Henricksen: Holiday tournament’s biggest winners

A look back at the dozens of tournaments and hundreds of games played over the past 10 days of holiday tournament action.

Best tournament

■ Pontiac

It’s become a broken record every 12 months but no one does it better than Pontiac. Yes, even this year after a power outage disaster left teams stranded and extended the tournament back one day. If the unique feel and standard high-level hospitality you regularly get at Pontiac wasn’t enough, the two semifinals games –– Curie’s buzzer-beating win over Simeon and Peoria Manual’s OT victory over Joliet West –– were arguably the two best games of the season thus far.

Best individual performance

■ Damonte Williams, Peoria Manual

With the stakes and level of play extremely high, the Peoria Manual junior turned it up a few notches in a Pontiac Tournament semifinal win over Joliet West. Williams scored a head-turning 37 points and pulled down 6 rebounds. But it was the three clutch free throws he made with 1.5 seconds remaining in overtime, lifting the Rams to a 74-73 win, that left an indelible impression.

Biggest holiday statement, Part I

■ Morgan Park

Sure, the Mustangs were the clear favorite at Proviso West. But it’s how coach Nick Irvin’s team went about winning the title, beating its final three foes (Proviso East, St. Joseph and Fenwick) by an average victory margin of 20 points. Morgan Park went into the holidays as the best team in the Chicago area, but it distanced itself from the rest of the pack even more by handling two previously unbeaten teams in St. Joseph and Fenwick.

Biggest holiday statement, Part II

■ Curie

Often the forgotten Public League program, due mostly to the fact it hasn’t won big in March as Simeon, Young and Morgan Park have over the years, Curie stepped up big in Pontiac. The Condors knocked off Simeon in the semis at the buzzer and then handed Peoria Manual its first lost of the season in the championship. Curie is ready to challenge Morgan Park in the city and has emerged as the team to beat in Class 4A.

Biggest holiday surprise

■ York

The unlikeliest of tournament champs. York captured its own tournament, winning five straight games en route to the title. The Dukes, who came into tournament play with a 5-3 record, certainly don’t pass the look test, and no one outside of maybe the West Suburban Silver or an opposing coach who has previously scouted York could name a player in green and white.

However, a pesky and stingy zone defense has given opposing teams fits. No team scored more than 47 points in any of the five tournament games –– the Dukes allowed just 40 points a game in the five wins. And those no-named players? Coach Vince Doran, who has very little size, had six players average between 6 and 11 points in tournament play.

Breakout sophomore prospect

■ Landers Nolley, Curie

A quick glance at Nolley this past summer and fall was enough to put the sophomore transfer from Georgia among the City/Suburban Hoops Report’s top half dozen prospects in the Class of 2018. But his four-game display at Pontiac officially put him on the board.

The 6-4 Nolley provides a terrific complementary piece to Curie’s two stars –– senior Devin Gage and junior Elijah Joiner. Nolley averaged 11.7 points a game and shot an impressive 11 of 20 from beyond the arc. He knocked down a trio of three-pointers in the win over Simeon and added 16 points (4 of 7 from beyond the arc) in the title game win over Peoria Manual.

Other young players who opened eyes

■ Ayo Dosunmu, Morgan Park (Class of 2018)

He’s hardly under the radar and is among the top handful of players in the sophomore class. Nonetheless, Dosunmu was instrumental in helping Morgan Park to a Proviso West title by averaging 9.3 points a game with 19 assists to just five turnovers in four wins.

■ Drew Peterson, Libertyville (Class of 2018)

The 6-5 sophomore and all-tournament selection at Wheeling impressed, scoring 24 points an opening-round win and averaging 13.7 points a game in helping the Wildcats to a second-place finish.

■ Isaac Stanback, Hillcrest (Class of 2019)

The numbers (8 ppg, 10.5 rpg, 7 blocks) were solid in four games at Proviso West for the 6-3 freshman. But it was his activity, competitiveness and fearlessness that impressed.

