Monday, December 12, 2022

BIG NORTHERN

Genoa-Kingston at Rockford Lutheran, 7:00

CHICAGO PREP

Ellison at Rochelle Zell, 7:00

INDEPENDENT SCHOOL

University High at Francis Parker, 6:00

LAKE SHORE ATHLETIC

ACERO-Cruz at Waldorf, 5:00

Beacon at Wolcott, 5:30

Intrinsic-Downtown at Christian Heritage, 6:30

NOBLE LEAGUE – BLUE

DRW Prep at Manseuto, 7:00

Pritzker at Hansberry, 7:00

Rauner at Muchin, 7:00

UIC Prep at Golder, 7:00

PUBLIC LEAGUE RED-WEST / NORTH

Young at Westinghouse, 5:00

SOUTHWEST SUBURBAN – CROSSOVER

Bradley-Bourbonnais at Bolingbrook, 6:30

NON CONFERENCE

Belvidere at North Boone, 7:00

Butler at Northside, 5:00

Chicago Academy at Lake View, 5:00

Chicago Tech at Uplift, 5:00

Clifton Central at Reed-Custer, 6:45

Cristo Rey at Kelly, 6:30

Downers Grove South at Plainfield East, 5:30

Dwight at Fieldcrest, 7:00

Elgin Academy at Islamic Foundation, 5:30

Englewood STEM at Ogden, 5:00

EPIC at Excel-Englewood, 5:30

Harvest Christian at Marengo, 7:00

Holy Trinity at CPSA, 5:00

Horizon-McKinley at Universal, 7:00

Ida Crown at North Shore, 7:00

IMSA at Plano, 7:00

ITW-Speer at Hope Academy, 7:00

Johnson at Goode, 5:00

Leland at Our Lady Sacred Heart, 5:30

Marian Central at Wauconda, 7:00

Phoenix at Comer, 5:00

Proviso West at Prosser, 7:00

Rock County Christian at Christian Life, 7:00

Schaumburg Christian at Christian Liberty, 7:30

Southland at Hinsdale Adventist, 6:00

West Aurora at Naperville Central, 7:00

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The scoring explosion Jason Dickinson produced immediately after joining the Blackhawks on Oct. 15 — tallying five points in his first four games, and seven points in his first nine — was a little absurd.

Dickinson certainly wouldn’t have preferred his Hawks tenure start any other way. The fact he flourished immediately indicated he’d landed in the right place. But it also set an impossibly high standard for his production moving forward.

Over time, he has regressed to the mean. Dickinson, a traditionally defensive forward whose career-best offensive season is just 22 points, has recorded only three points — all assists — in his last 13 games.

“[During] times like this where we’re losing, you start overthinking and trying to do too much on one end instead of the other,” he said Monday. “You let certain areas slide. My area that I let slide is offense, because I start thinking, ‘Well, I have to keep the puck out of the net and defend a whole lot harder.’

“That’s where I start to lack. Other guys maybe lack on the other side. I try to constantly get myself to remember I still have to do everything.”

Dickinson’s separation from Sam Lafferty — with whom he experienced such instant chemistry, just as Hawks management had envisioned — has likely contributed. Since Lafferty’s November injury, Dickinson has primarily played with Jujhar Khaira and either Colin Blackwell or MacKenzie Entwistle on his third-line wings.

But with Lafferty back in the lineup, coach Luke Richardson suggested he and Dickinson will soon reunite, potentially with Tyler Johnson — who might finally return from his ankle injury Tuesday against the Capitals — on the other side of them. That trio’s offensive upside would be higher.

And Richardson has urged Dickinson to remain confident despite his scoring drought, regardless. (By this point, the ever-patient coach seems to have given variations of that message to almost every player.)

“Guys like that, you can’t worry too much about offense,” Richardson said. “Then they’re not confident and they’re cutting corners defensively, which is primarily his role. … When he has a start like he did this year, that’s just a bonus.”

The good news is Dickinson indeed is still satisfied with his defensive play of late.

“I’ve been giving up very few inner-slot chances,” he said. “Most of the goals against are rush chances against [after] small breakdowns. … In the ‘D’-zone, I don’t think our line has given up anything. We defend quick, and we get pucks out.”

He doesn’t check the numbers on that himself. When it comes to scoring chances against, he can “pretty much replay them back in my head” and self-evaluate his performance that way.

The numbers do nonetheless support his claim. Over the Hawks’ last eight games, Dickinson has allowed the second-fewest high-danger scoring chances per minute on the team, trailing only Entwistle.

And overall, Dickinson simply feels more stable, consistent and comfortable on the Hawks than he did last season with the Canucks.

He has averaged a healthy 15 minutes per game — sometimes a few more, sometimes a few less, but never has he dipped below 12. And with his contract not up until 2024, he needn’t worry about the slowly approaching trade deadline like many of his teammates.

“It’s hard to believe that it’s already been two months [since the trade], but also only been two months,” he said. “It feels like it’s been forever, but also it’s still brand-new.”

“The biggest thing for me is having a role, having a job, knowing what I’m supposed to do. I didn’t really know what I was doing a whole lot in Vancouver. There was so much turnover for me — game-to-game, period-to-period, shift-to-shift. I’ve gotten a role here and Luke trusts me with it, and that goes the longest way for me.”

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Despite throwing two interceptions as the Bears’ comeback bid crumbled against the Packers two weeks ago, quarterback Justin Fields felt great about his overall passing performance.

