Games at Brother Rice almost never disappoint. If you’ve never been to one, get it on your list.

And this would be a great season to check it out, because the Crusaders have a fun team and fun lead guard in Niagara recruit Ahmad Henderson.

He did everything he possibly could to take down St. Rita tonight, scoring 28 points, but the Mustangs just have too many weapons for most high school teams to counter.

I assume there are still St. Rita doubters out there. It may be a long winter for them as the Mustangs continue rounding into shape. Morez Johnson was a monster once again, he plays tremendously hard and is just all over the court.

Lets get right into tonight’s action. There were a lot of fun results from all over the area, setting us up for a major two days at the Team Rose Classic at Mount Carmel.

Friday’s top games

Thornton 49, Rich 44: Well, look at this. I expected it to be kind of a long season for Tai Streets and the Wildcats but maybe not. Vincent Rainey scored 16 points and sophomore Jordan Maple scored 11. I don’t believe there was even a sophomore on the roster when I was out in Harvey on Tuesday night. Perhaps Maple was just called up to varsity.

Andrew 51, Lockport 37: This was a highlight tweet that surprised me It’s the first win against Lockport that the Thunderbolts have had in nine years. Crazy. I had no idea the Porters were dominating this matchup to that extent. Athan Berchos scored all 11 of his points in the fourth quarter to lead Andrew and Austin Kulig added 10 points.

Kenwood 58, Knoxville Catholic 47: The Broncos beat a Tennessee team in Atlanta. Dai Dai Ames scored 24, Tyler Smith had 13 and Calvin Robins turned in 11 points and 10 rebounds. The Broncos are still unbeaten. Knoxville Catholic was 7-0 heading into this one.

Lincoln-Way East 78, Bradley 46: A big night for the freshman. BJ Powell led the Griffins with 17 points. George Bellevue added 12 and Josh Janowski scored 11.

Naperville North 74, DeKalb 71 3 OT: The game of the night. Junior Luke Williams scored 35 points. He’s a great athlete that impressed me during football season. Looking forward to checking the Huskies out this season. Bryce Welch scored 18. Waubonsie Valley was pretty good on Wednesday…maybe the DVC will wind up to be sneaky solid this season?

Francis Parker 52, Latin 48: This is a game that I always want to see but it’s on a Friday night so it never quite works out. I believe they play it at DePaul every season. Caleb David led the Colonels with 25 points and Payton Pitts added 10 points and five assists.

Romeoville 75, Plainfield Central 45: Meyoh Swansey entered the season as one of those players everyone expected to have a breakout season. Well, it is happening. He had 29 points and five rebounds. Troy Cicero added 10 points and seven assists.

Marian Catholic 73, Joliet Catholic 52: The Spartans bounce back again. Mike Taylor’s group is clearly still figuring things out this season. Quentin Jones scored 15 and James Bullock added 13. Excited to get my first look at Marian this weekend.

Marmion 64, De La Salle 47: An eye-opener here for sure. It might be time to add Marmion to my notebook of teams I’m tracking. This makes them 5-3. Jabe Haith had 22 points, eight assists and seven rebounds. That’s a game. Collin Wainscott added 21 points and seven assists and Trevon Roots finished with nine points, 11 rebounds and five assists.

Bloom 75, Hammond Bishop Noll 41: Rae Harris had 12 points and 10 assists for the Blazing Trojans. Jordan Brown and sophomore Payton Edwards each added 11 points. I’m not an Indiana expert but isn’t this where Jaedin Reyna wound up?

St. Ignatius 48, Leo 42: Closer than expected. Leo’s basically starting from scratch after losing most of its team. Richard Barron scored 12 for the Wolfpack.

Marist 48, St. Viator 43: Brother Rice vs. Marist used to a must-see and it could be again this season. Kaden White scored 17 and Mason Ross added 10 points.

New Trier 52, Glenbrook South 46: Nice win for the Trevians in the Titan Dome. Jake Fiegen scored 20 points. Phil Ralston’s basically brand new squad is playing everyone tough. Keep an eye on them over the next few months.

Lane 67, Perspectives-MSA 54: Parker Williams scored a career-high 18 points and sophomore big Dalton Scantlebury added 15.

