Michael O’Brien’s notebook: Jan. 12, 2019

St. Viator guard Trey Calvin wasn’t the only injury news last night (Calvin is out for awhile with a broken hand, which is huge blow to Viator).

Rolling Meadows star Max Christie sat out the Mustangs’ loss to Prospect last night. Dick Quagliano has the scoop…

I was at DePaul Prep all day for a great slate of games…

Deerfield 57, St. Patrick 43: Excellent game between Deerfield and St. Patrick. Clean, well-played and really watchable (this kind of stuff matters when you are covering five games in a day).

There are going to be plenty of college coaches around the Warriors the next few seasons. Brandon Lieb, a 6-9 junior, had 14 points and seven rebounds. Walt Mattingly, a 6-7 sophomore, had 19 points and four boards.

Deerfield (10-7) had several injuries to its backcourt back in November and started the season 0-4. The Warriors are 10-3 since then and it is easy to see why. Ara Emerzian had eight points, seven rebound and teamed with backcourt mate Danny Golub to take care of the ball and feed the bigs. Lieb and Mattingly are both good passers and use their size wisely.

“You don’t want to sit there and dribble too long, especially against bigger guys,” Lieb said. “You want to make your move quick and try to get around them and get the bucket.”

Lieb was 7-for-10 shooting and hit a handful of jumpers. He was matched up against St. Patrick’s Joe Fanning, a very athletic 6-6 senior.

“We were a little disappointed [Lieb] wasn’t all-tournament at Wheeling,” Deerfield coach Dan McKendrick said. “He was the second-leading rebounder and sixth-leading scorer. He’s averaging about 14 points and eight rebounds. The sky is the limit. He just needs to get confidence in himself.”

The game was tied at halftime. Deerfield took control with a 20-12 advantage in the third quarter.

“We just stayed calm and played our game and didn’t fall into the trap of speeding it up,” Lieb said.

Austin Freeman, who has been on a scoring tear lately, scored 18 points and grabbed eight rebounds for the Shamrocks (10-9). Fanning added eight points and five rebounds.

No. 11 Homewood-Flossmoor 61, Fenwick 47:The Vikings strength and size in the post made things very difficult for the Friars and star sophomore Bryce Hopkins, who was held to six points. Issac Stanback had 18 points and seven boards for H-F (12-4). He’s athletic and aggressive and just extremely difficult for most high school teams to handle. Damen Trice finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds and RJ Ogom added 11 points and five boards for the Vikings. The first quarter was close but the Friars didn’t score for the final five minutes of the half. Solomon Oraegbu led the Friars (10-8) with 24 points and Ryan Jackson added 12.

Loyola 49, No. 4 Marian Catholic 35: It’s been awhile since I’ve had a chance to hear Ramblers coach Tom Livatino rip into his team. He called a timeout after two minutes of this one with his team trailing 5-0. It worked. Loyola went on a 21-2 run and never looked back. Bennett Kwiecinski, a 6-8 junior, finished with 15 points and six rebounds. He scored 11 consecutive points for the Ramblers during a key stretch at the end of the second and start of the third quarter. Senior Connor Barrett had 15 points and six rebounds.

Ahron Ulis led the Spartans (16-2) with 19 points and Chris White added eight. It certainly appears Loyola is starting to live up to its preseason ranking.

No. 5 Morgan Park 62, No. 12 DePaul Prep 56:One month ago the doubters were out in force, relishing the chance to proclaim that the king was dead. Morgan Park, the two-time defending Class 3A champs, were 4-3 and had lost to Bloom by eight and Curie by 32. Consider all of that talk extinguished. The host Rams, along with Bogan, are the area’s major threats to compete with Morgan Park for the Class 3A title. The Mustangs have now beaten both. Read the story…

No. 23 Waukegan 71, No. 10 St. Viator 58: Andre White scored 21 and Bryant Brown adds 12. You have to feel for St. Viator, the loss of Trey Calvin really puts a special season in jeopardy. Jeremiah Hernandez scored 24.

Other games:

No. 22 Providence-St. Mel 88, Hales 44: Deion Jackson led the Knights with 22. Jason Mason added 18 and Taeyon Neal had 12.

North Lawndale 64, Vocational 51: The Phoenix win the opening game at the Arne Duncan Classic at U-High. Demetrius Douglas scored 18 and Marquise Earskines and Javante Brackens each scored nine points.

SATURDAY’S FULL SCOREBOARD