Apart from those two misfires, he completed 20 of 23 passes for 254 yards — a season high by far and the third-best total of his young career. It was another in a string of performances in which the bad had to be filtered out to see the good.

It’ll be clear Fields has truly arrived when that’s no longer necessary. The Bears can’t indefinitely dig for positives and unquantifiable progress. At some point, Fields needs to deliver indisputably strong performances without qualifiers and explanations. The top quarterbacks either play well or don’t.

Coming out of their bye week, the Bears’ final four games present Fields with an opportunity to make his closing argument that he’s their answer. However, it’s going to be extremely difficult against the Eagles and Bills — two Super Bowl contenders with top-10 defenses and MVP-candidate quarterbacks who have the firepower to put a game out of reach quickly.

The Bears’ harrowing back-to-back begins Sunday at Soldier Field against the Eagles, who have the NFL’s best record at 12-1 — two games ahead of anyone else. Not only are the Eagles giving up just 19.1 points per game, they’re the hardest defense to throw against in the league.

Fields’ first concern will be a defensive line in which every player has at least six sacks (for context, the Bears’ leader is safety Jaquan Brisker with three). The Eagles are so loaded that likely Hall of Famer Ndamukong Suh comes off the bench for them.

They lead the NFL with 49 sacks, led by linebacker Haason Reddick with 10, putting them on pace for the highest season total since 2000. They’re also No. 1 in opponent passer rating (76.3), interceptions (15) and takeaways (24).

Safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson leads the NFL with six picks, but he’s on injured reserve. Nonetheless, starting cornerbacks Darius Slay and James Bradberry have three each.

No quarterback has a good day against this defense, and it’s a clear step up from anything Fields has faced this season.

“These are the tests that you want,” center Sam Mustipher said after practice Monday. “You want to see what you’re made of. We’ve been hearing, ‘The offense is doing this and the offense is doing that,’ but this is a great challenge for us.”

They’ll surely find that what they’re made of on the offensive line and at wide receiver isn’t enough to compete with an elite opponent like the Eagles, and Fields has been outmanned at every turn this season. But he has managed to overcome that personnel deficit, and being good enough to elevate teammates is one of the job requirements.

He’ll need the offensive line — which likely was reconfigured during the bye, especially with right tackle Alex Leatherwood progressing — to protect him like it did against the Packers. That was the first game without being sacks in Fields’ career.

He’ll also need wide receiver Chase Claypool and tight end Cole Kmet to spearhead the passing attack. Those are two players, like Fields, with much to prove down the stretch.

While the Eagles look like far more than Fields and the Bears can handle at this stage, they’re the type of team he’ll one day have to topple. And he has shown signs that he’s capable of doing it.

After a dismal first four games, Fields has completed 65.6% of his passes, thrown 11 touchdowns and six interceptions and averaged 178.1 yards passing per game for a 94.9 rating. He also has averaged 94.8 yards rushing and run for seven touchdowns.

He has been passing tests all season. Now comes the toughest one.

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Bears coach Matt Eberflus should be gushing about linebacker Jack Sanborn as one of the few success stories on a Bears defense that — even considering all the circumstances — has been a disappointment in Eberflus’ first season.

An undrafted free agent from Wisconsin and Lake Zurich, Sanborn is the best example yet of the next-man-up philosophy that coaches like Eberflus cherish — an unheralded player overlooked by every NFL team in the draft replacing a two-time All-Pro and putting up similar numbers.

Sanborn is not Roquan Smith. But with 54 tackles in five starts, Sanborn’s 10.8 average is better than Smith’s average in his last five games with the Bears. And Smith was leading the NFL in tackles when he was traded.

But to Eberflus’ credit, he’s holding Sanborn to the same standard he held Smith — it’s not enough. Eberflus made it clear that “ball production” was the reason Smith wasn’t worth the $20 million he was seeking from the Bears in a long-term contract. And Sanborn doesn’t get any dispensations because he’s a rookie or because he wasn’t drafted. He has to be better.

He doesn’t want Sanborn to be just a tackle machine, but a play-maker.

“Sanborn’s been good,” Eberflus said. “He’s been consistent. When I talk about linebackers, it’s about hits on the ball. Can you affect the ball? Are you tackling? Are you punching the ball? Are you taking the ball away?

“He’s had a lot of tackles. He’s improved his tackling. Last week [against the Packers], I thought his tackling was better. His ball production probably needs to improve.”

So while Sanborn has been impressive in his first five games, the audition is far from over. He sure looks like a keeper — a player the Bears can plug into Eberflus’ defense for 2023. But he has to show more to earn that status.

That’s why football was part of Sanborn’s bye week. “Just little stuff with run fits, tackling, tackling lower,” Sanborn said. “I think that’s what the game’s about is improving. Anyway you can improve a little bit, especially in the bye week, you’ve got to do that to go into the next week.”

Sanborn has two sacks, but no takeaways on defense this season. He had a fumble recovery on a punt return against the Falcons on Nov. 20. He had an interception against the Lions on Nov. 13 nullified by a penalty.

But as a football-gene player with a nose for being in the play, Sanborn should have takeaway potential in a better defense. He said he has missed opportunities in the past, and is cognizant of taking better advantage of opportunities to create takeaways.

“I think of them is just punching the ball — forcing fumbles,” Sanborn said. “That’s something that we preach it and we do it so much in practice. It does translate to the game. But at the same time, I thin there are a couple of times where an extra punch here and there maybe could jar the ball loose. That’s enough to change the game.”

