Three-Pointer: Best conferences, Will Wolfe’s star is rising and dreaded injury bug hits

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Aurora Christian’s Will Wolfe (24) gets a shot to fall as he fouled in the first half against Oswego East as the Eagles win 62-54, February 3, 2018. | Allen Cunningham/Tor the Sun-Times.

The holiday trip to Florida has once again been a springboard for Loyola, Aurora Christian is a major player in Class 2A with star Will Wolfe and a huge blow to St. Viator with the injury to talented point guard Trey Calvin. We tackle all three storylines in this week’s City/Suburban Hoops Report’s Three-Pointer.

No. 1

The best conference in the Chicago area can be found in the Chicago Public League. The debate is over which one. 

While the depth is likely a little deeper in the Chicago Public League’s Red-West/North, the elite teams at the top of the Red-South/Central still puts it over the top. 

Currently the No. 1, No. 2, No. 4 and No. 8 ranked teams in the Super 25 reside in the Red-South/Central, and the league could very well produce a pair of state champions. Top-ranked Curie and No. 8 Simeon remain bonafide Class 4A state title contenders, while Bogan and Morgan Park are two of the favorites in Class 3A. 

Here is a look at how the City/Suburban Hoops Report stacks up the top conferences in the Chicago area:

1. Red-South/Central. The aforementioned powers in Class 4A and 3A are at the top. But you’re not going to find a better sixth-place team anywhere that’s better than Kenwood. 

2. Red-West/North. While Young could win a Class 4A title, Orr could do the same in Class 2A. Lincoln Park, Farragut, Lane, Uplift and North Lawndale really make this deep. 

3. Central Suburban League South. Evanston and New Trier are the headliners as a pair of ranked teams with 32 wins between them. Glenbrook South has 14 wins while both Maine South, which picked up a nice victory over Leo on Sunday, and Niles North have 10 wins each.

4. West Suburban Silver. The West Suburban Silver, featuring a pair of ranked teams at the top in Oak Park and York, already have five teams with 11-plus wins on the year.

5. Catholic League Blue. The Catholic League Blue has three teams ranked in the top 25 –– DePaul Prep, Loyola and St. Laurence. Plus, Brother Rice has Marquise Kennedy and 13 wins, St. Ignatius has 11 wins and Fenwick is a solid 10-win team. 

6. East Suburban Catholic Conference. The league isn’t quite as deep as it’s been in the past. But the fortunes of Benet, Marian Catholic and St. Viator are solid, while those for Carmel and Notre Dame remain high. 

No. 2

After stumbling over the holidays, falling to both Quincy Notre Dame and Providence St. Mel in the State Farm Classic in Bloomington, Aurora Christian bounced back in a big way Friday night with a come-from-behind overtime win over Riverside-Brookfield.

Coach Dan Beebe’s team, which improved to 16-3 on the season, hopes to be a major player in March as Aurora Christian makes the jump from Class 1A to Class 2A. The Eagles, who lost in a sectional final last year, will host a sectional this year that will include defending state champ Orr.

While junior guard Taaj Davis is rock solid and the emergence of sophomore guard Jaehshon Thomas has been a big boost, 6-6 junior Will Wolfe is the reason the Eagles can be considered among the top small school teams in Illinois.

Wolfe was terrific Friday night with 27 points, scoring in every way imaginable. He’s among the City/Suburban Hoops Report’s top 20 prospects in the Class of 2020 and a legitimate Division I prospect.

Big and strong on the perimeter, Wolfe is a threat shooting the ball out to the three-point line and scoring at all three levels with his touch and strength. He’s also now doing a better job of creating for others. Wolfe averaged 14.7 points a game as a sophomore last year and has upped his numbers as he takes on a larger role, putting up 17.3 points, 6.1 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.3 steals a game.

No. 3

Thankfully, this season has provided a couple of pretty injury-free months –– until last week.

Highly-regarded St. Viator lost half of its potent 1-2 punch of Jeremiah Hernandez and Trey Calvin when Calvin, the star point guard guard, went down with an injury in practice.

St. Viator headed into last weekend ranked among the top 10 teams in the Super 25 with visions of repeating as East Suburban Catholic Conference champs and making a deep run in Class 3A this March. That’s all in jeopardy now as Calvin, who is headed to Wright State next year, broke his left hand and is expected to miss a minimum of six weeks.

The Lions, who lost to Notre Dame and Waukegan this past weekend without Calvin, not only lose their point guard and perimeter shooting threat (42 percent three-point shooter) but also 17 points, 4.1 assists, 5.4 rebounds and 2.5 steals a game.

Follow Joe Henricksen and the City/Suburban Hoops Report on Twitter @joehoopsreport

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