High School Lites: Triumph and tragedy

Simeon 53, Morgan Park 51. Unfortunately that's what people will may remember the least on Wednesday night.
Following the game, outside Chicago State's Jones Convention Center a 17-year-old boy was shot and killed. It came moments after members of both teams started shoving each other on the court after the final buzzer. Sounds like a broken record? It is the latest in a trend of violence at Chicago Public League sporting events. The same two teams met on the football field back in September. That game was suspended for a fight in the stands where shots were reportedly fired. In 2006, the Derrick Rose-led Simeon team was mobbed by up to 30 youth after another heated Simeon-MP game. But the violence is not just contained to the Simeon-Morgan Park rivalry. In fact, just last week, a brawl on the court at the Corliss-South Shore game ended resulted in multiple arrests.
All of these incidents, specifically the ones revolving around Morgan Park-Simeon contests, are overshadowing some truly memorable moments on the court. And that holds true especially for this season, as each team has been lurking near the top of the Top 20 rankings all season long.
When it comes to play on the court, the writing may have been on the wall (in pencil) during the early part of this season: Morgan Park was, arguably, even with Simeon on the prep basketball landscape -- perhaps even a neck ahead, given Simeon's two out-of state losses and Morgan Park's impressive victories at Proviso West and out of state. Has the pendulum shifted back toward 82nd & Vincennes? Simeon's win over Morgan Park Wednesday night may have reestablished the Wolverines as the team to beat on the south side. And yes, we're talking about the same Simeon team that has won three straight Illinois state titles.
Now, can Jabari Parker and company make a run at Whitney Young?
Jahlil Okafor's Dolphins, the top-ranked team in the CSN Top 20, will be one of the many teams we will profile on this week's episode of High School Lites. We'll have highlights of their 77-63 victory over Farragut. Miles Reynolds scored 20 points as Whitney Young picks up a win in Chicago's Red-West conference. More intriguing battles take place Friday night across the city and suburbs: can Glenbard East, undefeated in the DuPage Valley conference, knock West Aurora out of first place? And who takes the intriguing North Suburban Lake battle between Zion-Benton and Stevenson?
Here is a snapshot of every basketball game we will profile on Friday's High School Lites at 10:30pm. The rankings reflect the latest CSN Top 20:
THURSDAY GAMES(1) Whitney Young 77, Farragut 63(8) Benet 51, (4) Marian Catholic 50
FRIDAY GAMESJulian at (3) Simeon, 4:30pmWaubonsie Valley at (14) Neuqua Valley, 7:30pm(10) West Aurora at Glenbard East, 7:30pm(9) Notre Dame at St. Patrick, 7:30pmGlenbrook North at (13) Niles North, 7:30pm(20) Zion-Benton at (17) Stevenson, 7:30pm
GIRLS GAMESWhitney Young 69, Marshall 40 (Thursday)Aurora Central Catholic @ Montini, 6:30pm Friday
Our Muscle Milk Team of the Week is Larkin High School's boys basketball team. Larkin made headlines last Thursday as they defeated St. Charles East, their 10th win in a row. The Royals, out of Elgin, are paced by guards Quantice Hunter and Quentin Ruff. It's been a pretty dramatic turnaround for Larkin, who finished 1-24 four years ago and just 4-23 in the 2010-11 season.
Our cameras will also head out to the south side to profile Marist senior guard L.J. McIntosh, our Allstate High School Athlete of the Week. McIntosh had a very eventful game last Friday night against St. Patrick, as he became the all-time leading scorer in RedHawks history. As always, well take a drive down Memory Lane in our Flashback segment and bring you up-to-the-minute scores and highlights from across Chicagoland.
High School Lites streams live this Friday night on csnchicago.com.
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