Reavis won the first Chicago Christian Thanksgiving Tournament. Photo courtesy of Reavis High School
Girls Basketball | Big day for Reavis, Lopez
By Jeff Vorva
Staff Writer
It was a big day for the Reavis girls basketball team.
It was an even bigger day for Isabel Lopez.
The Rams crushed Bremen, 51-29, on Nov. 18 to claim the title of the inaugural Chicago Christian Thanksgiving Tournament in Palos Heights.
Lopez, Lilly Hernandez and Ella Frixen were named to the all-tournament team. As a bonus, Lopez, a senior guard, picked up an offer from Eureka College.
Chicago Christian finished fourth after dropping a 45-36 decision to Westmont. The Knights’ Courtney Stoub earned all-tournament honors.
New eras at St. Laurence
The Claire Austin era began at St. Laurence, as the former Marist and Saint Xavier standout is now coaching at the Burbank school.
But the Aaliyah Flowers era also started.
Flowers, a freshman from Tinley Park, led the Vikings with 16 points as St. Laurence beat Crete-Monee, 43-29, Nov. 14 in the opening round of the Beecher Fall Classic. The Vikings trailed by three points at halftime, but senior Kathleen Martin had 10 second-half points off the bench to contribute to the win.
The Vikings tore into Thornton Fractional North, 50-20, in the second round on Nov. 17. Reaghan Galvin scored nine points.
In the third round on Nov. 18, Flores was dominant again with 18 points in a 51-33 win over Kankakee.
Pool play was scheduled to end on Nov. 20 and the championship and crossover rounds were scheduled for Nov. 21.
Comeback kids
Sandburg walked a dangerous tightrope when it played host Hinsdale South on Nov. 18 in the second round of the Brenda Whitesell Tournament.
The Eagles dug a 15-point hole, but managed to offset that with a strong second half and pulled off a 44-42 victory.
Ellie Driscoll had 15 points off the bench and drained four 3-pointers in the second half. Zoe Trunk had 11 points in the second half.
Roadrunners still winning
Defending IHSA Class 3A state championship Nazareth, which has four top-four trophies since 2017-18, is off to a hot start in pursuit of another.
The Roadrunners won their first two games in the Hinsdale Central tournament convincingly, as they opened with a 48-24 victory over Neuqua Valley and followed it up on Nov. 18 with a 60-18 dismantling of the host Red Devils.
In the opener, Stella Sakalas led with 13 points. In the win over Hinsdale Central, Sophia Towne had 12 points, Lyla Shelton finished with 11, and Olivia Austin and Amalia Dray had 10 each.
Local News
Saquan Commings’ pick-six highlights Curie shutout of Mather
Slowly but surely, Curie is learning how to win again. The Condors were one of the Public League’s top football programs earlier this century, advancing to the IHSA playoffs 11 times from 2005-19 and winning 41 games between 2014-17. But before first-year coach Jarve Lewis-Bey arrived this fall, Curie had only four victories in the…
Universal hires Mustafa Sulaiman as boys basketball coach
Mustafa Sulaiman wasn’t looking for another job, but one came looking for him. Ibrahim is a familiar figure in Chicago-area prep basketball circles as the creator of the Xposure Runs podcast and the Chitown Showcase for uncommitted players trying to raise their recruiting profile. Now he’s also the head coach at Universal. Sulaiman was hired…
Dominic Pisciotti, Mack Long rally Lyons past Downers North
One of the primary takeaways for Lyons coach Jon Beutjer from a dramatic 21-20 comeback win over Downers Grove North in Week 7 was seeing how his team reacted to adversity. Not only were the Lions (7-0, 5-0 West Suburban Silver) trailing 20-0 at halftime, they also committed four turnovers in the first half and…
AJ Powell does it all for Evergreen Park in win vs. Reavis
Anything you can do, chances are AJ Powell can do better. The 5-foot-9, 150-pound senior demonstrated that in a 21-13 Week 7 win against Reavis in South Suburban Red action. Playing running back and cornerback, Powell rushed 11 times for 83 yards. On defense, he had 9.5 tackles and two interceptions. Powell also blocked an…
Mike Walsh’s Football Top 10, Week 8
1. MARIST (6-1) Last week: Beat St. Ignatius 37-19 This week: vs. Marmion Comment: John McAuliffe and Jacob Ritter combine for 274 yards rushing and five TDs. 2. LYONS. (7-0) Last week: Beat Downers Grove North 21-20 This week: at York Comment: Lions rally from 20 down in third quarter against previously undefeated Trojans. 3.…
Jack’s back: Elliott leads Mount Carmel past Joliet Catholic
Welcome back, Jack. Senior quarterback Jack Elliott missed Mount Carmel’s loss to Brother Rice in Week 6 with an injury. But he was back in the Caravan lineup for Week 7 against Joliet Catholic in Chicago. How much of an impact did Elliott have in Mount Carmel’s 35-21 triumph over the Hilltoppers? A significant one.…
Argo loses to Eisenhower on touchdown in closing seconds
A 19-14 South Suburban Red road loss to Eisenhower in Week 7 gave Argo coach Phillip Rossberg a bad case of déjà vu. Two weeks earlier, the Argonauts traveled to Tinley Park for a South Suburban crossover and lost to the Titans by the same score in a similar fashion. In both games, a big…
Bridgeview firefighter’s haunted house returns to spook locals
