Illinois HS Basketball News: Issue 34
Week of February 7, 2021 - Week 1 of the 2021 season
Welcome to the first full week of basketball in the wildest season of our lives.
Let’s get to basketball!
Basketball Begins for Most of Illinois
Yes, last Sunday I wrote that basketball was back in Illinois. But for 99 percent of teams, it was still the preseason (if they were even to that stage yet — more on that in a minute).
Today it’s fair to say that the season has truly begun for the majority of teams in Illinois. Game totals ramped up throughout the week. Thursday was supposed to be the first big slate of games before massive snow storms canceled games seemingly in all regions.
But on Friday and Saturday, it almost felt like a normal high school basketball weekend — if you ignored the masks, the livestreams and the lack of crowds. We have results from more than 100 total games on Illinois-Basketball.com — and there are still games we’re missing. Overall, we tracked 163 boys games 96 girls games this week:
There some wild finishes, game-winning shots, massive individual performances and the usual storylines across the state this week. There were even rivalry games and senior days.
Honestly, those all take a back seat to the fact that the strangest basketball season we’ll likely ever see just wrapped up, and what that means in the macro.
What stood out to me from the coverage from this week’s games, as well as the social media sharing, was just how appreciative coaches and players were to be back on the court. Perhaps we’d see some of this in a normal Week 1, but this was different. People needed this, the student-athletes most of all. Seeing that universal realization and appreciation honestly stirred emotions for me.
This tweet was every tweet in my timeline this weekend. When we look back, I hope it’s this feeling that stands out from this week and this season.
On the flip side, no good deed goes unpunished. Across social media it was impossible to avoid comments from fans or parents complaining about so many things. Why are kids wearing masks? I have to pay $10.99 to stream games? My son’s aunt can’t watch him in person?
I don’t want to be living in a pandemic either. But just appreciate that we have some form of season and the kids are playing.
The final piece that we have to talk about with Week 1 is that there are already issues with positive tests or potential exposure to COVID-19 for programs in multiple regions.
We’re all holding our collective breath, hoping that these student-athletes stay safe, and that those around them do as well.
Cancelations and quarantines were ultimately going to happen when playing basketball during a pandemic. With the policies in place — which are there for safety reasons — teams can miss up to one-third of the season with positive tests. For all the reasons above, I hope these cancelations are the outliers for this season rather than what defines it.
We’re all crossing our fingers.
CPL Still Waiting
The Chicago Public League CPL) is still waiting to start practicing, as Chicago Public Schools and the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) continue to negotiate. To oversimplify, much of the negotiations center around teachers’ ability to get vaccines before returning to in-person learning. The CTU is currently reviewing a potential agreement.
In the meantime, CPL coaches met virtually today in effort to find a way to find ways to return to the court.
The clock is ticking on the season for all CPL teams and athletes.
Request: Help Us Cover More Basketball
We spent all week adding schedules to llinois-Basketball.com, tracking scores, finding stories and more. There’s some easy ways to help us, which will help us free up time to cover more games and write more stories!
Send us scores, stats, livestreams and more! Tag me on Twitter or submit here.
Reporters and coaches: Send links to recaps and stories. I link to any I find/receive within the game results.
Week 1 top performances: We’re looking for the top performances from around the state for Week 1. Submit a nominee here.
Season Preview Stories
No time to sift through these, just titles and links.
