By Xavier Sanchez
Correspondent
In. a highly anticipated matchup, Mount Carmel used a second-half surge to top Benet, 50-36, at the 5th annual Steve Pappas Shootout hosted by DePaul Prep.
The Caravan (17-2, 2-0 Chicago Catholic Blue) held a three-point lead at halftime, but outscored the Redwings 29-18 over the final two quarters.
Benet’s 36 points are the fewest the Redwings have scored this season.
Grant Best led the Caravan in scoring with 15 points, followed by Angelo Ciaravino and Lee Marks with 10 each.
Mount Carmel has yet to lose to an Illinois program this season.
Argo (5-11, 0-3 SSC Red)
The Argonauts split its first two matchups of 2024 with a 58-50 win over Chicago Christian and a loss to Lincoln-Way West. Jayvon King scored a game-high 18 points in the win over the Knights. Kasem Saleh was the leading scorer with 12 points in the loss to the Warriors.
Bogan (8-9, 5-0 Chicago Public White)
The Bengals opened the year by squeezing out a 49-46 win over Bowen. The Bengals outscored the Boilermakers 20-16 in the final quarter.
Brother Rice (17-2, 4-0 Chicago Catholic Blue)
After the Crusaders ended 2023 with back-to-back losses, they started the new year with wins over Lane (60-43) and Eisenhower (80-71). Zavier Fitch (19) and Marcos Gonzales combined for 35 of the Crusaders’ 60 points against Lane. Gonzales followed that game by scoring a game-high 27 points versus Eisenhower. Rice will play two road games this week before returning home to play rival Marist on January 16.
Chicago Christian (4-10, 0-3 Chicagoland Christian)
The Knights fell short against Argo, 58-50. Junior Malachi Kreider scored 17 points in the loss.
Curie (15-1, 3-0 Chicago Public Red)
Curie participated in the New Year’s Classic at Whitney Young on January 7. Down 15-12 at halftime, the Condors turned up the intensity and surged to a 51-43 victory over Romeoville. They out-rebounded the Spartans 38-28. Senior guard Carlos Harris scored 16 points and Will Gonzalez had 14 points and nine rebounds.
De La Salle (10-7, 2-1 Chicago Catholic Blue)
The Meteors played two games in the Bronx, New York, from January 5-7. They were defeated by host St. Raymond, 73-67, and Hudson Catholic (New Jersey), 68-53.
Evergreen Park (11-6, 1-2 SSC Red)
Naperville North topped the Mustangs, 58-43, on January 6. Nolan Sexton finished with 13 points and Billy Buchannan had 11 points.
Lyons (4-9, 1-3 West Suburban Silver)
The Lions lost, 45-39, in a conference matchup with Downers Grove North on December 5. Brady Chambers scored a team-high 14 points and grabbed eight rebounds. Liam Taylor had 13 points and five boards.
Morton (3-11, 0-4 West Suburban Gold)
The Mustangs participated in the inaugural WSC/MSL Challenge at Addison Trail, and suffered a loss to Buffalo Grove. Michael Barnes scored a team-high 12 points.
Nazareth (5-10, 1-5 East Suburban Catholic)
Roadrunners started the year with back-to-back losses to St. Patrick’s and Riverside-Brookfield.
Richards (7-10, 0-3 SSC Red)
The Bulldogs began 2024 with a 52-44 loss to Chicago Agricultural Science.
Riverside-Brookfield (15-2, 2-0 Metro Suburban)
The Bulldogs defeated Lincoln Park (70-63) on January 5 and Nazareth (66-64) on January 6. Stefan Cicc averaged 20 points and 15.5 rebounds in the two wins, and blocked five shots against Lincoln Park. Mehki Austin shot 8-of-9 from the field for 18 points and had four assists in that game. Threes were flying in the win over the Roadrunners, as Steven Brown finished with a team-high 23 points and eight assists.
St. Laurence (9-7, 3-0 Chicago Catholic White)
The Vikings earned a 74-54 win over Clark of the Chicago Public Red. Bradley Stratton (21 points) and Zerrick Johnson (20 points) combined for 41 points. Johnson had seven rebounds in the win. Also, Khalil Jones stuffed the stat sheet, finishing with eight points, eight assists and five rebounds.
St. Rita (1-16, 0-4 CCL Blue)
The Mustangs began the year with losses to Jones and Marist. The five-point differential in the 55-50 loss to Jones is the closest game St. Rita has played outside of a four-point loss to Carver and its victory over Collins.
Sandburg (9-8, 0-3 SouthWest Suburban Blue)
The Eagles split their first two games of 2024 with a loss to Lincoln Way East and a win over Oak Forest. Yanal Swaiss scored a game-high 21 points in the 63-58 win over the Bengals. Paul Mizeras and Ryan Tomczak scored in double-figures in both games. Eagles leading scorer David Vargas picked up an offer from North Central College in Naperville on January 6.
Stagg (12-5, 2-1 SouthWest Suburban Red)
The Chargers began 2024 by ending their three-game skid with a 54-38 victory at Lincoln Way West. Domas Narcevicius had a team-high 18 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Senior guard Conor Williams scored 10 of his 12 points in the second half to go along with five rebounds and three assists. Stagg will play four straight home games from January 10-16, including a conference matchup against Bradley-Bourbonnais.