Sanborn has the intangibles to make it, things that are overlooked in the draft process. “To be able to handle the huddle and make calls and adjustments — that’s pretty cool for us to watch that,” Eberflus said.

Defensive coordinator Alan Williams sees similar intangibles. “You can’t measure heart. You can’t measure instincts,” Williams said. “The only things we measure — the arm length, the speed — that still doesn’t say, ‘good football player.’

“He transcends that. He may not have the measurable. But he’s a good football player. And that’s what you want — good football players.”

So heading into the final four weeks, Sanborn has one goal.

“I just want to continue to get better, continue to do my job and do it at a really high level,” he said, “[And] helping this team win games. That’s what I’m here for and that’s what I want to do.”

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Over a decade ago, David Jones began to make a documentary about the “Walking Man,” the homeless figure with striking long hair, famous for strolling through downtown Chicago in a blazer, rain or shine.

But the Walking Man — known for being an enigma — never spoke openly with him. “He wasn’t very forthcoming. He was very present, but the answers to our questions were all kind of fibs,” said Jones, who called him the “Walking Dude.”

Jones published a trailer, “The Walking Dude, A Dudementary,” in 2006 but never completed the project. But the trailer was enough, he said.

“It was a fun project to celebrate him,” Jones said. “He an absolute Chicago character — one of the things that makes Chicago unique and exciting.”

The Walking Man, whose name was Joseph Kromelis, died Sunday afternoon.

He was badly burned in May, when someone set him on fire as he slept on Lower Wabash Avenue. He was 75.

His condition improved over several months, but he died weeks after being discharged from Stroger Hospital to a Far North Side rehab facility.

An autopsy Monday found he died of complications from his burns. His death was ruled a homicide.

Jones became fascinated with Kromelis after seeing him walking near the advertising agency he worked at near Michigan Avenue.

“Every time you’re on the street going to or from work, you would occasionally see him. And it would be a thing. People would come back to the office and say, ‘I saw him!'” Jones said.

When Jones gathered footage for the documentary, he staked out Walking Man as if hunting a tornado.

“It was genuinely exciting. It had that feeling of nothing, nothing, nothing and then, ‘Oh my gosh!'” Jones said.

Kromelis walked the streets in a “wild fashion,” Jones said.

“Nothing linear, almost like a moth fly. Up this street, across, diagonal, and back and down. There didn’t seem to be a lot of rhyme or reason, to us. But to him I think it made perfect sense,” Jones said.

Kromelis’ appeal also lay in his good nature.

“The streets of Chicago are full of characters, and some are more trouble than others. But the Walking Dude, as we called him, never meant harm to anyone. He just walked the streets,” Jones said.

Jones’ conversation with Kromelis never got beyond small talk. “When we got to bigger talk he’d clam up and have to go,” he said.

They would chat about the city’s architecture and construction projects. “He was almost an amateur architectural tour guide,” Jones said.

Days after Kromelis was attacked in May, a man was charged with attempted murder. Prosecutors said Joseph Guardia, 27, stood silently over Kromelis and poured flammable liquid on him. Kromelis was burned alive for 3 minutes before help came.

The defendant provided no other motive than “being an angry person” and claimed he wanted to burn trash but did not realize there was a person there, according to prosecutors. He remains held without bail at Cook County Jail pending his case.

Prosecutors expect to upgrade the charge against him to first-degree murder, a spokeswoman for the Cook County state’s attorney’s office said.

Six years earlier — on May 24, 2016 — Kromelis was attacked in a separate incident. Someone with a baseball bat beat him in the 400 block of East Lower Wacker Drive. The two were struggling over the bat when police arrived.

Scott Marvel, who heads up Daily Planet Productions, a River North video production company, raised $5,000 for Kromelis by printing and selling T-shirts after he was beaten in 2016. He sold another round of shirts after Kromelis was set ablaze that raised $8,000. He planned to give the money to Kromelis’ family to help fund his recovery.

Now Marvel wonders if the money will go toward covering funeral and burial expenses.

“People would see him and it would make their day,” said Marvel. “He had a spirit about him. I think he represented people who live outside the normal path of society. And how they deserve respect and dignity and compassion. And whatever helps bring us to that could be a lasting memory that turns a negative into a positive.”

Perhaps some sort of memorial or monument would help convey the sentiment, despite the fact that Kromelis eschewed attention, Marvel said.

Authorities have not said who Kromelis’ body will be released to — whether it is a family member or if he will be cremated in the county’s indigent burial program.

He moved to Chicago with his family from Lithuania or Germany when he was a kid and grew up above the bar his parents ran on Halsted, the Sun-Times reported in 2016.

His parents sold the tavern and moved to southwest Michigan when Kromelis was about 19. But he stuck around in Chicago. He tried a factory job but didn’t like it. So he got a peddlers license and sold jewelry on the street and began wandering the streets of the Loop.

“There’s nothing wrong with him. He’s not mentally ill. He just likes walking. It’s that simple,” his sister-in-law, Linda Kromelis, told the Sun-Times in 2016.

Jones, who made the documentary trailer, said he once snuck a homemade “Walking Man” Lego piece into a Chicago exhibit at the company’s Michigan Avenue storefront.

He said he did it “because I thought he was an iconic part of Chicago.”

“Him on the streets made the streets that much cooler and that much more interesting,” Jones said.

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There is one spot you don’t want to be in the NBA, and the Chicago Bulls are in it with few options to get out.

Not bad enough. Not good enough.

