Doug Ferguson

MAC IRVIN ‘BACK TO SCHOOL’ SUMMARY

Many Chicago Schools Step Up in Back to School Classic

by Doug Ferguson

If the Mac Irvin Fire’s 13th Annual Back to School Classic was any indication of what the high school season in the Chicagoland area this season, the Land of Lincoln is in for a real treat. Billed as an AAU tournament, it was really no more than a glorified tournament of the area’s top high schools. Outstanding performances were put in by Morton, Thornton, Hyde Park, Curie (consolation champions), Whitney Young, and host De La Salle. The tournament winner, as well as the team turning the most heads, was the “Phoenix”, aka North Lawndale Prep, who shocked everyone with their straight up domination of an undermanned Whitney Young squad.

The day’s first big event occurred when Whitney Young star guard Anthony Johnson suffered a shoulder injury during a game against Evanston and was taken to the hospital for tests. It seemed to be a precautionary measure, however it did leave Young (already minus Marcus Jordan who was in attendance with a cast on his leg) very short-handed for the most exciting game of the day against Mike Shaw and De La Salle.

This game proved to the world that both Derrick Needham and Mike Shaw are ready for primetime. The 4-OT thriller also proved that when Whitney Young point guard Chris Colvin comes to play, he really may be Illinois’ best player for the class of 2009. Needham extended the game to its first extra session with a game tying 3-pointer in transition, with a hand in his face and less than a minute to play to force overtime. In the game’s first overtime, Colvin missed a pair of free throws with under 10 seconds on the clock which led to OT number two. In that extra session, Young high jumper extrodinaire, Antonio Johnson, went up for a dunk with 3 seconds left, but left empty handed do to a very impressive rejection by Mike Shaw at the rim. The game concluded with Chris Colvin doing what he does best in taking the ball to the rim for an acrobatic “and 1″ finish in the lane with under 10 seconds to go to lock up the win for Whitney Young.

Whitney Young’s glory would be short lived though, as their team’s most glaring hole was left exposed by an extremely impressive North Lawndale club. Even with the injuries to their backcourt, Young had the depth at the guard spot to overcome the injuries. However, even at full strength their ability to defend in the frontcourt and rebound with bigger teams was suspect, as expected. Lawndale’s Paul Bunch and Jonathan Moore left the undersized Dolphins looking exposed. The buzz on John Taylor (N. Lawdale) continued to circulate around the gym as he looked like an All-State caliber player, getting to the rim whenever he pleased. A red hot shooting second half by recent Oregon State commit Ahmed Starks brought Young back to within five points in the game’s late stages. However, it was too late though as the Phoenix took the game by six to advance to the finals.

The biggest surprise of the day came from the Humboldt Park area and Morton High School, who continues to impress with their group of overachievers. They knocked off previously unstoppable Hyde Park in the semifinals and played North Lawndale very tough, actually leading the championship game at halftime before eventually succumbing to Lawndale’s superior talent.

Jonathan Mills was named the tournament MVP again putting up Dwight Howard-like stat lines as he has all summer on the AAU circuit. Others who shined on the weekend were John Taylor (North Lawndale), Ahmed Starks and Chris Colvin (Whitney Young), Mike Shaw and Derrick Needham (De La Salle), Juan Valdez and Joe Belcaster(Morton) and Reggie Smith (Thornton). Wayne Blackshear led Curie to the title in the Consolation Bracket.

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