Beecher 72, Grant Park 43: The Bobcats played this game in their old gym. Every school with an old gym should do this once a year, seems like a fun idea. Junor Adyn McGinley is on a tear this season, he finished with 24 points, six rebounds and seven assists. Everyone can tell I want to go back to see Momence vs. Beecher again this year, right?

Farragut 86, North Lawndale 80: Obviously the Kenwood-Young thing is fun right now but at this point the Admirals vs. the Phoenix might be one of the best remaining rivalries in the Public League. Jonathan Calmese scored 26 and Eric Powell added 18 points.

Loyola 42, Fenwick 27: Impressive spread for the Ramblers against a solid but very young Friars group.

Metea Valley 60, Waubonsie Valley 54 OT: Whoa, another DVC thriller. Metea Valley returns an awful lot from last year and was a team I had my eye on. Based on what I saw from the Warriors this week I’m confident that Metea Valley is playing well if it grabbed this win.

Lincoln-Way West 69, Homewood-Flossmoor 67 OT: This doesn’t happen very often. Not sure it even happened back in the Marco Pettinato days.

Jackson-Reed, D.C. 66, Young 65: The Dolphins lose on the road. Dalen Davis scored 22.

Read More

Few teams have consistently dominated the Blackhawks more than the Jets have in recent years.

That trend did not change Friday. The Jets controlled the majority of the game and Hawks goalie Arvid Soderblom could only do so much in a 3-1 Hawks defeat.

The loss marked the Hawks’ 14th in their last 17 meetings against Winnipeg and third in three this season, during which they’ve been outscored by a lopsided 14-3 margin. They’ve now lost 17 of their last 20 games overall.

The Jets’ 7-2 rout at the United Center just a couple weeks ago represented the first time this season the Hawks have “played a little bit apart as a team,” coach Luke Richardson had said pregame.

Their togetherness didn’t crumble to that degree Friday, but they still generated very few reasons to believe in a comeback after yet again falling behind 1-0 in the first period.

Soderblom made “backdoor saves left and right,” defenseman Seth Jones said, but his 29 saves were meaningless when the Hawks scored just their lone goal in a three-game span. Final scoring chances favored the Jets 38-21 (and high-danger chances favored them 18-6).

“It wasn’t all bad. We came out slow in the first, though,” Jones added. “We weren’t very physical. Weren’t forechecking very much. And they took it to us a little bit. In the second period, we started to get more ‘O’-zone time [by] moving our feet.”

Last man back

Tyler Johnson, the only injured Hawk who wasn’t part of the en-masse return to practice Thursday, continued the stretch of encouraging health news by participating in morning skate Friday. It was his first on-ice appearance since suffering a setback in his ankle recovery around Nov. 20.

“He’s kind of back to where he was close [to returning] last time, but he has to try the contact again, which is the hard part,” Richardson said. “[With] the ankle, you never know when you’re going to get hit and you have to flex it. That’s what hurt him last time and set him back, so we have to try it again.”

Sam Lafferty’s return Friday from his back injury slightly bolstered the forward lineup; Lafferty slotted in as the fourth-line center, bumping Boris Katchouk to healthy scratch. But Johnson’s return would bolster it significantly more. He was the Hawks’ leading scorer, with six points in six games, at the time of his injury.

On the defensive side, Jarred Tinordi (hip injury) also unexpectedly returned to the lineup, then missed more time in-game but ultimately returned.

McCabe being heard

Defenseman Jake McCabe has played well recently, pressuring the puck in the defensive zone and getting involved in the offensive zone. But Richardson appreciates McCabe’s talkativeness more than any of his physical skills.

“He’s vocal,” Richardson said Thursday. “The game has gotten quiet — [this is] just a generation of players where they’re not vocal as much as they used to be — and he is. So that’s a real help on the ice. I love how he competes and he doesn’t settle for anything but the best. When things aren’t going well, he’ll let everybody know…it’s not acceptable.”

Richardson paired McCabe with Ian Mitchell against the Jets, believing McCabe’s strong communication would help Mitchell build chemistry with him quickly.

“You get to not just see what [Jake is] doing, but [also] hear what he’s doing,” Richardson said. “And that lets you decide quicker what you…need to do in the ‘D’-zone.”

Read More

Great high school basketball teams don’t fall ready-made off of an assembly line. It takes time and care and chemistry to build something special.