As an NBA team, you never want to be stuck in the middle. Not bad enough to get a top pick, but not good enough to be considered a contender. It’s why teams like the Orlando Magic and Detroit Pistons have struggled to gain relevancy, despite being in the lottery constantly.

Going into Monday, the Chicago Bulls are 11-15, good for 11th in the Eastern Conference. They found a creative way to lose just last night to the Atlanta Hawks.

AJ GRIFFIN STRIKES AGAIN FOR THE @ATLHawks WIN #TissotBuzzerBeater #TimingEmotions pic.twitter.com/f5GR7giEmC

— NBA (@NBA) December 12, 2022

The roster, led by Guards Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan, seems too talented to be struggling the way they are you would think. Individually, there is the talent that is valued across the league. However, one player makes this roster whole.

Point Guard Lonzo Ball has been out since January 2022 with a knee injury and the Bulls have seemingly given up on figuring out when he’s returning.  Ball completes this team and makes them relevant. Through 24 games last season, Chicago was 16-8 and the surprise of the NBA. Now, they are playing wait-and-see, hoping for good news on Ball’s knee. The problem is, they have no backup plan.

If they were to give up on this season and explore trade possibilities for DeRozan and Center Nikola Vucevic and Guard Alex Caruso, among others, they are no guarantees to get a high first-round pick. Their own 2022 pick is currently owned by the Orlando Magic due to the Nikola Vucevic trade in 2021, a trade they most certainly take back if they could do it over. Unless that pick ends up in the top four, it goes to Orlando. If they end up trading their major players for assets, those teams trading would be sending picks in the 20s or first-rounders beyond 2023. Not an ideal situation.

Okay! Let’s end up bad enough that we secure a top-four pick.

Well…

That would mean Chicago would have to out-tank the San Antonio Spurs, Houston Rockets, Detroit Pistons, Orlando Magic, and Charlotte Hornets to put themselves in a position to land a coveted draft pick. That feels… unlikely, to say it nicely. If those five teams never won another game this season, they wouldn’t be too upset. Can’t do much there, unless you get the luck of the NBA draft lottery,

Okay fine! Let’s win some games!

Well…

The Bulls aren’t very good at that either. They rank 22nd offensively and defensively, according to NBA.com stats and research. It is a headache to try and watch LaVine and DeRozan play my-turn-your-turn offense, with a sprinkle of Vucecic touches inside or as a spot-up shooter. Their bench, a bright spot in the early season, now ranks 22nd in points per game. It’s what makes Ball so great, an effective two-way player who would instantly turn this team into a top-half offense and defense. It’s also what makes this whole season so painful, knowing that we don’t know when Lonzo Ball is coming through that tunnel again.

There’s also Zach LaVine and his new 5 years, 215 million-dollar contract. Is it tradable? Do GM Marc Eversley and EVP of basketball operations Artūras Karnišovs view him as the best player on a championship team type of guy? We don’t know yet. I would say no, as would many Bulls fans, but it’s not our decision. If a team like the New York Knicks came in with a monster offer for LaVine, what does Bulls management say? There is no clear-cut answer.

NBA purgatory sucks. You never know what to think, every game you watch feels like a chore, and your sports life is worse because of it. Unfortunately for Bulls fans, welcome to NBA purgatory.

 

