November 22, Chicago Heights, Ill.
Hillcrest (Country Club Hills) 62 Homewood-Flossmoor 39
No visit to Chicago is complete without some high school basketball. I’m biased (if you haven’t noticed), but I think it’s the best basketball town in America. And this is due in no small measure to the wealth and breadth of the Chicagoland high school hoops scene. Great players and coaches abound. And unlike most other big cities, it is a basketball community where city and suburb communicate and collide to great effect. And neither camp has a monopoly on talent. My friend from Detroit says even the best suburban programs there are almost never competitive with city public or Flint schools. In Chicago the parity from city to suburb is a given. One need only attend the Proviso West Holiday Tournament or some IHSA sectionals and supersectionals to see this argument proven year after year.
As a New York city resident, I am frustrated by the inaccessibility of high school basketball. A big part of the problem is that the local sportspages here–New York Times, NY Post, Daily News–are some of the worst in the country. The NYT is more of a national paper so I give it a pass. Not that I think it’s national sports coverage is worth a damn either. The Post and Daily News have no such excuse. They are journalistic jokes from start to finish. So it’s hard to know where the good games are being played. I know there are some strong suburban programs across the Hudson in Jersey, but it’s a chore to find out the who, what, where and whens. Moral of the story, when I visit Chicago I’m in bad need of a fix. And the Chicago Sun-Times does a superb job of telling me where to score.
There were several Turkey Day tournaments that caught my eye. Michael Jordan’s sons are on the same roster at Loyola Academy (Wilmette). The matchups at their tournament weren’t that competitive so I demurred. My alma mater at Oak Park-River Forest has two D1 prospects and they were playing in a pretty solid tournament at Lane Tech. I couldn’t break away from family duties. Gene Pingatore’s St. Joe’s Chargers have at least three D1 starters (Evan Turner, OSU: Demetri McCamey, Illinois, and Garrett Leffelman, Brown). I’ll see them at the Proviso West Holiday tournament at Xmas, so I decided to wait a month.
Then I noticed the Chicago Heights Classic with a marquee Hillcrest vs. Homewood-Flossmoor tilt. Bango! I borrowed my mother-in-law’s Toyota Avalon, put her Johnny Cash Live At Folsom album on eleven and burned rubber to Marian Catholic High. I got there just as the zebras were making sure the rock had good bounce. I sat two rows up on center court and was soon surrounded by the unofficial Hillcrest Hawks cheer squad. Ambience!
Hillcrest is a state contender. Coach Tom Cappel has been there for several decades and has produced countless D1 studs. His most recent product is Jerel McNeal at Marquette. Like many programs in the south suburbs Hillcrest has plenty of basketball talent strolling its halls. What separates the Hawks and equally strong neighboring programs at Thornwood, Thornridge, Bloom and Thornton is coaching. And Cappel is the best of the bunch.
H-F has a loaded roster. I counted at least four D1 caliber players. Kevin Dillard is one of the areas most skilled point guards and he’s only a junior. Fellow juniors, 6′6″ Supo Sanni and 6″3″ Russell Ellington already possess NBA bodies and unlimited athletic upside. When you’re bringing strapping 6′6″ sophomore Mike Buchanan from the end of your bench you are officially stacked.
Cappel’s squad has some tremendous athletes and two D1 players in 6′7″ senior Kellen Thornton (a long, smooth player with nice range on his jumper) and Elliott Jones, a bruising 6′2″ tweener with a beautiful inside/outside game. On paper, though, H-F should’ve won this thing. No one told Cappel or his Hawks. They played wonderful, hustling team basketball from minute one and never let up. H-F had long stretches where they coasted and daydreamed, expecting their talent to carry them. This lackadaisical attitude probably gets them by a lot of nights. But if the opposing team is executing and playing a frenetic, committed five man game H-F will have problems.
It was a coaching clinic by Cappel and a passionate effort from his kids. And that folks is why I will never tire of high school basketball in Chicago. The kind of quality basketball combined with top flight talent that I witnessed tonight is available every night of the week. It’s a savvy fan’s paradise.