Northwest Herald boys team previews and players to watch. (Joe Stevenson)
NW Herald: Girls players to watch and team previews. (Alex Kentecki)
Suburban Life: Boys players to watch and team previews. (Joshua Welge)
Suburban Life: Girls players to watch and team previews. (Joshua Welge)
Indian Creek boys: (Eddie Carifio/Daily Chronicle)
Beverly Review Twitter reviews from Tim O’Brien: Marist Boys, Marian Catholic Boys, St. Ignatius Boys, St. Rita Boys, Marist Girls, Brother Rice Boys
Channel 1450 boys: Riverton, Southeast, North Mac, Rochester, Glenwood, Auburn, Pleasant Plains, PORTA, Jacksonville, New Berlin, Springfield, Athens, Lanphier, Williamsville, Sacred Heart-Griffin
Top 10 girls from the Peoria area. (Adam Duvall/Journal Star)
Top 10 boys from the Peoria area. (Stan Morris/Journal Star)
Nine Juniors Set to Make a Jump This Season. (Joe Henricksen/Chicago Sun-Times)
Edwardsville girls: (Matt Kamp/The Intelligencer)
Boys: Tinley Park, Oak Forest, Homewood-Flossmoor, Bloom,. (Pat Disabato/Daily Southtown)
Waubonsie Valley’ (Patrick McGavin/Naperville Sun)
Western Big 6 girls. (Kyle Hartwick/Dispatch-Argus)
Moline boys. (Kyle Hartwick/Dispatch-Argus)
Mundelein, Stevenson, Libertyville, Round Lake, Wauconda, Grayslake North, Carmel. (Patricia Babcock McGraw/Daily Herald)
“Boys Northwest Suburbs.” (Dick Quagliano/Daily Herald)
“DuPage County Boys.” (John Lemon/Daily Herald)
“Fox Boys.” (Lemon/Daily Herald)
“Lake County Boys.” (Babcock McGraw/Daily Herald)
“Lake County Girls.” (Babcock McGraw/Daily Herald)
Girls Northwest Suburbs. (Babcock McGraw/Daily Herald)
Boys: Bishop McNamara, Bradley-Bourbonnais, Kankakee and Trinity. (Mason Schweizer/Daily Journal)
Girls: Bishop McNamara, Bradley-Bourbonnais, Kankakee and Trinity. (Cody Smith/Daily Journal)
Daily Chronicle boys (Eddie Carifio): Five players to watch and team previews.
DC girls (Eddie Carifio): Five players to watch and team previews.
Bureau County boys season preview. (Kevin Hieronymus, Kevin Chlum and Charlie Ellerbrock)
Boys Greater Egyptian Conference. (Braden Fogal/The Southern)
Other Season Stories
Schaumburg’s Chris Hodges, a Wisconsin commit, opted out of the season due to family health concerns. (Dick Quagliano/Daily Herald)
Notre Dame begins the season as the Sun-Times’ No. 1 boys team. Michael O’Brien and Joe Henricksen talked about the season and rankings on the “No Shot Clock” podcast.
“Rolling Meadows’ Max Christie discusses ‘complex’ senior season.” (Joe Henricksen/Chicago Sun-Times)
High school basketball livestreams. (Sun-Times)
Commitments
Marian Catholic 2021 point guard Juliana Cutrara committed to NAIA Indiana Tech.
St. Patrick 2021 forward Michael Hamilton committed to D-III Augustana.
Saint Viator 2021 point guard Aidan Harrington committed to D-III St. Norbert (WI).
Loyola Academy 2021 wing Nyah Moore committed to D-III Case Western Reserve (OH).
Danville 2021 wing McKaylee Allen committed to juco Wabash Valley.
List of 2021 girls college commitments and 2021 boys college commitments.
Boys Recruiting News
Senn 2021 point guard Jeremiah Word received an offer from NAIA Trinity International.
Girls Recruiting News
Saint Viator 2022 point guard Joy Bergstrom received an offer from D-I Providence.
Evanston 2022 wing Lola Lesmond received an offer from D-I Tulsa.
Stevenson 2022 point guard Simone Sawyer received an offer from D-I Cleveland State.
Coaching Stories and News
“Coaches Excited For Return To Action.” (Dion Martoran/Journal & Topics)
“Highland coach feeling healthy and productive after COVID-19, kidney scare in fall.” (Belleville News-Democrat)
COVID-19 Policies: Updates and News
“High school basketball is back with masks, social distancing. Here's what it's like in the gym.” (Stan Morris/Journal Star)
“Cheer squads, media won’t count towards 50 spectator limit.” (Colin Likas/News-Gazette)
Illinois Players in the Pros
Simeon graduate Derrick Rose was traded from the Detroit Pistons to the New York Knicks where he is reunited with Tom Thibodeau, who coached Rose with the Chicago Bulls and Minnesota Timberwolves.
“Getting to Know: Talen Horton-Tucker.” (NBA.com)
Other Stories and News
Simeon is the No. 1 winningest boys program of the past decade in the Chicago area. Morgan Park No. 2. Benet was No. 3. (Joe Henricksen/Chicago Sun-Times)
“Girls Basketball: Records, Milestones & More.” (Dion Martorano/Journal & Topics)
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