Boys Basketball | Stagg tops Bradley to clinch program’s first conference title

By Xavier Sanchez
Correspondent

Stagg came into this season looking for their first winning campaign since 2016. 

The Chargers did better than that.

In addition to being assured of finishing over .500 for the first time under coach Marty Strus, Stagg won the first conference championship in program history.

The Chargers (19-11, 5-3 SouthWest Suburban Red) defeated Bradley-Bourbonnais, 50-45, on Feb. 13 to clinch the SouthWest Suburban Red. It was their second win in three weeks over the Boilermakers following a 90-62 rout on Jan. 27.

The Chargers held a nine-point lead at halftime, but that slipped away in the third quarter. The Boilermakers, however, could not hold off the Chargers, who regained the lead in the final minute of the fourth quarter.

Stagg ended the week with a 68-54 win at Lyons on Feb. 16. Domas Narcevicius paced the Chargers with a game-high 24 points, while David Ortiz scored 19 points. Senior guard Lebarion Gilmore finishing with 13 points, four assists and four steals, and senior Connor Williams added eight points and dished out eight assists.

The Chargers open the postseason against Reavis at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 21 in the semifinals of the Class 4A Stagg Regional.

Argo (9-22, 2-11 SSC Red)

Argo ended the regular season with a 60-26 win over Solorio at home on Feb. 13. Sophomore guard Syncere Westrbook led the Argonauts with 12 points. Syncere was brought up from the sophomore team for Argo’s final five games, and averaged 14 points while shooting 46 percent from 3-point range.

Brother Rice (28-3, 10-1 Chicago Catholic Blue)

Brother Rice defeated St. Ignatius (69-60) and Notre Dame (59-42) on the road to extend its win streak to nine games. Junior guard Caden Workman scored 17 points to lead the Crusaders over the Wolfpack on Feb.13. Marcos Gonzales (16), Zavier Fitch (14), and Tyler Wooten (11) all scored in double-figures. Lewis-commit Cale Cosme had a game-high 16 points in their final game on Feb. 16.

Gonzales was named to the CCL All-Conference First Team. Fitch (2nd) and Cosme (3rd) also earned All-Conference honors.

Chicago Christian (8-21, 2-9 Chicagoland Christian)

The Knights suffered a 73-62 home loss to Reavis on Feb. 14.

De La Salle guard Richard Lindsey delivers and off-balance pass to a teammate in a won over Marian Catholic to close the regular season. Photo by Jeff Vorva

De La Salle (18-11, 4-3 Chicago Catholic Blue)

After playing all over the country, De La Salle ends the season at home with two big wins. Meteors defeated St. Rita (73-29) on Feb. 13 and Marian Catholic (73-55) on Feb. 16. Meteor senior Richard Lindsey scored a game-high 24 points with his teammate Tavariyuan Williams right behind him with 20 points in the win. Williams made six of the Meteors’ 12 three pointers against the Spartans.

Evergreen Park (20-10, 10-3 SSC Red)

Evergreen Park ended its regular season with a 75-67 loss to Providence. Four Mustangs scored in double-figures which included Tre Dowdell (19), Billy Buchanan (17), Nolan Sexton (15) and Keshaun Vaval (12).

Lyons (11-16, 6-6 West Suburban Silver)

Lyons beat Proviso West (79-45) on Feb. 13. Liam Taylor had 22 points and six rebounds while Brady Chambers finished with 15 points, 21 rebounds and four assists. The Lions ended the regular season with a 68-54 loss to Stagg on Feb. 16. 

Marist (27-4, 10-2 East Suburban Catholic)

Marist extended their winning streak to a season-high 11 games with a win over Joliet Catholic (72-55) on Feb. 13 to win the East Suburban Conference title. RedHawks guard Adoni Vassilakis scored a team-high 18 points in the win. Marist ended the regular season with an 89-58 win against Perspectives on Feb. 15. Colin McClauglin, Adoni Vassilakis and Thomas Brown each scored 14 points.