St. Rita has the talent to be a great team and it showed flashes of that in the first three weeks of the season. The Mustangs dominated Joliet West in the third quarter of a loss and they solidly beat a talented Lanier, Ga. team.

But they entered Friday’s Catholic League showdown at No. 6 Brother Rice with a 3-3 record that included a thumping from top-ranked Simeon last weekend at the high-profile Chicago Elite Classic. The Mustangs opened the season in several national rankings, so it’s been a rocky start.

No. 5 St. Rita’s three stars all delivered in different ways as the Mustangs earned a 57-51 win.

“It’s a win,” St. Rita junior Morez Johnson said. “People are saying we are overrated and we are waking them back up.”

Brother Rice is one of the toughest places to play in the area and the gym was loaded with fans to see the hyped Mustangs.

“It’s crazy and hostile, fans going crazy,” Johnson said.

Johnson, a 6-9 Illinois recruit, had 16 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks. He scored in each quarter and was the most consistent force for the Mustangs (4-3, 2-2 CCL Blue).

“I’m not going to say it changes everything but we certainly need it,” St. Rita coach Roshawn Russell said. “But our confidence never wavered. We just had to block out all the noise and get locked back in.”

A dunk by Brother Rice’s Khalil Ross pulled the Crusaders within two points with fewer than two minutes to play.

St. Rita was a dismal 9-for-18 from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter overall and shot just 5 of 8 in the final two minutes but it was good enough to hold on to the lead.

Junior Nojus Indrusaitis led the Mustangs with 19 points despite sitting out almost the entire second quarter after picking up two fouls. He was 7 of 10 shooting. James Brown, a 6-10 junior, added 10 points and eight rebounds. Brown was on the bench for the entire second quarter after picking up two fouls.

“It’s no secret we are a special team when [Brown] is on the floor,” Russell said. “Our challenge to him is he has to find a way to stay out of foul trouble. There are some things we are working on in practice. But he stepped up big down the stretch.”

Niagara recruit Ahmad Henderson scored a game-high 28 points for the Crusaders (8-1, 2-1). Jimmy Navarette added eight points off the bench and Zavier Fitch scored seven.

Brown and Johnson dominated the boards and limited Brother Rice’s second chances.

Indrusaitis seemed to fit into the flow of St. Rita’s half-court offense better against the Crusaders than in some of the games the first week of the season. The Mustangs are also working in a pair of transfer guards, Nashawn Holmes and Joseph Worthington.

“You have to get used to where people want the ball and learn each other,” Johnson said. “That’s the problem. But we’re doing a great job of that now.”

Read More

LUSAIL, Qatar — Grant Wahl, one of the most well-known soccer writers in the United States, died early Saturday while covering the World Cup match between Argentina and the Netherlands.

U.S. media seated near him said Wahl fell back in his seat in the media tribune at Lusail Iconic Stadium during extra time and reporters adjacent to him called for assistance. Emergency services workers responded very quickly, the reporters said, and the reporters later were told that Wahl had died.

Wahl tweeted on Wednesday that he had celebrated his birthday that day. American reporters who knew Wahl said he was 49.

Wahl was covering his eighth World Cup. He wrote Monday on his website that he had visited a medical clinic while in Qatar.

“My body finally broke down on me. Three weeks of little sleep, high stress and lots of work can do that to you,” Wahl wrote. “What had been a cold over the last 10 days turned into something more severe on the night of the USA-Netherlands game, and I could feel my upper chest take on a new level of pressure and discomfort.”

Wahl wrote that he tested negative for COVID-19 and sought treatment for his symptoms.

“I went into the medical clinic at the main media center today, and they said I probably have bronchitis. They gave me a course of antibiotics and some heavy-duty cough syrup, and I’m already feeling a bit better just a few hours later. But still: No bueno,” he wrote.

During the World Cup, Wahl drew international attention after saying he was briefly stopped from attending the U.S. match against Wales on Nov. 21 over wearing a rainbow-colored T-shirt. Rainbow-colored armbands, shirts and other items have been a focus of attention during the tournament in part over Qatar’s stance on LGBTQ rights. Gay and lesbian sex is criminalized in Qatar, a conservative Muslim nation on the Arabian Peninsula. Wahl said FIFA later apologized to him over the incident.

Wahl wrote this week that he had been among 82 journalists honored by FIFA and the international sports press association AIPS for attending eight or more World Cups.

