St. Ignatius has a basketball team to be reckoned with
1. There isn’t a preseason Super 25 team that has climbed the rankings as quickly — or as impressively — as St. Ignatius.
The Wolfpack were at the back end of the preseason rankings at No. 22 when the season tipped off. But after a 6-0 start, including victories against two ranked teams in Benet and Young, St. Ignatius has risen to No. 6.
Coach Matt Monroe certainly welcomed back some experience and talent, including Chris Bolte, who is headed to Yale. But remember that all-state guard Phoenix Gill graduated and is now at Northwestern.
While Bolte has been as good as advertised, averaging 16.8 points, 10.8 rebounds and 3.3 assists, the Wolfpack are balanced. Amir Tucker (14.8 points per game), Nico Harris (12.3), Duke Ross (8.7) and DJ Caldwell (7.2) all have taken turns chipping in.
St. Ignatius has three winnable games on its schedule before a big pre-holiday week. The Wolfpack will take on Catholic League favorite and No. 1-ranked DePaul Prep on Dec. 19, followed by a showdown against Public League favorite and No. 2-ranked Curie on Dec. 22.
2. When the season began, it was thought that Curie might define itself as the best team in the Public League. Even though the Condors have only two games under their belt, coach Mike Oliver’s team indeed looks the part.
Senior guard Justin Oliver and never-rattled Curie overcame a deficit to beat star guard Jaxson Davis and highly ranked Warren on Saturday in the Chicago Elite Classic.
The Condors have two tests coming up before the holidays — games against ranked Oswego East and St. Ignatius — before heading to the Pontiac Holiday Tournament as the No. 2 seed.
3. Under coaches Kevin Hayhurst and Bob Curran, Thornwood had an eight-year run at the start of this century that was the pinnacle for its basketball program. The Thunderbirds averaged 23 victories while capturing seven regional titles during that span and qualified for state four times, finishing second in 2001 and 2003.
Since then, there have been few 20-victory seasons and not much postseason success.
This isn’t the Eddy Curry-led Thornwood of the early 2000s, but the Thunderbirds’ start to the season has opened eyes throughout the south suburbs and should have fans in South Holland excited. They are 7-0 and have climbed into the Super 25 rankings.
And Thornwood is doing it with two sophomores, Lester Watson (17 points per game) and Mekhi Young (16), leading the way. Senior Jordan Jones is averaging 13 points, eight rebounds and two steals.
There will be plenty of opportunity in the next month to figure out just how good the Thunderbirds are.