Michael O’Brien’s notebook: Jan. 20, 2018

Morgan Park picked up its biggest win of the year tonight, knocking off Fenwick in a star-making performance from sophomore Adam Miller.

Miller thinks the Mustangs are turning the corner.

“Everybody is starting to find their roles,” Miller said. “We need to start picking up wins. We learned from those losses. We just have to pick it up now.”

Miller is obviously a star player but I’ve been very impressed with sophomore Marcus Watson this week. He’s jelling well in the backcourt with Miller.

“I love playing with Adam,” Watson said. “I know all his spots on the floor, I like to give him the ball and get him his points.”

Read about Morgan Park’s win here.

Tonight’s top games

DePaul Prep 59, Evanston 52: Great performance from junior Perry Cowan with 27 points and eight rebounds. Cowan was 9 for 18 from the field, just a controlled and dominant game from him. Raheem Anthony added 11 points and 12 boards. DePaul dominated the boards 39-24, it is really tough to win with that kind of rebounding disadvantage. Matt Hall, Evanston’s 6-7 senior, didn’t play much. Lance Jones led the Wildkits with 22.

West Aurora 75, Romeoville 52: Quite a statement win for the Blackhawks. Jared Crutcher scored 20 and Traevon Brown added 15. Romeoville continues to frustrate. The Spartans have plenty of talent, but time is running out. Destin Whitaker scored 13 and Eddie Creal had 12.

Young 70, Bloomington 67: The Purple Raiders missed a game-tying three at the buzzer. Javon Freeman scored 24 for the Dolphins and Chris Payton had 26 for Bloomington. Payton scored 18 in the four quarter after sitting out the third quarter. He wasn’t in foul trouble.

It was a strange game overall. Young jumped out to a 15-4 lead and Bloomington slowly closed the gap. Jake Kosakowski made two big three-pointers in the fourth quarter for the Dolphins.

Downers Grove North 67, Glenbard East 45: Trojans were led by Semaj Henderson with 16 points. Very bright future for for Downers Grove North it is loaded with good juniors.

Kankakee 73, Hope 48: Darion Binion led the Kays with 29 points. Georgia Franklin led Hope with 12

Hope Academy 69, Marshall 52: The Eagles’ Javari McClendon led all scorers with 30. Lamar Eskridge led Marshall with 10 points.

St. Joseph 60, Homewood-Flossmoor 54: Really nice win for the Chargers. Jalen Boyd led the way with 14 points.

Highland Park 54, Lindblom 43: Ziv Tal scored 25 and Daniel Michelon added 11. Shamar Pumphrey scored 17 for Lindblom.

Uplift 64, Glenbrook North 61: This was a cool matchup, the kinda thing more shootouts should be doing. Looks like it was a fun game. Markese Jacobs finished with 25 points for Uplift. Kellen Witherell led Glenbrook North with 24.

Hyde Park 42, U-High 39: The Thunderbirds win the Battle of Hyde Park. Andrew Anderson scored 12 for Hyde Park and Mohammed Alausa led U-High with 16.

Farragut 58, Harlan 48: The Admirals win their second consecutive game. Darnell Jones had 16 and Aaron Strong and Reggie Strong each scored nine.

Stevenson 54, Waukegan 52: Cool stat was in the tweet on this one. The Patriots had assists on 15 of 18 field goals. Matt Ambrose led the way with 14 points. Stevenson is 10-6.

Wheaton-Warrenville South 39, Naperville North 36: The Tigers gain a bit of revenge for last season’s playoff loss.

Curie 73, North Lawndale 57: A bit surprised by the margin in this one, wouldn’t even have been too surprised if the Phoenix pulled off the upset. They did not. Very impressive win for Curie. Tyree Martin had 14 points and Marquise Walker added 13 points and seven assists.

Willowbrook 58, Leyden 56: The Warriors avoid the upset. Leyden missed at the buzzer. Ethan Schuemer had 20 points and five rebounds.

Addison Trail 52, Hinsdale South 50: Upset JT Daniels had 21 points and Connor Palesch had 13 including the game-winning layup with 1.9 seconds left.

Lake Zurich 57, Libertyville 55: The Bears grab a solid victory. Ryan Kutsor scored 26. Lake Zurich was done by 10 early in the third quarter.