Michael O’Brien’s notebook: Feb. 1, 2019

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Lindblom’s Na’shawn Howze (10) and Oak Lawn’s David Reyes (1) chase after the loose ball in Oak Lawn Friday, February 1, 2019. | Kevin Tanaka/For the Sun Times

The notebook is back. It’s been quite a stretch since the last one all the way back on Jan. 19. Apologies, I was leveled by a nasty illness and something had to go so it was the notebook. Then came the cold spell…

This was probably the worst Friday schedule of the season, but it was nice to have basketball back. I’ll be out at the East Aurora shootout all day tomorrow, I was in Oak Lawn tonight.

Oak Lawn stuns No. 24 Lindblom, snaps 18-game win streak: Oak Lawn junior Sam Osmani was involved in a minor scuffle at the end of the Spartans’ 60-47 upset of No. 24 Lindblom on Friday. Emotions were high. Oak Lawn was amped up to grab a statement win and the Eagles were watching their 18-game winning streak come to an end. The officials called the game with 16 seconds left play and Osmani, who scored 10 points in the fourth quarter, ran over to the Oak Lawn student section to scream and celebrate his school’s first win against a ranked team in recent memory. Read the story…

Ben Pope covered New Trier vs. Glenbrook South.

New Trier loses Ciaran Brayboy, but rides hot shooting past Glenbrook South: No. 11 New Trier lead Glenbrook South by seven points Friday when star senior center Ciaran Brayboy left with a head injury. It ended up winning by 12.

“We saw blood everywhere, and we just came back together as a group,” fellow senior big man Spencer Boehm said after the Trevians’ 57-45 victory. “We knew we had to keep on fighting with our lead that we’d just built, without the guy who’s been playing as well as anyone on the team. I thought we handled that very well.” Read the story…

Friday’s top games

Fenwick 56, Brother Rice 54: These two Catholic League teams are fairly representative of most of the area. I’ve seen both play pretty well, but they just haven’t been very consistent. Sophomore Bryce Hopkins scored 26 for the Friars.

No. 23 Oak Park 62, Lyons 45: Don’t look now but the Huskies may be on their way to becoming consistent. They are 8-1 in conference now. Anthony Roberts scored 19 and Chase Robinson added 16 points.

West Aurora 73, East Aurora 55: The big rivalry win goes to the Blackhawks. Kevin Balfour led the way with 15 points and Marquise Walker added 13 points.

No. 4 Bloom 66, Rich Central 48: Slow start for Bloom in this one but it eventually pulled away. Dante Maddox had 19 points and Donovan Newby added 13.

No. 9 Bolingbrook 77, Lockport 63: The Raiders were led by Darius Burford with 19 points and Joseph Yesufu added 16.

Joliet Central 74, Plainfield South 54: Khalid Griffin scored 31 for the Steelmen and Kendrick Williams added 19.

Fremd 52, Hoffman Estates 33: The Vikings are 16-4. Bryce Hopkins scored 14.

Leo 88, Mount Carmel 68: Big margin in this one. I did not expect the Lions to drop out of the Super 25 this season, but that happened on Sunday. This was a major response. Fred Cleveland scored 30 and DaChaun Anderson added 28 points and 13 rebounds. Leo had 24 assists on 33 baskets.

Prospect 72, Elk Grove 43: We haven’t written about the Knights much this season, but they just clinched a share of the MSL East title. Prospect is a very consistent program. It can win the conference with a win at Buffalo Grove next week.

Glenbrook North 45, Deerfield 33: Dave Weber’s crew takes down Deerfield. The Warriors face Lindblom tomorrow.

No. 6 Evanston 79, Niles North 65: The Vikings were hot headed into this one, but the Wildkits took care of business. Lance Jones scored 22, Jaheim Holden added 17 and Blake Peters finished with 16.

No. 13 Geneva 75, St. Charles East 55: Well, I did not expect this to be a 20-point margin. The Fighting Saints did not practice this week since they didn’t have school (same with CPS teams I believe). When the Vikings are hot they are clearly a real force.

Lake Park 44, St. Charles North 37: I clearly need to get out and see the Lancers. They snapped Geneva’s winning streak last month and are now 16-9.

Cary-Grove 39, Dundee-Crown 38: This was my second choice game of the night, I really enjoyed the Cary-Grove vs. Crystal Lake Central game I saw earlier this season and would like to get another look at Beau Frericks. The Trojans squeaked by.

Schaumburg 58, Barrington 53: Sophomore Chris Hodges had 22 points and eight rebounds and the Saxons are now 17-5.

Oswego 55, Romeoville 50: Huge win for the Panthers. They played well when I saw them at the Team Rose Classic in December and are in the running for the Southwest Prairie

Joliet West 68, Plainfield East 63: It’s been a rough year for the Tigers, this is just their fourth win but maybe it is a sign that the young guys are turning the corner. Junior Jamere Hill led the way with 21 points, sophomores Trent Howland and Ashawn Burbridge each scored 12.

FRIDAY’S FULL SCOREBOARD

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