A 1996 graduate of Princeton, Wahl worked for Sports Illustrated from 1996 to 2021, known primarily for his coverage of soccer and college basketball. He then launched his own website.

Wahl also worked for Fox Sports from 2012-19.

He is survived by his wife, Dr. Celine Gounder, clinical associate professor of medicine at New York University School of Medicine, attending physician at Bellevue Hospital Center and CBS News medical news contributor.

Read More

After a six-game absence, Sam Lafferty is returning to the Blackhawks’ line-up.

The Chicago Blackhawks now have the complement of Sam Lafferty as he returns to action , Friday, from a 6-week injury layoff.

The 27 year old is expected to be in the lineup against the Winnipeg Jets Friday, according to Charlie Roumeliotis

Lafferty missed six contests with the injury and coach Luke Richardson said Thursday that Lafferty would play if he got through practice Friday. Lafferty has three goals and seven points in 19 games to date.

Lafferty suffered a back injury on Nov. 23 against the Dallas Stars. The rugged forward saw just 7:07 of ice time before missing the third period of that game.

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

Chicago might be getting some new cubs, but they won’t be playing at Wrigley Field.

The Lincoln Park Zoo on Friday announced one of its African lions is due to give birth next month.

After observing behavior consistent with breeding, zoo staff members were able to confirm through hormone tests and an ultrasound that 4-year-old African lion Zari is pregnant.

The zoo could be expecting anywhere between one and five cubs in January, officials said.

“This is a very exciting time for the lion pride at the zoo but also for the entire zoo population,” Mike Murray, the zoo’s curator of mammals and animal behavioral husbandry, said in a statement. “A birth represents preservation of a species that has faced many challenges in the wild.”

African lions are considered a “vulnerable” species, with declining wild populations estimated between 23,000 and 39,000, down from half a million in 1950, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

The pregnancy wasn’t entirely unexpected, as the breeding came after recommendations from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ “survival program” for captive African lions. It was suggested the Lincoln Park pair produce cubs after genetic testing was conducted on Zari and her 5-year-old mate, Jabari.

Murray added that the team is “cautiously optimistic” about the potential new additions to the zoo given the same couple have been raising their cub Pilipili since his birth in March. The 9-month-old lion is now showing the beginnings of the “iconic” lion mane and has “fully integrated” with the rest of the pride, according to zoo officials.

Staff at the zoo are also anticipating some benefits for Pilipili with new cubs joining the pride, as he can exhibit “normal cub behaviors” with younger members of the group.

“They get to play and interact in that juvenile way that maybe they can’t do with their adult social members,” said the zoo’s general curator, Dave Bernier, who oversees animal care. “We think that it will be beneficial for him.”

Bernier credits the Pepper Family Wildlife Center, a renovated addition to the zoo’s Lion House finished in fall 2021, which was designed to create a more comfortable environment for the zoo’s big cats.

The 18,000-square-foot facility includes a separate area for Zari to stay near the end of her pregnancy and care for her cubs in the early months after their birth — something that’s instrumental in caring for newborns, according to Bernier.

At the prospect of having five new cubs in his care next month, Bernier said he was excited to see what it would mean for the new facility and for visitors of the zoo.

“It would be a great test for the building and it would work out really well,” Bernier said. “It would be a beautiful sight to see.”

Read More

For Daniel and Katrise Ch?vez, the song and dance started on a bus bound for Pilsen. Strangers then, they began talking, discovered they shared a passion for arts education and, somewhere along the way, began to fall in love.

“It ended up being a really life changing conversation,” Katrise said.

The couple eventually married, founded an organization to bring art and music to students and, on Sunday, will host another in a series of showcases of the programs they support.

For the students, it’s a chance to play alongside professional musicians; for parents, a chance to listen; and for everyone else, an opportunity for people to learn how they can bring arts programming to their community.

A concert put on by their organization, People’s Center for Cultural and Contemporary Arts, is scheduled for Sunday, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., at the former Holy Trinity Croatian Church, 1850 S. Throop St. in Pilsen.

The show will include performances from students studying electronic music, traditional Mexican dances and traditional ensemble music. There’s also a jam session with professional musicians and students, a performance by Latin band Tem?tica — and free food.

The organization hosts the showcases every other month with funding from the city’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events.