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Monday, December 12, 2022

BIG NORTHERN

Genoa-Kingston at Rockford Lutheran, 7:00

CHICAGO PREP

Ellison at Rochelle Zell, 7:00

INDEPENDENT SCHOOL

University High at Francis Parker, 6:00

LAKE SHORE ATHLETIC

ACERO-Cruz at Waldorf, 5:00

Beacon at Wolcott, 5:30

Intrinsic-Downtown at Christian Heritage, 6:30

NOBLE LEAGUE – BLUE

DRW Prep at Manseuto, 7:00

Pritzker at Hansberry, 7:00

Rauner at Muchin, 7:00

UIC Prep at Golder, 7:00

PUBLIC LEAGUE RED-WEST / NORTH

Young at Westinghouse, 5:00

SOUTHWEST SUBURBAN – CROSSOVER

Bradley-Bourbonnais at Bolingbrook, 6:30

NON CONFERENCE

Belvidere at North Boone, 7:00

Butler at Northside, 5:00

Chicago Academy at Lake View, 5:00

Chicago Tech at Uplift, 5:00

Clifton Central at Reed-Custer, 6:45

Cristo Rey at Kelly, 6:30

Downers Grove South at Plainfield East, 5:30

Dwight at Fieldcrest, 7:00

Elgin Academy at Islamic Foundation, 5:30

Englewood STEM at Ogden, 5:00

EPIC at Excel-Englewood, 5:30

Harvest Christian at Marengo, 7:00

Holy Trinity at CPSA, 5:00

Horizon-McKinley at Universal, 7:00

Ida Crown at North Shore, 7:00

IMSA at Plano, 7:00

ITW-Speer at Hope Academy, 7:00

Johnson at Goode, 5:00

Leland at Our Lady Sacred Heart, 5:30

Marian Central at Wauconda, 7:00

Phoenix at Comer, 5:00

Proviso West at Prosser, 7:00

Rock County Christian at Christian Life, 7:00

Schaumburg Christian at Christian Liberty, 7:30

Southland at Hinsdale Adventist, 6:00

West Aurora at Naperville Central, 7:00

Tuesday, December 13, 2022

BIG NORTHERN

Byron at Winnebago, 7:00

Rock Falls at Stillman Valley, 7:00

CATHOLIC LEAGUE – CROSSOVER

Fenwick at Providence, 7:00

Leo at Marmion, 7:15

Mount Carmel at Montini, 7:00

St. Ignatius at Providence-St. Mel, 7:00

St. Rita at St. Laurence, 7:00

DU KANE

Batavia at Glenbard North, 7:00

EAST SUBURBAN CATHOLIC

Benet at Notre Dame, 7:00

Carmel at Marist, 7:00

St. Patrick at Marian Catholic, 7:00

St. Viator at Nazareth, 7:00

ILLINOIS CENTRAL EIGHT

Coal City at Herscher, 6:45

Peotone at Lisle, 6:45

Streator at Manteno, 7:00

Wilmington at Reed-Custer, 6:45

INTERSTATE EIGHT

LaSalle-Peru at Sycamore, 7:00

LAKE SHORE ATHLETIC

Intrinsic-Downtown at British School, 6:30

Lycee Francais at Roycemore, 5:30

NOBLE LEAGUE – GOLD

Butler at Noble Academy, 5:30

Comer at Johnson, 5:30

ITW-Speer at Bulls Prep, 7:00

NORTH SUBURBAN

Lake Zurich at Libertyville, 7:00

NORTHEASTERN ATHLETIC

Christian Life at Alden-Hebron, 7:30

Mooseheart at Schaumburg Christian, 7:30

NORTHERN LAKE COUNTY

Round Lake at Lakes, 7:00

PUBLIC LEAGUE RED-SOUTH / CENTRAL

Brooks at Longwood, 6:30

Morgan Park at Kenwood, 5:00

Perspectives-Lead at Lindblom, 6:30

Phillips at Hyde Park, 6:30

PUBLIC LEAGUE WHITE-CENTRAL

Bogan at Richards (Chgo), 5:00

Dunbar at King, 5:00

DuSable at Kennedy, 7:00

Englewood STEM at Catalyst-Maria, 5:00

Urban Prep-Englewood at Hubbard, 5:00

PUBLIC LEAGUE WHITE-SOUTH

Agricultural Science at ACE Amandla, 5:00

Corliss at UC-Woodlawn, 5:00

Dyett at Urban Prep-Bronzeville, 5:00

Harlan at Vocational, 5:00

South Shore at Fenger, 5:00

PUBLIC LEAGUE BLUE-CENTRAL

ACERO-Soto at Horizon-Southwest, 5:00

Gage Park at ACERO-Garcia, 5:00

Hancock at Kelly, 5:00

Solorio at Excel-Englewood, 5:00

Tilden at Instituto Health, 5:00

PUBLIC LEAGUE BLUE-SOUTH

Air Force at Washington, 5:00

Chicago Military at EPIC, 5:00

Goode at Carver, 5:00

Hirsch at Excel-South Shore, 5:00

Julian at Bowen, 5:00

RIVER VALLEY

Beecher at St. Anne, 7:00

Tri-Point at Grace Christian, 7:00

SOUTH SUBURBAN – RED

Evergreen Park at Eisenhower, 6:30

SOUTH SUBURBAN – CROSSOVER

Argo at Hillcrest. 6:30

SOUTHWEST SUBURBAN – CROSSOVER

Andrew at Lincoln-Way East, 6:30

Lincoln-Way West at Sandburg, 6:00

UPSTATE EIGHT

East Aurora at Glenbard South, 7:00

Elgin at Bartlett, 7:00

Fenton at Larkin, 7:00

Streamwood at South Elgin, 7:00

West Chicago at Glenbard East, 7:00

NON CONFERENCE

Aurora Christian at Ridgewood, 5:30

Chicago Christian at Westmont, 7:30

Clemente at Ellison, 6:30

Comer at Bremen, 6:00

Downers Grove North at Hersey, 7:00

Elk Grove at Lake Park, 7:00

Geneva at Hoffman Estates, 7:00

Harvest Christian at Marian Central, 7:00

Henry-Senachwine at Annawan, 6:00

Hinsdale South at York, 7:00

