It didn’t take long for Shepard to assert itself against Argo on Thursday night. It was 4-0 after 45 seconds and 10-0 before 150 seconds had been played. Naturally, Jessica Manley was right in the middle of it. The 5-foot-8 junior scored the second, fourth and fifth baskets, the first six points of her 23-point […]
Author Archives: Tim Cronin
Posted inClear-Ridge Reporter Prep Sports, DVN Prep Sports, Prep Sports, Regional Prep Sports, Reporter Prep Sports, SWNH Prep Sports
Donte Montgomery gives Oak Lawn fans much to cheer for
There’s a secret to Donte Montgomery’s passion for basketball. It runs in the family. In fact, it is the family. “I’ve got my own student section,” Montgomery said after his 23-point showing in Oak Lawn’s 56-47 victory over TF South in the Spartan gym on Jan. 17. “There’s probably 10 people (from his family) here […]
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Spartans for life: Danielle, Jack Dempsey carry on family tradition
The best basketball competition in Oak Lawn may not be in the Spartans’ gym, where the boys and girls teams are both chasing another South Suburban Red title — the boys’ third straight and the girls’ fifth in a row. No, the battles get even more heated in the Dempsey family driveway. That’s where Danielle […]
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Lyons bounces back from first loss, beats Marist
Defeat does not rest lightly on the shoulders of the Lyons girls basketball team. A night after their first loss of the season, to Associated Press Class 4A No. 2 Benet in the semifinals of the power-packed Montini Christmas Tournament, the top-ranked Lions were back in form, knocking off Marist 72-50 on Dec. 28 to […]
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Optimistic Oak Lawn has big dreams
Winning breeds optimism, and you would have to go far to find a more optimistic group than Oak Lawn’s Spartans. With a 7-2 record following an 85-77 loss on Dec. 14 to neighborhood rival Brother Rice at Mount Carmel, the Spartans are in a familiar position, seemingly en route to a fifth 20-plus win season […]
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Chicago Christian’s C.J. Cesario is Southwest Regional Football Coach of the Year
The seeds for Chicago Christian’s stunning rise to supremacy in football were planted beginning last year, at Maroa-Forsyth, which dominated the Knights 42-6 in the first round of the Class 2A playoffs. “That stuck in my craw,” lineman Brock Sperling said. “We were only down 14-6 at the half.” More seeds were planted this year, […]
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Richards’ season ends with semifinal loss to East St. Louis
EAST ST. LOUIS – Often the end is sudden, unexpected. Great plans are made and then upended. So it was on Saturday for Richards. The Bulldogs walked into Clyde C. Jordan Memorial Stadium hopeful, knowing they were playing a fleet favorite in the East St. Louis Flyers, but believing they had a chance in the […]
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Kenny Jager, Christian Flutman lead Chicago Christian to Class 2A state title
NORMAL – They’ve been playing football at Chicago Christian since 1968, when the Knights, long a basketball power, kicked off with a sophomore team. The varsity squad began in 1969. The IHSA began the state football playoffs five years later. For a long time, Chicago Christian and football championship games were mutually exclusive concepts. Friday, […]
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Chicago Christian earns first trip to state semifinals
C.J. Cesario was happily coaching the sophomore football team at Mount Carmel in his first year back in the Chicago area when he had a chance meeting with Chicago Christian Schools superintendent Mark Hamstra. Four deep conversations later, he was Chicago Christian’s new football coach. “I said no three times,” Cesario said of the job […]
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Noah Escobedo’s TD pass helps Richards advance to Class 6A semifinals
Like all quarterbacks, Richards’ Noah Escobedo would like to throw the ball more. But the junior knows that the Bulldogs’ success over the past 50-odd years has been running the ball. So he’s good with handing off to Myles Mitchell, or even going to the sidelines to be replaced by another blocker when Mitchell takes […]