Started two years ago, the couple’s organization now supports 24 programs at 13 locations between Hermosa on the Northwest Side and Marquette Park on the Far Southwest Side.

The couple started their organization specifically to fill a gap at Chicago Public Schools in arts programming, which they said teaches essential skills, such as problem solving.

“We talk about arts and music as if kids were just playing, but that minimizes the impact of what it does for our young people,” Katrise said.

It brings people together, Daniel said, and shouldn’t be treated as just another extracurricular activity that can be cut when school budgets get tight.

“It’s a shame art is the first thing to go because art is the first thing we can connect over as humans,” Daniel said.

What brought Daniel and Katrise together was salsa music and dance.

The couple met at a downtown bus stop in 2019. When Daniel first saw Katrise, he had a Latin beat playing in his headphones as he watched her shimmy across the street.

“Oh my god, that lady is moving to my music,” he thought, so he asked what she was playing in her headphones. It was salsa too, it turned out.

They began chatting and haven’t stopped ever since.

“We went through a lot in those 30 minutes,” Daniel said, recalling the ride on the No. 60 bus along Blue Island Avenue to the Lower West Side. “We were talking about life and our experiences and, somewhere in there, our educational experiences came up.”

She was a dancer from a military family that moved around the country and had worked as a teacher; he, a musician who grew up in Oregon and studied classical music.

The two new Chicagoans soon found themselves on the same beat.

“By the time we got off the bus, we decided to keep discussing this common theme of accessible arts programming,” Katrise said.

“I wanted to be able to give kids the same opportunities that were given to me,” Daniel said, who learned to play rock and jazz through a similar nonprofit when he was young.

In March, 2020, right before the pandemic and before they were married, they sired the organization, beginning at Dvorak Park, near their home in Pilsen.

Sisters Ana and Olivia Orozco belong to the first Dvorak Park ensemble. Ana, 11, plays alto saxophone; Olivia, 7, plays trumpet; and for the two hard-working Southwest Siders, it’s a moment of respite.

“I like playing music because I get a time to forget about the schoolwork I have,” said Ana, a 6th-grader at James Shields Middle School in Brighton Park.

“At school they focus on grades, on whether you can have a good career. It’s a lot of pressure put on kids sometimes,” she said.

Their mother, Maria Orozco, signed the two up after meeting Katrise and hearing about the program.

“I’m so happy to have them do something together at this age,” she said. “As a mother it’s very special and I’m sure they’ll have memories from it.”

When she attended public schools in Chicago and Michigan, she said, nothing like this was offered. But more than the notes, the people make it special.

“It’s the attention the kids get from professional musicians who can be role models,” she said, referring to Katrise, Daniel and the other instructors.

What’s convinced her they make good role models?

“A smile,” she said. “They have great, positive attitudes.”

Michael Loria is a staff reporter at the Chicago Sun-Times via Report for America, a not-for-profit journalism program that aims to bolster the paper’s coverage of communities on the South Side and West Side.

