Journal & Topics Media Group

Boys Basketball Roundup: Hersey Heats Up, GBS Drops 1st Game


Stevenson’s Darius Clemons (12) takes control of a rebound ahead of teammate Jacob Morris (33) during their Feb. 23, 2021 home game against Waukegan. The visiting Bulldogs would go on to defeat the hosts, 52-46 in overtime. (Shawn Clisham/Journal photo)

Saturday, Feb. 27

New Trier 54, Maine South 51: Maine South (9-5) led 25-22 at half, but trailed 40-37 after three quarters after a big 18-point performance by the Trevians. The Hawks kept it close throughout, but just couldn’t get past their rivals. South was led by Marko Anderson (15 points, 3 rebounds, 2 blocks), Sean Gallery (12 pts., 7 assists, 5 rebounds), Milan Adamovic (11 pts., 4 rebounds) and Nikola Zelenovic (6 pts.).

Buffalo Grove 67, Conant 50: Buffalo Grove (6-4) jumped out to an early 18-10 lead and extended it to 30-18 at half in the MSL crossover. The Bison never looked back in a 17-point win over the Cougars. Kam Craft (38 points, 6 rebounds, 7 steals, 2 assists) had a monster game for the Bison. Steph Harris (9 pts., 6 assists, 4 steals) was also solid for Buffalo Grove. The Bison have won four of their last five. Conant was led by Devon Ellis (24 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 block). Ellis was at 894 career points after the game.

Hersey 54, Fremd 29: Griffin Ginder (12 points, 4 assists), Andrew Wagner (11 pts., 4 assists, 2 steals) and Ethan Roberts (10 pts., 5 rebounds, 2 assists) led a hot Hersey (10-2, 6-1 MSL East) squad past Fremd (7-2, 6-1 MSL West) in an MSL crossover battle. Fremd was led by Chris Smyros with 13 points.

Oak Park-River Forest 70, Leyden 56: Leyden dropped to 3-3 with a tough loss to Oak Park-River Forest at home despite stellar games by Jiovanny Garcia (22 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists), Jonathan Chavez (14 pts., 9 rebounds, 3 assists) and Andrew Mann (10 pts., 6 rebounds). OPRF was led by Justin Millins (25 points, 6 rebounds).

Loyola Academy 52, Yeshiva 17: Loyola (10-3, 5-1 CCL) picked up its 10th win this season with a nonconference romp of Yeshiva. John Daguinsin (17 points, 2 assists, 1 charge) and Roman Sudimac (10 pts., 4 rebounds, 4 assists) led a balanced attack for the Ramblers. Five players scored 4 points apiece and the team drew 3 charges on defense.

Evanston 68, Glenbrook South 54: The Titans dropped to 11-1 with their first loss of the season. The loss snapped an 18-game win streak at the Titan Dome in Glenview.

Prospect 34. Schaumburg 32: Prospect’s Owen Schneider proved to be the hero, hitting a shot as the clock expired to win the MSL crossover against Schaumburg. 

Palatine 70, Elk Grove 39: All eight seniors contributed on senior night for Palatine in the Pirates MSL crossover win over Elk Grove. Julian Campbell (18 points), Ben Storm (14 pts.) and David Onyekonwu (10 pts.) led the charge for the senior class.

Glenbrook North 42, Niles West 35: Shmouel Sackman (10 points), Hazma Khan (8 pts.), Aidan Flowers (8 pts.) and Adrien Herrera (7 pts.) led Niles West (2-7). The Wolves trailed 24-18 at half and 35-26 entering the fourth.

Maine West 41, Highland Park 35: Maine West (3-6) improved to 3-1 at home with a CSL North win over Highland Park on senior night. The Warriors are also 3-1 in their last four games after starting the year 0-5.

Other scores:

Niles North 84, Maine East 50

Barrington 55, Wheeling 36

 

Friday, Feb. 26

 

Fremd 55, Palatine 49: Fremd (7-1, 6-1) was able to hold off rival Palatine in a close game. Fremd was led by Eli Schoffstall (17 points), Chris Smyros (15 pts.) and Jack Walsh (15 pts., 11 rebounds). The Pirates were led by Luke Seiffert (16 pts.) and Tyler Swierczek (10 pts.).

Schaumburg 55, Conant 38: Schaumburg jumped out to a 23-11 lead in the opening quarter and Conant never recovered in the MSL West showdown. The Saxons led 41-23 at half, but Conant chipped 7 points off the deficit in the third, before running out of gas in the fourth. Schaumburg outscored Conant 7-1 in the final eight minutes.

New Trier 53, Maine South 52 (OT): Maine South (9-4) played strong throughout the game, but just couldn’t close the deal against New Trier. The Hawks led 39-32 heading into the fourth, but New Trier forced overtime. South pulled ahead 50-46 in OT, but New Trier outscored them 7-2 to close the game out to win 53-52 over the Hawks. Maine South was led by Marko Anderson (17 points, 8 rebounds), Sean Gallery (13 pts., 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 charges), Ryan Leyden (7 pts., 4 assists), Nikola Zelenovic (9 pts.) and Milan Adamovic (6 pts.).

Hersey 56, Prospect 49: Hersey’s Ethan Roberts returned to his dominant form with 22 points, 3 rebounds and 2 steals to lead the Huskies to a huge conference win. Hersey also received help from Griffin Ginder (11 pts.), Ben Randall (9 pts., 6 rebounds) and Andrew Wagner (7 pts., 4 assists).