IC Catholic at St. Edward, 7:00

IMSA at Yorkville, 6:30

Indian Creek at Marquette, 7:00

Keith at Westminster Christian, 7:00

LaMoille at Woodland, 5:30

Lowpoint-Washburn at DePue, 7:00

Maine West at Buffalo Grove, 7:00

Marengo at Rockford Christian, 7:00

McHenry at Richmond-Burton, 7:00

Metea Valley at Oswego East, 6:30

Midland at Princeville, 7:30

Morgan Park Academy at Illinois Lutheran, 6:00

Neuqua Valley at Yorkville Christian, 7:00

Niles West at Niles North, 7:00

Oregon at Polo, 7:00

Richards at Rich, 6:30

Roanoke-Benson at Peoria Heights, 7:00

Romeoville at Brother Rice, 7:00

Sandwich at Serena, 7:00

Schaumburg at St. Charles East, 7:00

Seneca at Gardner-So. Wilmington, 6:45

Somonauk at Putnam County, 7:00

Southland at Kankakee, 6:30

St. Francis at Elmwood Park, 7:00

St. Francis de Sales at Lincoln-Way Central, 6:30

Timothy Christian at McNamara, 7:30

Vernon Hills at Woodstock North, 7:00

Wheaton Academy at Aurora Central, 7:30

Wednesday, December 14, 2022

CHICAGO PREP

Ida Crown at Walther Christian, 7:30

FOX VALLEY

Burlington Central at Jacobs, 7:00

Cary-Grove at Crystal Lake South, 7:00

Crystal Lake Central at Hampshire, 7:00

Huntley at McHenry, 7:00

Prairie Ridge at Dundee-Crown, 7:00

INDEPENDENT SCHOOL

Elgin Academy at University High, 6:00

LAKE SHORE ATHLETIC

British School at Roycemore, 5:30

Horizon-McKinley at Beacon, 5:30

NIC – 10

Auburn at Belvidere, 7:00

Belvidere North at Jefferson, 7:00

Boylan at Hononegah, 6:30

Guilford at Rockford East, 7:00

Harlem at Freeport, 6:00

NOBLE LEAGUE – BLUE

Golder at DRW Prep, TBA

Hansberry at Rauner, 7:00

Muchin at Baker, 7:00

NORTH SUBURBAN

Warren at Mundelein, 7:00

NORTHERN LAKE COUNTY

Antioch at North Chicago, 7:00

Grayslake Central at Grant, 7:00

Wauconda at Grayslake North, 7:00

PUBLIC LEAGUE RED-WEST / NORTH

Clark at North Lawndale, 7:00

Farragut at Lane, 5:00

Lincoln Park at Young, 5:00

Prosser at Perspectives-MSA, 5:00

Westinghouse at Orr, 5:00

PUBLIC LEAGUE WHITE-NORTH

Foreman at Mather, 6:30

Lake View at Northside, 5:00

Senn at Von Steuben, 5:00

Sullivan at Amundsen, 6:30

Taft at Schurz, 5:00

PUBLIC LEAGUE WHITE-WEST

Austin at Payton, 5:00

Collins at Ogden, 7:00

Jones at Wells, 5:00

Legal Prep at Crane, 5:00

Raby at Marshall, 5:00

PUBLIC LEAGUE BLUE-NORTH

Alcott at Marine, 5:00

Disney at Rickover, 5:00

Intrinsic-Belmont at Steinmetz, 5:00

North-Grand at Chicago Math & Science, 5:00

Roosevelt at Chicago Academy, 5:00

Uplift at ASPIRA-Bus&Fin, 5:00

PUBLIC LEAGUE BLUE-WEST

Douglass at Clemente, 5:00

Juarez at Manley, 5:00

Kelvyn Park at Chicago Tech, 5:00

Little Village at Phoenix, 5:00

Spry at Chicago Collegiate, 5:00

SOUTHWEST SUBURBAN – CROSSOVER

Stagg at Homewood-Flossmoor, 6:30

NON CONFERENCE

Cristo Rey-St. Martin at Trinity Oaks, 6:00

EPIC at Thornwood, 5:00

Evergreen Park at Addison Trail, 6:30

Excel-Englewood at Mansueto, 5:30

Genoa-Kingston at Rochelle, 7:00

Hiawatha at Alden-Hebron, 7:30

Hinckley-Big Rock at Pecatonica, 7:30

Islamic Foundation at Westmont, 7:00

Lake Park at Willowbrook, 6:00

MCC Prep at CPSA, 5:00

Mooseheart at Morgan Park Academy, 4:30

Noble Street at Holy Trinity, 6:00

Oswego at Lockport, 6:30

Rochelle Zell at North Shore, 6:30

Tinley Park at Andrew, 6:30

Unity Christian at Hinsdale Adventist, 5:30

Waubonsie Valley at Rockford Lutheran, 7:00

Wheaton Academy at Hinsdale Central, 7:00

Winnebago at Forreston, 7:00

Thursday, December 15, 2022

BIG NORTHERN

Dixon at Stillman Valley, 7:00

CHICAGO PREP

Holy Trinity at Hope Academy, 7:00

KISHWAUKEE RIVER

Marengo at Woodstock North, 7:00

Richmond-Burton at Woodstock, 7:00

LAKE SHORE ATHLETIC

Lycee Francais at Christian Heritage, 6:00

LITTLE TEN

Indian Creek at IMSA, 7:00

NOBLE LEAGUE – BLUE

Noble Street at Mansueto, 7:00

NOBLE LEAGUE – GOLD

Comer at Bulls Prep, 7:00

ITW-Speer at Butler, 7:00

NORTH SUBURBAN

Lake Forest at Stevenson, 7:00

PUBLIC LEAGUE RED-SOUTH / CENTRAL

Hyde Park at Morgan Park, 6:30

Lindblom at Brooks, 5:00

Longwood at Phillips, 5:00

PUBLIC LEAGUE WHITE-CENTRAL

Catalyst-Maria at DuSable, 5:00

Dunbar at Urban Prep-Englewood, 5:00

Hubbard at Bogan, 5:00

Kennedy at King, 5:00

Richards (Chgo) at Englewood STEM, 5:00

PUBLIC LEAGUE WHITE-SOUTH