■ Marquise Walker, St. Joseph (Class of 2019)

The 5-11 point guard hit some big shots for St. Joseph (he shot 5 of 10 from the three-point line) and averaged in double figures (10.8 ppg) as the Chargers reached the Proviso West semifinals before settling for a fourth-place finish.

■ Davarion Jacobs, Uplift (Class of 2019)

The City/Suburban Hoops Report has hyped up Davarion Jacobs’ older brother, junior Demarius Jacobs, but it was the youngster –– 5-10 freshman Davarion –– who opened eyes. He averaged 13.7 points in Uplift’s three games at Proviso West.

■ Justin Hardy, St. Charles East (Class of 2018)

Although the Saints struggled at the Hinsdale Central Holiday Classic, the 6-5 sophomore was a bright spot. In four games, Hardy averaged 16.7 points and 5.5 rebounds while knocking down 5 of 9 from beyond the arc.

■ Fred Cleveland and Jayden Gasby, Urban Prep Englewood

While unknown Urban Prep Englewood went just 1-3 at Hinsdale Central, freshman Fred Cleveland and sophomore Jayden Gasby are a couple of youngsters a program can grow and build with going forward. Cleveland is a mighty mite at just 5-3, but the point guard impressed. He averaged 13.8 points a game and hit 14 of 31 three-pointers, putting up 18 points against St. Charles East and 17 against Westinghouse. Gasby, an active 6-3 wing, averaged 13 points and 8 rebounds a game.

Teams that proved their worth

■ Thornton

The Big Dipper isn’t what it used to be, but the Wildcats swept all four games and head into January with a sparkling 9-1 record behind the play of Samuel Taylor, Patrick Rucker and Orlando Allen. The Wildcats, in their first year under coach Tai Streets, have an underrated player in Taylor, who was the Dipper MVP.

■ Joliet West

Although coach Nick DiForti’s team dropped two games on New Year’s Eve day, there wasn’t a two-loss holiday tournament team that impressed the Hoops Report more. Joliet West looked terrific in knocking off Benet Academy and then took Peoria Manual to the wire, dropping an overtime heartbreaker in the semis at Pontiac. This is a fun, exciting and, most importantly, a still budding team.

■ Lake Zurich

The defending Pekin Holiday Tournament champs weren’t among the top four seeds this year. It didn’t matter. Lake Zurich reached the final behind the senior tandem of Nick Penny and Nick Meyer, where it fell to Springfield Lanphier. But along the way showed it’s the clear-cut favorite in the North Suburban Lake and a real threat in what will be a wide open Fremd Sectional in two months.

■ Naperville North

In upsetting Riverside-Brookfield and winning four games before losing to York in the final of the Jack Tosh Holiday Tournament, the Huskies looked the part of a player in both the DuPage Valley Conference race and the East Aurora Sectional in March. Now it’s a matter of getting 6-5 junior Mitch Lewis healthy. Lewis, the top talent in the program, has missed the majority of the season, didn’t play in the win over R-B and played just sparingly throughout the tournament.

■ Libertyville

Now don’t go clearing space for a regional plaque or a conference championship banner just yet, but Libertyville’s run to the championship game of the Hardwood Classic at Wheeling is duly noted. The Wildcats beat Glenbrook South, Fremd and Naperville Central –– and led Niles Notre Dame by nine points at the half in the title game –– before finishing as tournament runner-up. Led by up-and-coming sophomore Drew Peterson and senior Ben Kimpler, the Wildcats are 9-4 heading into January.

Missed opportunities

■ Mt. Carmel

The red-hot Caravan rolled into Pekin thinking big, with a momentum-building opportunity over the holidays. But the Caravan fell in their two biggest tournament tests, shooting the ball poorly in the two losses and falling to Lake Zurich in the second round and to United Twp. in consolation play to go 2-2 at Pekin.

■ Riverside-Brookfield

This was R-B’s tournament to lose. A big-time clunker against Naperville North in the quarterfinals abruptly ended R-B’s run at a York title, where it finished second a year ago. The Bulldogs finished 3-1 at York, but the expectation was to be playing in the final game and ride into January pumping out its chest a little.

