Michael O’Brien’s notebook: Dec. 15, 2018

SHARE Michael O’Brien’s notebook: Dec. 15, 2018
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Marian Catholic’s Ahron Ulis (1) is fouled. Worsom Robinson/For the Sun-Times.

Crystal Lake Central and Cary-Grove played an excellent game this afternoon. Great flow, both teams made shots and it stayed pretty close throughout.

The Tigers and Bucknell recruit Alex Timmerman pulled out the win. Timmerman was impressive and is definitely on the radar for All-Area.

Cary-Grove’s Beau Frericks was excellent. He scored 32 points and was super fun to watch, it was one of the best performances I’ve seen from a guard this season. He’s just a junior, as is Frank Jakubicek, who had 15 boards and is getting some college interest. The Trojans are definitely a team to keep an eye on.

Read all about Crystal Lake Central’s win against Cary-Grove.

Waukegan at Marian Catholic wasn’t quite as aesthetically pleasing. The game was pretty sloppy throughout and the Spartans really dominated the second half. Marian Catholic has a really high ceiling this season, do not sleep on them.

Ahron Ulis, Joe Green lead Marian Catholic past Waukegan.

Saturday’s top games

No. 7 Evanston 71, St. Joseph 38: The Wildkits dominate behind 30 points from Lance Jones. Sophomore Jaylin Gibson added 10 points and seven rebounds.

Hinsdale South 65, Conant 57: The Hornets’ duo of Billy Durkin (22 points) and Aaron Tims (19 points) get the job done again. Anthony Wachal led the Cougars with 16 points.

No. 20 Benet 54, No. 11 DePaul Prep 50: This is why Benet didn’t fall out of the rankings after the York loss. The Redwings clearly have something. The Rams were one of the best teams I’ve seen this season and Benet took them down at home. Kendrick Tchoua and Colin Crothers each scored 16. Tyler Johnson led DePaul with 19 and Perry Cowan scored 17.

Downers Grove South 46, No. 19 Downers Grove North 42: The Trojans drop a second consecutive game and are likely leaving the Super 25.

Bloomington 70, No. 18 Hillcrest 62: The Purple Raiders are really good, we already knew that. The Pontiac field is totally loaded. Hillcrest has a ton of potential but really needs to start beating some of the good teams it is facing.

Lyons 60, Lincoln-Way East 29: What got into the Lions this weekend? They knocked off a good Oak Park team last night and took down the Griffins tonight.

York 73, Willowbrook 45: There is another reason Benet didn’t drop out of the Super 25 after losing to York. The Dukes are good. Domination of a quality Willowbrook team. Balanced scoring for York.

Lincoln Park 66, Milwaukee Science 65: The Lions survive on the road after knocking off top-ranked Young last night.

Farragut 58, Gary Roosevelt 54: The Admirals pick up a second win this weekend and improve to 4-3.

Providence-St.Mel 87, North Lawndale 82: As mentioned before, any win against a Red-North/West team is a big deal. This is a really nice sign for the Knights. Deion Jackson scored 22 and Tyriel Nelson had 20.

Maine South 53, Thornwood 44: John Gardiner had 15 points and six rebounds. The Hawks are 6-3.

No. 2 Bloom 66, Hyde Park 42: Martice Mitchell led the way with 16 and Justin Moore scored 11. The Blazing Trojans take care of business in a quick turnaround after last night’s big win against H-F.

JJ Pearce, TX 53, No. 10 Simeon 52: Another close lose to a good team. Antonio Reeves scored 22. Wolverines coach Robert Smith says Ahamad Bynum may miss two to three weeks with a sprained ankle. He was injured in the Curie game on Thursday.

Orr 67, Gateway Legacy 44: The Spartans say that Tujautae Williams tossed it off the backboard, caught it himself and dunked it. Sad I missed that. I remember watching Luther Head do it back when there used to be that Chicago vs. New York All-Star game at DePaul. Williams had 13 points.

No. 24 Geneva 69, Plainfield South 65: The Vikings pick up two nice wins this weekend.

Niles North 70, Prosser 52: This week has shown how strong all the Red-North/West teams are, so clearly things are pointing up for the Vikings.

St. Charles East 86, Oswego 60: Quite the margin of victory in this one. The Fighting Saints improve to 6-4.

No. 8 St. Viator 59, Hersey 31: The Lions cruise. Jeremiah Hernandez had 15 points and Trey Calvin scored 13.

Proviso East 64, Thornton 58: James Hobson scored 21 to lead the Pirates, who have not received much attention this season but are now 5-2.

It appears the Quad Cities are down this season. Historically down:

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