Corliss at Urban Prep-Bronzeville, 5:00

Dyett at Agricultural Science, 5:00

Fenger at Vocational, 5:00

Harlan at UC-Woodlawn, 5:00

South Shore at ACE Amandla, 5:00

PUBLIC LEAGUE BLUE-CENTRAL

Gage Park at Tilden, 5:00

Hancock at Excel-Englewood, 5:00

Horizon-Southwest at Back of the Yards, 5:00

Instituto Health at ACERO-Garcia, 5:00

Solorio at Kelly, 5:00

PUBLIC LEAGUE BLUE-SOUTH

Bowen at Goode, 6:30

EPIC at Air Force, 5:00

Excel-South Shore at Chicago Military, 5:00

Carver at Hirsch, 5:00

Washington at Julian, 5:00

UPSTATE EIGHT

Bartlett at Streamwood, 7:00

Glenbard East at Fenton, 7:00

Glenbard South at Elgin, 7:00

Larkin at East Aurora, 6:30

South Elgin at West Chicago, 7:00

NON CONFERENCE

Aurora Central at Montini, 6:30

DRW Prep at Manley, 5:00

Families of Faith at Momence, 7:00

Francis Parker at Elmwood Park, 7:00

Grayslake Central at Johnsburg, 7:30

Mooseheart at Aurora Christian, 7:30

Rochelle Zell at Intrinsic-Belmont, 6:30

Westminster Christian at Westlake Christian, 7:30

Winnebago at Lena-Winslow, 7:00

BENTONVILLE (AR)

Young vs. Fayetteville (AR), 8:30

LAKES

Waukegan at Lakes, 7:00

SCOTTSDALE SAGUARO (AZ)

New Trier vs. Carl Hayden (AZ), 3:30M

WATSEKA

at Milford

Iroquois West vs. Donovan, 4:30

Milford vs. Hoopeston, 5:45

Westville vs. Iroquois West, 7:00

St. Anne vs. Milford, 8:15

at Watseka

Cissna Park vs. McNamara, 4:30

Horizon-Southwest vs. Illinois Lutheran, 5:45

McNamara vs. Tri-Point, 7:00

Watseka vs. Horizon-Southwest, 8:15

Friday, December 16, 2022

BIG NORTHERN

North Boone at Rockford Christian, 7:00

CATHOLIC LEAGUE – BLUE

Brother Rice at Leo, 7:00

Fenwick at St. Ignatius, 7:00

St. Rita at DePaul, 7:00

CATHOLIC LEAGUE – WHITE

De La Salle at Providence, 7:00

Montini at Providence-St. Mel, 7:00

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 PREP

Northtown at Christ the King, 7:30

DU KANE

Geneva at Batavia, 7:00

Glenbard North at Lake Park, 7:30

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

Wheaton-Warr. South at Wheaton North, 7:15

DU PAGE 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 ATHLETIC

Beacon at Roycemore, 5:30

Waldorf at Horizon-McKinley, 7:00

Wolcott at Intrinsic-Downtown, 6:30

LITTLE TEN

Hiawatha at Leland, 5:30

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

NIC – 10

Freeport at Rockford East, 7:15

Guilford at Boylan, 7:15

Harlem at Auburn, 7:30

Jefferson at Belvidere, 7:00

NORTHERN LAKE COUNTY

North Chicago at Round Lake, 7:00

PUBLIC LEAGUE RED-WEST / NORTH

Clark at Lane, 5:00

North Lawndale at Lincoln Park, 5:00

Perspectives-MSA at Farragut, 5:00

PUBLIC LEAGUE 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

PUBLIC LEAGUE WHITE-WEST

Jones at Payton, 5:00

Legal Prep at Wells, 5:00

Marshall at Crane, 5:00

Ogden at Austin, 5:00

Raby at Collins, 5:00

PUBLIC LEAGUE BLUE-NORTH

Alcott at Uplift, 5:00

ASPIRA-Bus&Fin at Marine, 5:00

Chicago Math & Science at Rickover, 5:00

Intrinsic-Belmont at Chicago Academy, 5:00

North-Grand at Disney, 5:00

Roosevelt at Steinmetz, 5:00

PUBLIC LEAGUE 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

SOUTH SUBURBAN – BLUE

Thornton Fr. 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 Marquette, 7:00

Midland at Henry-Senachwine, 7:00

Seneca at Putnam County, 7:00

Woodland at Roanoke-Benson, 7:30

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

NON CONFERENCE

Amboy at Somonauk, 7:00

Andrew at Evergreen Park, 6:00

Clifton Central at Tolono Unity, 7:30

Eisenhower at Kennedy, 7:00

Elgin Academy at Cristo Rey-St. Martin, 7:00

Evanston at Loyola, 6:30

Hansberry at Ellison, 7:00

Lindblom at University High, 6:00

Mooseheart at Walther Christian, 7:30

Oak Forest at Sandburg, 7:00

South Beloit at East Dubuque, 7:00

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

Stagg at Oak Lawn, 6:30

Universal at Argo, 6:30

Urban Prep-Bronzeville at Muchin, 6:00

Vocational at Richards, 6:30

Westlake Christian at Harvest Christian, 7:30

BENTONVILLE (AR)

Simeon vs. Little Rock Central (AR), 4:00

Young vs. Harvard Westlake (CA), 5:30

HILL SCHOOL (PA)

Lake Forest Academy vs. TBA

LOS ANGELES WASHINGTON (CA)

Prosser vs. Rialto Eisenhower (CA)

MADISON TECHINCAL COLLEGE (WI)

Joliet West vs. LaCrosse Central (WI), 8:00

SCOTTSDALE SAGUARO (AZ)