Bridgeview firefighter Tony Roeback’s graveyard-themed haunted house display is back for locals and neighboring townies to enjoy this Halloween season. The go-to haunted house at 7216 W. 72nd St. is back, featuring popular animatronics from Halloween movie classics, unique light fixtures, projection shows, and live performances to get neighbors into the Halloween spirit. Ringleader Tony…
Vulcan pays McCook $1.5 million to settle dumping lawsuit
Charging a company $4 for each truckload of clean debris dumped into a former quarry may not sound like much, but when you do the math, as McCook Mayor Terrance Carr said last Monday night, those truckloads add up. “It’s nothing, but when you’ve got thousands of trucks and years of dumping, it can add…
Neighbors
Jury deadlocks, mistrial declared in case of ex-AT&T boss accused of bribing Madigan
By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois hmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com CHICAGO – A federal judge on Thursday declared a mistrial after a jury deadlocked in their deliberations over whether former AT&T Illinois President Paul La Schiazza bribed longtime Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan via a no-work contract for the speaker’s political ally. After nearly 15 hours of deliberation…
High court: Smell of burnt cannabis is not cause for warrantless vehicle search
By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois hmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com Law enforcement officers in Illinois cannot rely on the smell of burnt cannabis alone to justify searching a vehicle without a warrant, the Illinois Supreme Court ruled on Thursday. The decision was unanimous, though Justice Lisa Holder White did not take part in it. Writing for the court,…
State wraps up case in challenge to assault weapons ban
By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois phancock@capitolnewsillinois.com EAST ST. LOUIS – A federal judge invoked images from the 1917 race riots in East St. Louis, Illinois, on Thursday at the end of a trial in a case challenging the constitutionality of the state’s ban on assault-style weapons and large-capacity magazines. Judge Steven McGlynn, who has…
Gun expert says assault weapons ban ‘describes the most popular firearms I’m involved with’
By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois phancock@capitolnewsillinois.com EAST ST. LOUIS – A firearms expert testified Wednesday that the weapons restricted under Illinois’ assault weapons ban include many of the most common firearms that American consumers use for self-defense. Steven Randall Watt, a combat veteran and retired law enforcement officer who now owns a private firearms…
Case of former AT&T boss accused of bribing Madigan heads to jury
By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois hmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com CHICAGO – On Valentine’s Day in 2017, then-AT&T Illinois President Paul La Schiazza got some good news: After years of trying to push for legislation in Springfield that would save the company hundreds of millions of dollars annually, powerful Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan had agreed to a…
State Supreme Court hears arguments in Jussie Smollett’s effort to overturn conviction
By JERRY NOWICKI Capitol News Illinois jnowicki@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois Supreme Court heard arguments Tuesday in actor Jussie Smollett’s appeal to overturn his conviction on disorderly conduct charges for falsifying a hate crime. Smollett, who was an actor on the TV show “Empire,” was improperly charged with the same crime twice, his legal team…
Testimony continues in 2nd Amendment challenge to Illinois’ assault weapons ban
By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois phancock@capitolnewsillinois.com EAST ST. LOUIS – An engineer who spent decades designing weapons for one of the world’s leading gun manufacturers testified Tuesday that the assault-style weapons now banned in Illinois are intended only for civilian use and cannot be easily converted into military-grade firearms. James Ronkainen, a former engineer…
Contractor’s unsecured databases exposed sensitive voter data in over a dozen Illinois counties
By ANDREW ADAMS Capitol News Illinois aadams@capitolnewsillinois.com Around 4.6 million records associated with Illinoisans in over a dozen counties – including voting records, registrations and death certificates – were temporarily available on the open internet, according to a security researcher who identified the vulnerability in July. The documents were available through an unsecured cloud storage…
Prosecutors rest case against former AT&T Illinois boss accused of bribing Madigan
By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois hmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com CHICAGO – After years of pushing in Springfield, AT&T Illinois’ executive team was thrilled when the Illinois General Assembly in 2017 passed legislation that would get the company out from under expensive obligations to maintain its aging copper landline wires in Illinois. “Game over. We win,” AT&T Illinois…
Trial begins in challenge to assault weapons ban
By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois phancock@capitolnewsillinois.com EAST ST. LOUIS – The owner of a gun store testified Monday that Illinois’ ban on the sale of assault-style weapons and large capacity magazines has had a significant impact on his business and prevented his customers from buying items they would normally use for self-defense, hunting, target…