Read More

Friday, December 9, 2022

BIG NORTHERN

Oregon at Genoa-Kingston, 7:00

CATHOLIC LEAGUE

De La Salle at Marmion, 7:00

DePaul at Mount Carmel, 7:00

Fenwick at Loyola, 6:30

Providence at Providence-St. Mel, 7:00

St. Ignatius at Leo, 7:00

St. Rita at Brother Rice, 7:00

CENTRAL SUBURBAN – NORTH

Deerfield at Niles North, 7:00

Highland Park at Vernon Hills, 7:00

Maine East at Maine West, 7:00

CENTRAL SUBURBAN – SOUTH

New Trier at Glenbrook South, 7:00

Niles West at Maine South, 7:00

CHICAGO PREP

Ellison at Holy Trinity, 5:00

DU PAGE VALLEY

DeKalb at Naperville North, 7:00

Neuqua Valley at Naperville Central, 7:00

Waubonsie Valley at Metea Valley, 7:00

EAST SUBURBAN CATHOLIC

Joliet Catholic at Marian Catholic, 7:00

Nazareth at Benet, 7:00

Notre Dame at Carmel, 7:00

St. Viator at Marist, 7:00

FOX VALLEY

Cary-Grove at McHenry, 7:30

Crystal Lake Central at Dundee-Crown, 7:30

Huntley at Hampshire, 7:30

Jacobs at Crystal Lake South, 7:30

Prairie Ridge at Burlington Central, 7:30

ILLINOIS CENTRAL EIGHT

Coal City at Manteno, 7:00

Lisle at Reed-Custer, 6:45

Peotone at Herscher, 7:00

Wilmington at Streator, 6:45

INDEPENDENT SCHOOL

Latin vs. Francis Parker, at De Paul University, 7:30

Morgan Park Academy at Elgin Academy, 6:00

INTERSTATE EIGHT

Plano at Ottawa, 7:00

LAKE SHORE ATHLETIC

Horizon-McKinley at British School, 5:30

Lycee Francais at Wolcott, 6:00

Roycemore at Waldorf, 5:30

LITTLE TEN

DePue at LaMoille, 5:30

Earlville at Indian Creek, 6:45

IMSA at Hiawatha, 7:00

Leland at Somonauk, 7:00

Serena at Newark, 7:00

METRO PREP

Islamic Foundation at CPSA, 6:30

METRO SUBURBAN – BLUE

St. Francis at Aurora Christian, 7:30

Chicago Christian at Riverside-Brookfield, 7:00

METRO SUBURBAN – RED

Westmont at Aurora Central, 7:30

MID-SUBURBAN – EAST

Buffalo Grove at Elk Grove, 7:30

Rolling Meadows at Hersey, 7:30

Wheeling at Prospect, 7:30

MID-SUBURBAN – WEST

Conant at Hoffman Estates, 7:30

Fremd at Barrington, 7:30

Palatine at Schaumburg, 7:30

NIC – 10

Belvidere at Harlem, 7:30

Belvidere North at Auburn, 7:30

Freeport at Guilford, 7:15

Jefferson at Boylan, 7:15

Rockford East at Hononegah, 7:30

NORTHEASTERN ATHLETIC

Christian Life at Mooseheart, 7:00

Schaumburg Christian at Harvest Christian, 7:30

Westminster Christian at Our Lady Sacred Heart, 5:

NORTHERN LAKE COUNTY

Lakes at Antioch, 7:00

PUBLIC LEAGUE RED-WEST / NORTH

North Lawndale at Farragut, 5:00

Orr at Lincoln Park, 5:00

Perspectives-MSA at Lane, 5:00

Westinghouse at Prosser, 7:00

Young at Clark, 5:00

PUBLIC LEAGUE WHITE-NORTH

Lake View at Sullivan, 5:00

Mather at Taft, PPD

Northside at Foreman, 5:00

Schurz at Senn, 5:00

Von Steuben at Amundsen, 6:30

PUBLIC LEAGUE WHITE-WEST

Collins at Payton, 5:00

Jones at Crane, 5:00

Legal Prep at Marshall, 5:00

Ogden at Raby, 5:00

Wells at Austin, 5:00

PUBLIC LEAGUE BLUE-NORTH

Chicago Academy at Disney, 5:00

Chicago Math & Science at Marine, 5:00

North-Grand at Intrinsic-Belmont, 5:00

Rickover at ASPIRA-Bus&Fin, 5:00

Roosevelt at Alcott, 5:00

Steinmetz at Uplift, 5:00

PUBLIC LEAGUE BLUE-WEST

Chicago Collegiate at Little Village, 5:00

Chicago Tech at Juarez, 5:00

Clemente at Manley, 5:00

Douglass at Phoenix, 5:00

Spry at Kelvyn Park, 5:00

RIVER VALLEY

Donovan at Gardner-So. Wilmington, 6:45

Grace Christian at Momence, 7:00

Grant Park at Beecher, 7:00

Illinois Lutheran at Tri-Point, 7:00

St. Anne at Clifton Central, 7:00

SOUTH SUBURBAN – RED

Eisenhower at Richards, 6:30

SOUTHLAND

Thornridge at Kankakee, 6:30

Rich at Thornton, 6:30

Thornwood at Crete-Monee, 6:00

SOUTHWEST PRAIRIE – EAST

Plainfield Central at Romeoville, 6:30

Plainfield South at Plainfield East, 6:30

SOUTHWEST PRAIRIE – WEST

Minooka at Yorkville, 6:30

Oswego at Oswego East, 6:30

West Aurora at Plainfield North, 6:30

SOUTHWEST SUBURBAN – CROSSOVER

Bolingbrook at Lincoln-Way Central, 6:30

Homewood-Flossmoor at Lincoln-Way West, 6:00

Lincoln-Way East at Bradley-Bourbonnais, 7:00

Lockport at Andrew, 6:00

Sandburg at Stagg, 6:00

TRI-COUNTY

Midland at Dwight, 7:00

Roanoke-Benson at Henry-Senachwine, 7:00

Woodland at Seneca, 7:00

UPSTATE EIGHT

Bartlett at East Aurora, 6:30

Glenbard East at South Elgin, 7:00

Glenbard South at Fenton, 7:00

Larkin at West Chicago, 7:00

Streamwood at Elgin, 7:00

WEST SUBURBAN – SILVER

York at Downers Grove North, 7:30

NON CONFERENCE

Beacon at Golder, 7:00

Bloom at Noll (IN), 6:30

Byron at East Dubuque, 7:30

Christ the King at University High, 6:00

Dixon at Woodstock, 7:00

Elmwood Park at Northridge, 6:00

Goode at Hancock, 5:00

Hinckley-Big Rock at Amboy, 7:00

Kaneland at Marengo, 7:00

Kelly at Mansueto, 5:00

King at Proviso West, 6:30

Rauner at ACERO-Cruz, 5:00

Ridgewood at Madison, 7:30

St. Francis de Sales at Montini, 7:00

St. Laurence at Evergreen Park, 6:00

Yorkville Christian at Notre Dame (Peoria), 7:00

HALL

LaSalle-Peru vs. Rock Falls, 5:00

Marquette vs. Princeton, 6:30

Putnam County vs. Pontiac, 8:00

MARIETTA WHEELER (GA)

Kenwood vs. Knoxville Catholic (TN), 7:30E

Read More

SAN DIEGO – One of the first things Carter Hawkins did when he accepted the job as Cubs general manager a year ago was to delete Twitter, he said this week at the winter meetings.

He has other ways to gauge fan opinion. He can feel Cubs fans’ hunger just walking around Wrigley Field. He said at his kids’ birthday parties he’ll hear grumblings about what “they” did.

“It’s very obvious how much the fans want a winner,” Hawkins said. “And it’s something that we value a ton and factor in a lot as we’re thinking through things. And whether they want to believe it or not, we feel the same way and are doing everything we possibly can to get there.”

The Cubs didn’t necessarily do enough this week to make skeptics believe. But adding a starting pitcher on a long-term contract, and betting on a former MVP centerfielder for a one-year deal, made for a good start to a pivotal offseason in the team’s rebuild.

The waves of judgment – positive or negative – will hit with the most force as the top of the shortstop market resolves, and as spring training approaches.

“I’m really really glad with the two guys that we are able to potentially come to agreement with while we were here,” Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said of right hander Jameson Taillon and center fielder Cody Bellinger. “And obviously, there’s a lot of offseason left.

“I feel like I’ve been conditioned to think the offseason goes until spring training. Now, maybe this year, that’s not the case. But there’s a lot of time and a lot of good players out there.”

The Cubs have shown interest in both the remaining top free agent shortstops, Carlos Correa and Dansby Swanson. But Trea Turner – who signed an 11-year, $300 million contract with the Phillies – and Xander Bogaerts – who landed with the Padres for 11 years and $280 million – set a high bar for the group.

Whether the Cubs are willing to compete in a market willing to commit that many years to free agents at or approaching 30 remains to be seen, as of Friday afternoon. Correa and Swanson, who are both 28, are the youngest of the Big 4 shortstops who hit free agency this winter.

The Cubs technically could get by without adding a shortstop. Nico Hoerner has proven he can be an everyday starter at the position, and they have several internal options at second even without Hoerner sliding over. But signing a top shortstop would be an obvious way for the Cubs to add an impact bat.

They’re also active on the catching market, and the first domino in that area fell with Willson Contreras signing with the Cardinals on a five-year deal reportedly worth $87.5 million.

“That is one of the challenges we have, is that until our farm system really starts producing – which I think it will be in the next couple of years – that leaves you with more holes,” Hoyer said. “We don’t have five or six prospects and are ready to come up and fill spots.”