New Trier vs. TBA

WATSEKA

Cissna Park vs. Tri-Point, 4:30

St. Anne vs. Hoopestone, 5:45

Watseka vs. Illinois Lutheran, 7:00

Westville vs. Donovan, 8:15

Saturday, December 17, 2022

EAST SUBURBAN CATHOLIC

St. Viator at Joliet Catholic, 2:30

METRO SUBURBAN – BLUE

Aurora Christian at Timothy Christian, 7:30

NORTHERN LAKE COUNTY

Antioch at Grayslake Central, 7:00

Grant at Grayslake North, 7:00

Lakes at Wauconda, 4:30

NON CONFERENCE

Alden-Hebron at Ashton-Franklin Center, 2:30

Chicago Christian at Eisenhower, 2:30

DePaul at Evergreen Park, 12:00

Dixon at Woodstock North, 1:30

Downers Grove North at Downers Grove South, 6:

Earlville at Mendota, 1:30

Englewood STEM at St. Laurence, 3:00

Fasman Yeshiva at CPSA, 7:30

Fenton at Addison Trail, 4:30

Fremd at Warren, 4:00

Glenbrook South at Jacksonville, 3:30

Hansberry at Aurora Central, 1:00

Highland Park at Prospect, 7:00

Hillcrest at Bloomington, 6:30

Hinsdale Central at Bartlett, 2:30

Hinsdale South at Burlington Central, 12:30

Jacobs at Boylan, 2:00

Johnsburg at Kaneland, 6:00

Lake Zurich at Hersey, 3:00

Libertyville at Willowbrook, 2:30

Lockport at Waubonsie Valley, 7:00

Maine East at Glenbrook North, 3:30

Maine West at Conant, 5:30

Marist at Naperville North, 5:00

Marmion at IMSA, 7:00

Mather at Leyden, 2:30

Neuqua Valley at Rockford Lutheran, 6:00

Niles North at Taft, 4:30

Northridge at Notre Dame, 5:00

Oak Park-River Forest at Lake Forest, 4:30

Palatine at Hampshire, 4:00

Paxton-Buckley-Loda at Manteno, 2:30

Perspectives-MSA at Chicago Military, 5:00

Plainfield Central at Bradley-Bourbonnais, 3:00

Plainfield North at Sycamore, 3:00

Ridgeview at Gardner-So. Wilmington, 2:15

Rochelle at Princeton, 6:30

Schaumburg at Walther Christian, 6:00

St. Edward at Elgin, 1:00

Stevenson at Carmel. 7:00

Washington (IL) at Streator, 5:30

Westinghouse at Auburn, 6:00

BENTONVILLE (AR)

Young vs. Little Rock Christian (AR), 12:00

Simeon vs. Moravian Prep (NC), 3:00

BRADLEY TECH (WI)

Von Steuben vs. Tremper, (WI), 10:30

Legal Prep vs. Carmen (WI), 12:00

CRETE-MONEE

Intrinsic-Downtown vs. Richards, 12:00

Maine South vs. Southland, 1:30

Thornton Fr. South vs. Thornwood, 3:00

Oak Forest vs. Crete-Monee, 4:30

EUREKA COLLEGE

Marquette vs. Deer Creek-Mackinaw, 12:00

Eureka vs. Prairie Central, 1:30

El Paso-Gridley vs. Metamora, 3:00

Yorkville Christian vs. St. Thomas More, 6:00

HILL SCHOOL (PA)

Lake Forest Academy vs. TBA

LOS ANGELES WASHINGTON (CA)

Prosser vs. Los Angeles Washington (CA)

MADISON TECHINCAL COLLEGE (WI)

Joliet West vs. TBA

MISSOURI, UNVERSITY OF (MO)

Kankakee vs. Pembroke Hill (MO), 2:00a

TRITON

Lindblom vs. Latin, 11:00

Farragut vs. Rich, 12:15

West Aurora vs. Lane, 1:30

Bolingbrook vs. 21st Century (IN), 2:45

Hyde Park vs. Romeoville, 4:00

Curie vs. Oswego East, 5:30

Kenwood vs. St. Mary (MI), 7:00

Proviso East vs. Perspectives-Lead, 8:30

SCOTTSDALE SAGUARO (AZ)

New Trier vs. TBA

WATSEKA

9th Place Semi-Final, 11:00

9th Place Semi-Final, 12:30

5th Place Semi-Final, 2:00

5th Place Semi-Final, 3:30

Semi-Final, 5:00

Semi-Final, 6:30

Sunday, December 18, 2022

NON CONFERENCE

Chicago Tech at Goode, 12:00

HILL SCHOOL (PA)

Lake Forest Academy vs. TBA

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Bears first-year defensive back Kyler Gordon and rookie safety Jaquan Brisker will rejoin the team this week.

The Bears are gearing up for their Week 15 matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles after a much-needed bye week. The top rookie cornerback Kyler Gordon and safety Jaquan Brisker are returning, which is encouraging news on the injury front. Due to concussions, Gordon and Brisker were forced to miss the previous two games.

Per Matt Eberflus on WBBM Newsradio 780 “It’s important that we do a good job of ramping them up”. “They haven’t done much for the last three weeks. “It’s going to be exciting to get those guys back. They’re both really good rookies and having a good year. We’re excited about that.”

Bears rookie DB’s Jaquan Brisker and Kyler Gordon coming back.
“Those guys will be cleared off of protocol.” -Matt Eberflus, Monday morning @WBBMNewsradio

— Josh Liss (@JoshLissSports) December 12, 2022

In the Bear’s 11 games this season, Gordon has accumulated 55 tackles, one interception, four pass breakups, and one forced fumble. Over the same time, Brisker has accumulated 73 tackles, one interception, three sacks, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery, and one pass breakup.

The Chicago Bears (3-10) host the Eagles (12-1) on Sunday at Soldier Field.

 

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