mooney and Chase Claypool as well as Herbert, Montgomery will be needed more than ever. Fields only has so many reliable players left.

Pro Football Focus considers the Eagles the best pass-rush defense in football — and the 11th-best run defense. The Bears figure to keep the ball on the ground — and in Montgomery’s hands — to stay out of obvious passing downs. He’ll need to have better success than he has in a ho-hum season. Despite playing in the league’s best rushing offense, Montgomery’s four yards per carry ranks No. 37 in the NFL.

Montgomery sat out of practice Thursday with an illness but returned Friday as a full participant.

“Didn’t miss a beat,” Eberflus said. “He was running out there and looked powerful, looked strong, got all the plays down. He was good that way.”

The Bears rarely have to worry about him. But that doesn’t necessarily make a contract extension the right move.

Before the season began, Spotrac.com predicted Montgomery would get about $13 million per season over four years on the open market. That number has shrunk to a $9.7 million average annual value over three.

Montgomery has said all year that he’s not worried about his next deal, even as he knows what’s at stake. Flush with money, perhaps the Bears decide to bring him back to share time with Herbert. Even if they do, though, the days of Montgomery having the Bears’ running back position all to himself are over — after Sunday.

Read More