Rolling Meadows 80, Elk Grove 37: Max Christie (18 points) led the Mustangs in a huge win to improve to 9-0 this season.

Buffalo Grove 65, Wheeling 58: Kam Craft (24 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists), Adidas Davis (13 pts.), Kyle Brosnahan (11 pts.) and Steph Harris (8 pts., 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 steals) led Buffalo Grove over Wheeling in an MSL East matchup. Craft scored 12 in the fourth quarter.

Glenbrook North 55, Niles West 50: Niles West kept it close for a while, but fell short in the end. The game was tied 10-10 after a quarter and GBN pulled ahead 25-21 at half. The Spartans outscored the Wolves 30-29 in the second half. Glenbrook North was led by Ryan Cohen (25 pts.) Jeremy Gertz (10 pts.) and Aaron Mueller (8 pts.). Niles West was led by Moses LeBlanc (17 points), Hamza Khan (15 pts.), Lucas Vidrean (8 pts.) and Aidan Flowers (8 pts.).

Nazareth 50, St. Viator 47 (OT): The game was tied at 45 at the end of regulation to force overtime. St. Viator fell behind 48-45 early in OT, but after a bucket they cut it to 48-47. 

Niles Notre Dame 42, Benet 40 (OT): Notre Dame showed why it is No. 1 in Class 3A with another thrilling win in overtime. This time it was Troy D’Amico making the magic. D’Amico tied the game at 40-40 with under 1:30 to play in the fourth. Then in overtime, the game was still 40-40 when D’Amico tipped a miss by Anthony Sayles at the buzzer to pull off a thrilling win.

Loyola Academy 50, Leo 37: Loyola (9-3, 5-1 CCL) picked up a road win over Leo with help from Scotty Dean (19 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals) and Jalen Axibal (16 pts., 4 assists, 1 charge). 

Highland Park 58, Maine West 30: Maine West fell behind 12-0 after one quarter and 31-13 at half and never recovered. The Warriors scored 26 points in the middle quarters, but only 4 points in the bookends.

Other scores:

Leyden 53, Willowbrook 50

Stevenson 63, Lake Zurich 57

Niles North 78, Maine East 32

 

Tuesday, Feb. 23

 

Waukegan 52, Stevenson 46 (OT): Stevenson celebrated senior night, but the Patriots were unable to top Waukegan to end the night on a high. Stevenson (5-3, 2-3) was led by Darius Clemons (14 points, 9 rebounds), Evan Porto (8 pts., 3 rebounds) and Jacob Morris (5 pts., 12 rebounds). Waukegan (1-2, 1-2) was led by Amari Leflore (18 pts., 8 rebounds, 2 steals) and Malachi Reddick (10 pts.).

Maine West 59, Niles West 57: Jared Pearson exploded for 34 points and pulled down 11 rebounds in a stunning comeback for Maine West over Niles West. The Warriors trailed by double digits multiple times in the game. Maine West trailed 42-33 entering the fourth, but outscored Niles West 26-15 in the fourth to pull off the win. The Warriors made 18-of-20 from the free throw line to help win the game. 

Hersey 73, Wheeling 58: Hersey (7-2, 4-1 MSL East) was on fire shooting, hitting 27-of-44 shots (61%), as they knocked off Wheeling (1-5, 0-5 MSL East) for a second time this season. Ben Randall (23 points, 3 rebounds, 2 blocks), Andrew Wagner (17 pts., 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals), Griffin Ginder (13 pts., 4 rebounds, 2 assists) and Drew Zagorski (8 pts., 3 rebounds) led the Huskies. Hersey even hit 13-of-16 free throws. Hersey star Ethan Roberts stepped back this game and let his teammates take over, scoring only 3 points on 1-of-2 shooting, but he did dish a team-high 5 assists.

Glenbrook South 71, Deerfield 49: Glenbrook South (10-0) relied on their top two guys to take down Deerfield in a CSL crossover. Cooper Noard scored 20 in the first quarter to help Glenbrook South run out to an early lead they never relinquished. Nick Martinelli finished with 22 points to lead the Titans.

Palatine 62, Conant 52: Leading Palatine past Conant were Tyler Swierczek (21 points) and Luke Seiffert (19 pts.).

Maine South 67, Maine East 50: Maine South (9-3) was led by Marko Anderson (20 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists), Nikola Zelenovic (15 pts., 2 steals, 1 assist) and Sean Gallery (10 pts., 4 assists, 2 steals).

Fremd 53, Hoffman Estates 44: Chris Smyros (11 points), Chris Skaria (9 pts.) and Jack Walsh (8 pts.) led a pack of nine scorers for Fremd (6-1, 5-1 MSL West) in a conference win.

Niles Notre Dame 56, Carmel 40: Louis Lesmond (17 points, 5 rebounds), Anthony Sayles (14 pts., 4 assists) and Jake DeFranza (10 pts., timely 3’s) led No. 1 Notre Dame to another win over a solid Carmel squad.

St. Viator 63, Marist 54: St. Viator (3-1, 2-1 ESCC) was led by Eli Aldana (21 points), Connor Benson (12 pts.) and RJ Gamble (11 pts.) in an impressive win over Marist.

Other scores:

Downers Grove South 47, Leyden 41

Support local news by subscribing to the Journal & Topics in print or online.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.