■ Stevenson

As was expected, the Patriots found themselves searching a bit in the first month of the post-Jalen Brunson & Company era. After getting off to such a solid start at the Hinsdale Central Tournament, beating up Foreman and Richards and looking impressive in doing so, the Patriots looked as if they were ready to make a big leap forward in progressing. But losses to Homewood-Flossmoor and Maine South followed.

■ Upstate Eight River

After such a glorious run a year ago in the UEC River, the holidays were a chance to keep that league momentum going. But the past week was a bit cruel to the league.

Highly-regarded Larkin went 1-2 at Proviso West, St. Charles East went 1-3 at Hinsdale Central, St. Charles North went 0-2 at Pontiac and Batavia, which is 4-0 in league play, dropped its first two games at the York Tournament and finished 1-3. Geneva did manage to reach the championship game of the DeKalb Holiday Tournament, where it lost to the host school in the closing seconds.

Underrated Senior

■ Trayvon Tyler, Rockford Auburn

The little-known 6-1 senior has a non-stop motor on the perimeter and produces in a big way. In four games at the Hinsdale Central Holiday Classic, Tyler filled the stat sheet to the tune of 24 points, 6.3 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 4.5 steals a game as Auburn finished 2-2.

Underrated Junior

■ Elijah Ward, Joliet West

Led by 6-5 junior Trevian Bell and point guard Teyvion Kirk, the junior class at Joliet West is brimming with talent. But the athletic 6-4 Ward hasn’t received near the attention as other prospects in the Class of 2017 –– or any attention at all –– until now. Ward is a lively athlete who gets to the rim and is active around it. He was impressive, averaging 13.6 points and 6.6 rebounds a game in Joliet West’s first three Pontiac games.

Star watch

Here are 10 big named Division I prospects who produced over this holiday season.

• Charlie Moore, Morgan Park. In addition to averaging 25.3 points a game in Morgan Park’s four tournament wins, the 5-11 senior guard made game-changing shots of the backbreaking variety.

• Nick Rakocevic, St. Joseph. While the Chargers fell short in their quest for a tournament title, the state’s best unsigned senior continued to put up whopping numbers. The 6-11 Rakocevic averaged 18.5 points and 15.3 rebounds, along with an active 14 blocks and 10 steals, in four games.

• Jordan Goodwin, Belleville Althoff. In leading his team to the Collinsville Tournament title, the 6-3 junior scored 18 points, pulled down 14 rebounds and dished out 8 assists in the championship game. In four games he averaged 21 points, 8 rebounds and 4.5 assists a game in four wins.

• Javon Pickett, Belleville East. Although Pickett and the Lancers played in the consolation bracket at Collinsville, how about these four-game numbers: 27.7 points and 11.2 rebounds a game.

• Tim Finke, Champaign Central. Prior to his 7-point total in the tournament’s final game, the talented 6-5 sophomore averaged 28.6 points a game in the previous three while knocking down 18 three-pointers.

• James Jones, Bogan. He’s often the forgotten man in the city, but the Buffalo recruit put up 22.3 points a game in helping Bogan to a third-place finish at Proviso West, which included a 28-point performance in a win over St. Joseph.

• Barret Benson, Hinsdale South. In five games at the Jack Tosh Holiday Tournament at York, where he helped the Hornets to a 4-1 record and third-place finish, the Northwestern recruit averaged 22.2 points and 11.6 rebounds a game.

• Zach Norvell, Simeon. The Gonzaga-bound guard scored 24, 26 and 26 points in Simeon’s final three games at Pontiac and finished up averaging 21.7 points and 6.7 rebounds a game in tournament play.

• Damonte Williams, Peoria Manual. In leading the Rams to a second-place finish at Pontiac, the 6-3 junior guard averaged 20.7 points a game.

• Devin Gage, Curie. The DePaul-bound guard didn’t put up jaw-dropping numbers, but he did come up big when it mattered most. Gage, who averaged 17 points a game in Curie’s four games at Pontiac, scored 23 points in both the semifinal win over Simeon and the championship game victory over Peoria Manual.

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