Michael O’Brien’s notebook: Jan. 17, 2018

That is Orr’s 6-5 junior Tujautae Williams in the photo. The dunk did not go down, but it was totally awesome.

One of the reasons I went to the Orr-North Lawndale game tonight was to check in and see exactly where the Spartans are right now.

We’ve seen Curie and Morgan Park against Simeon. Neither one of those games were very competitive. That leaves Orr as the team most likely to challenge the Wolverines for the city title.

Well, Orr isn’t quite there yet. The Spartans are still a promising work in progress. And it was very good to hear what Dannie Smith had to say after the game. A lot of high school kids can sound a bit delusional. I’ve heard under .500 teams talk about winning state and the city. Confidence is great, but it is hard to put much faith into a team that doesn’t seem to know what it has ahead of it.

Dannie Smith is well aware of the challenge ahead. That is a good sign for Orr. This is what he had to say about Simeon.

“Those guys are focused,” Smith said. “We aren’t as focused as them right now but we are going to get there. We will keep playing hard and get to their level of play.”

“We have to be tougher and I have to be more of a vocal leader. I think we can get there. Hopefully we see Simeon in the city playoffs and we take them down.”

Tonight’s top games

Crane 59, Clemente 47: The Cougars are definitely peaking my interest. Crane is 10-8 and unbeaten in the White-West, an underrated conference. Terrell Ousley had 20 points and six rebounds. Hylan Harris scored 15 and Jimarius Sneed added eight points, seven assists and 16 rebounds.

Wells 75, UP-West 74 OT: Terrance James scored 19 points and hit the game-winning free throw in overtime. Antwone Lampkin scored 25 and Montreal Roddy added 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Young 81, Uplift 69: The Dolphins trailed for quite awhile but took control in the fourth quarter. Javon Freeman scored 30 and Myles Baker added 22. Markese Jacobs scored 19 and Toraze Dobbs had 10 points and 20 rebounds.

Aurora Central 54, Illiana Christian 49: Kyle Czerak scored 29 and has cracked the 1,000 point mark for his career.

Austin 93, Kelvyn Park 23: Quite a margin of victory for the Tigers. Sophomore Andrew McClain scored 24 points and shot 8 for 17 from three-point range. That’s interesting. Jacquez Brantley added 18 points and four steals and freshman Michael McDowell added 16 points, nine rebounds, five steals and four blocks.

Foreman 51, Schurz 49: Major White-North upset, and the Hornets did it on the road.

Northridge 81, Morgan Park Academy 47: Nine different players scored for the Knights, who are 12-5 now and undefeated in the ISL.

Christ The King 64, Eisenhower 59 2 OT: Sounds like this was a thriller. Christ The King is a small school to keep an eye on.

Warren 64, Waukegan 54: So, who listened to the latest episode of No Shot Clock? It is probably time for my Waukegan belief to fade away. I’ve just seen them play so well. Barak Diehl led the Blue Devils with 24 points. Great win for Warren.

Lane 59, Payton 43: The Indians held Payton to two points in the third quarter and pulled away in the fourth. Lane is still undefeated in the White-North. Vuk Djuric puts led with 17 points, 14 rebounds and six assists.