Brown, Vassilakis and Darshan Thomas were all named to the 2024 ESCC All Conference team. Thomas was also named 2024 ESCC Player of the Year, while Marist coach Brian Hynes was named the 2024 ESCC Coach of the Year.

Morton (4-22, 0-12  West Suburban Gold)

Morton Mustangs snapped an 18-game losing streak with a 72-45 win over Richards.

Mount Carmel (26-5, 6-2 Chicago Catholic-Blue)

Mount Carmel lost to DePaul College Prep, 41-38, on Feb. 12. Northwestern commit Angelo Ciarvino fouled out with a one-point lead and 55 seconds left in the game. He led the Caravan with 18 points in the loss. Ciaravino was named as the Chicago Catholic League Lawless MVP award winner.

Nazareth (8-20, 3-13 East Suburban Catholic)

Nazareth ended the final week of the regular season with three losses. Roadrunners lost to Benet (59-24), Marian Catholic (63-43) and Downers Grove South (56-50).

Oak Lawn (21-8, 12-1 SSC Red) 

Oak Lawn defeated Eisenhower, 62-54, on the road to clinch the South Suburban Red championship on Feb. 13. Dontè Montgomery scored a team-high 23 points for the Spartans in the win. Senior point guard Corey Lee finished with seven assists, which propelled him to first on Oak Lawn’s all-time assists leaderboard with 278. The Spartans finished the season with a non-conference loss to Thornwood (81-79). Montgomery had 23 points, Lee scored 20 and Jack Dempsey had 16.

Reavis (12-15, 4-9 SSC Red)

Reavis defeated Hancock (49-30) on Feb. 12 and Chicago Christian (73-62) on Feb. 14. The 73 points was the second-most points scored by the Rams this season.

Richards (13-18, 3-10 SSC Red)

Richards lost on the road to T.F. South (54-53) on Feb. 13 and Morton (72-45) on Feb. 15. Travon Gourdine scored a team-high 16 points and had six steals in loss to the Red Wolves. The Bulldogs bounced back with a 64-50 win at Chicago Vocational. Gourdine scored a game-high 20 points and had six rebounds. Camren King had 15 points and nine rebounds with Collin Wilks finishing with 11 points and five rebounds.

Riverside Brookfield (25-4, 6-0 Metro Suburban) 

Riverside Brookfield defeated Oak Forest (65-62) at home on Feb. 13. Bulldogs senior center Stefan Cicic had a game-high 27 points, 14 rebounds and three blocks. Mehki Austin had 13 points and Cameron Mercer scored 11. 

St. Laurence (19-12, 8-0 Chicago Catholic White)

The Vikings defeated Morgan Park (62-50) on the road Feb. 14. Denver commit Josh Picket scored a team-high 16 points. He followed that performance with a career-high 36 points in a 77-68 win at home over Hope Academy on Feb. 16. Bradley Stratton averaged 12.5 points across the two games.

St. Rita (2-26, 0-8 CCL Blue)

St. Rita closed out the regular season with road losses to De La Salle (73-29) on Feb. 13 and to Andrew (58-23) on Feb. 15.

Sandburg (16-15, 2-7 SouthWest Suburban Blue)

Sandburg ended the regular season with an 80-76 overtime win at Lockport on Feb.13. Senior guard David Vargas scored a game-high 38 points and hit a school-record nine 3-pointers. Vargas also owns the Eagles’ single-season record for 3-pointers and currently sits at 114. Vargas joined the 1,000-point club after hitting the mark Feb. 9.

Shepard coach Tony Chiuccariello enjoys cake with his team to celebrate his retirement after the Astros’ game against T.F. North on Feb. 13. Photo courtesy of Shepard High School

Shepard (9-22, 0-12 SSC Red)

Shepard went 2-1 at home in the final regular season week of Coach Chiuccariello’s coaching career. They lost to T.F. South (60-49)  on Feb. 15. They opened the week with a 71-28 win over EPIC Academy. Aurion Lee-Barnes and Jeremiah Storey led the team with 13 points each in the win. The Astros followed that up with a 67-41 win against Kennedy. Lee-Barnes led the team with 14 points and Storey scored 10 points.