The Cubs have work to do this offseason on the pitching side, too, even with homegrown hurlers like Justin Steele and Keegan Thompson establishing themselves in the major leagues.

The Cubs could still add to the rotation, but the starter would have to be good enough to push another pitcher into a swingman role or Triple-A for depth.

On the reliever front, the Cubs appear most likely to fill out their bullpen the way they did last year – signing relievers with upside to short-term deals and banking on their pitching infrastructure’s ability to get the most out of them.

Add David Robertson, who reportedly agreed a one-year, $10 million contract with the Mets on Thursday, to the list of relievers for whom the Cubs have been a springboard. Last March, he joined the Cubs for $3.5 million. The Cubs traded him to the Phillies at the trade deadline for right-handed Ben Brown, who is now ranked No. 7 in the Cubs’ farm system by MLB Pipeline.

“There’s a lot of really good free agents on the market,” Hoyer said. “We knew that everyone’s not signing while they’re here. Some deals take more time.”

Read More

SAN DIEGO – One of the first things Carter Hawkins did when he accepted the job as Cubs general manager a year ago was to delete Twitter, he said this week at the winter meetings.

He has other ways to gauge fan opinion. He can feel Cubs fans’ hunger just walking around Wrigley Field. He said at his kids’ birthday parties he’ll hear grumblings about what “they” did.

“It’s very obvious how much the fans want a winner,” Hawkins said. “And it’s something that we value a ton and factor in a lot as we’re thinking through things. And whether they want to believe it or not, we feel the same way and are doing everything we possibly can to get there.”

The Cubs didn’t necessarily do enough this week to make skeptics believe. But adding a starting pitcher on a long-term contract, and betting on a former MVP centerfielder for a one-year deal, made for a good start to a pivotal offseason in the team’s rebuild.

The waves of judgment – positive or negative – will hit with the most force as the top of the shortstop market resolves, and as spring training approaches.

“I’m really really glad with the two guys that we are able to potentially come to agreement with while we were here,” Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said of right hander Jameson Taillon and center fielder Cody Bellinger. “And obviously, there’s a lot of offseason left.

“I feel like I’ve been conditioned to think the offseason goes until spring training. Now, maybe this year, that’s not the case. But there’s a lot of time and a lot of good players out there.”

The Cubs have shown interest in both the remaining top free agent shortstops, Carlos Correa and Dansby Swanson. But Trea Turner – who signed an 11-year, $300 million contract with the Phillies – and Xander Bogaerts – who landed with the Padres for 11 years and $280 million – set a high bar for the group.

Whether the Cubs are willing to compete in a market willing to commit that many years to free agents at or approaching 30 remains to be seen, as of Friday afternoon. Correa and Swanson, who are both 28, are the youngest of the Big 4 shortstops who hit free agency this winter.

The Cubs technically could get by without adding a shortstop. Nico Hoerner has proven he can be an everyday starter at the position, and they have several internal options at second even without Hoerner sliding over. But signing a top shortstop would be an obvious way for the Cubs to add an impact bat.

They’re also active on the catching market, and the first domino in that area fell with Willson Contreras signing with the Cardinals on a five-year deal reportedly worth $87.5 million.

“That is one of the challenges we have, is that until our farm system really starts producing – which I think it will be in the next couple of years – that leaves you with more holes,” Hoyer said. “We don’t have five or six prospects and are ready to come up and fill spots.”

The Cubs have work to do this offseason on the pitching side, too, even with homegrown hurlers like Justin Steele and Keegan Thompson establishing themselves in the major leagues.

The Cubs could still add to the rotation, but the starter would have to be good enough to push another pitcher into a swingman role or Triple-A for depth.

On the reliever front, the Cubs appear most likely to fill out their bullpen the way they did last year – signing relievers with upside to short-term deals and banking on their pitching infrastructure’s ability to get the most out of them.

Add David Robertson, who reportedly agreed a one-year, $10 million contract with the Mets on Thursday, to the list of relievers for whom the Cubs have been a springboard. Last March, he joined the Cubs for $3.5 million. The Cubs traded him to the Phillies at the trade deadline for right-handed Ben Brown, who is now ranked No. 7 in the Cubs’ farm system by MLB Pipeline.

“There’s a lot of really good free agents on the market,” Hoyer said. “We knew that everyone’s not signing while they’re here. Some deals take more time.”

Read More