Year is moving along fast and will be ending soon. WOW!!!!! Crazy. Here we go:
South Suburbs is having a great year:
I was not out there but was told it was a great atmosphere for Thornton vs Homewood Flossmoor Round 2. Game was part of the Chelby Frazier Memorial Shootout at Thornwood (South Holland). They first met in the Big Dipper Holiday Tournament title game just after Christmas. That game ended on a last second shot by Columbia commit Gianni Cobb of Homewood Flossmoor. This one was same song different verse. Cobb did it again and owns two huge wins over Thornton. Thornton has lost only 3 games this year, twice to Homewood Flossmoor and once to Bloom Township (Chicago Heights). South Suburb team has not won a State Title since 2010 when Hillcrest (Country Club Hills) won Class 3A. Thornton is in Class 3A and Homewood Flossmoor is in Class 4A. They could double dip this year as both teams are serious contenders for the crown. Other contenders are Kankakee in Class 3A, and Bloom Township (Chicago Heights) in Class 4A. Rich Township (Richton Park) is also a dark horse in Class 4A. We'll see.
Normal Community has had a rough time last three weeks coming to Chicago Area:
Normal Community is a top contender in Class 4A and a huge sized basketball squad. They are 3-3 though in the last three weeks on consecutive trips to the Chicago Area. Lost to undefeated Waubonsie Valley (Aurora), North (Downers Grove) and Benet Academy (Lisle) which they lost a 14 point fourth quarter lead. They did defeat Class 3A power DePaul College Prep (Chicago) by 1 in double overtime. They are still contenders for the title but have to get more aggressive play from their guard positions to win it all. Senior Noah Cleveland (6'9" forward) has played very well the last few weeks.
Is Waubonsie Valley (Aurora) a state title contender? They are ranked 3rd in Big Tm's area rankings. They are one of only three unbeatens left in the state of Illinois. They are in Class 4A and yes the schedule has not been that challenging. They've beaten Big Tim area ranked Neuqua Valley (Naperville) and state ranked Normal Community. They are a tough minded team led by underrated junior point guard Tyreek Coleman. We will find out quickly on Saturday as they host Big Tim #8 Bolingbrook. Bolingbrook is in their Sectional (East Aurora) so could be first of two meetings. This game is also big for sectional seeding. Speaking of:
Sectional Seedings are late next week:
Seeding meetings are 8 days from now and the Chicago Public League Red Playoffs will be wrapping up around that time, so those seedings will be interesting to see. Any games after that will be just for kicks as the seedings will already be determined. I'll be interested to see the seedings in the Class 4A Rich Township and Riverside Brookfield Sectionals. Those Sectionals will meet up in UIC Supersectional so the winners will be battle tested going into that game on Supersectional Monday. To me that is the toughest game all year, so close but so far from the Holy Grail....Champaign.
Foul shooting:
I went to a game at the Rich Township Breast Cancer Shootout and have never seen so many missed free throws between two teams in my life. Michele Clark (Chicago) and Leo Catholic combined to miss 38 FREE THROWS!!!!!! YES 38!!!!!!! My my my don't understand it. No one is guarding you one of the easiest shots in basketball and these young men can't master it. Why? Speaking of the playoffs, some teams are going to rue the missed free throws and they will end a lot of teams seasons because they can't hit them. Not just at clutch times but the entire game. Dreams will end because teams and players can't master this simple part of the game.
Chicago Public League Red Playoffs start Tuesday:
First round play starts Tuesday. White League play starts today, and Blue play started last Friday. Blessings to all the teams participating. This is still a big tournament for the kids to say they are City Champs. In saying this it's hard to win the double of City and State. Simeon Career Academy almost got it done last year. Can a City team pull off the double this year? We will certainly find out.
That's all folks, Big Tim signing out.
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