The Weekend Forecast has been greatly impacted by the actual weekend forecast. A couple of heavyweight conference showdowns — Homewood-Flossmoor at Bolingbrook and Mount Carmel at DePaul Prep — were postponed due to weather.
Fingers crossed the snow and cold allow for games to be played on this Martin Luther King holiday weekend.
When I put out the last Weekend Forecast a week ago, I stated on X (formerly known as Twitter) that I couldn’t remember the last time there were so many tough-to-pick games of the high-profile variety in one weekend.
Well, they were clearly tough for me as the big weekend left me reeling, going a dismal 3-6 on my picks for the weekend.
But back at it. Here is the Weekend Forecast and picks.
Last week: 3-6
Overall: 16-8
Saturday
No. 24 Lincoln-Way East (12-5) vs. No. 1 Curie (17-1) at TF North
There is no doubt Lincoln-Way East has been a nice story in the first half of the season. The Griffins played talented Bloom tough in a Thursday loss. But it’s still a very young team –– sophomore guards Karson Thomas and BJ Powell lead the way –– and the nice record and ranking still needs a résumé boost. A win here would certainly do the trick.
Even as a team that’s elevated itself to the top of the rankings, Curie continues to approach the season in an almost understated and professional way. The Condors aren’t the flashiest No. 1 you’ll see, but behind seniors Carlos Harris, Christian Brockett and Will Gonzalez, they sure have been steady. And they are fresh off a dominating win over Kenwood on Thursday.
The pick: Curie 67, Lincoln-Way East 55
Normal (15-1) vs. No. 13 Waubonsie Valley (15-0) at Wheaton-Warrenville South
How about two state-ranked teams with a combined record of 30-1 meeting in January?
Waubonsie is one of two teams remaining in the Chicago area with a 0 in the loss column. But this is going to be the biggest test yet for the Warriors, who snuck by Naperville North this week to stay perfect on the season.
Waubonsie is led by versatile senior Treshawn Blissett and Tyreek Coleman, the junior point guard who continues to impact games regularly and in more ways.
Normal took care of Kenwood last weekend in impressive fashion and has just one loss on the season, falling to Thornton 44-37 in December. They are huge inside with 6-10 Jaheem Webber and 6-8 Noah Cleveland, which could give Waubonsie issues. Senior point guard Braylon Roman has size at 6-4 and versatility with the ball in his hands to pose plenty of problems.
The pick: Normal 52, Waubonsie Valley 44
Monday
No. 3 Mount Carmel (18-2) vs. Glenbrook North (15-3) at New Trier
This was set up to be a huge weekend for both of these teams. But tough Friday road battles in their respective conferences –– Mount Carmel was to travel to DePaul Prep and Glenbrook North was headed to rival Glenbrook South –– were postponed due to weather.
Glenbrook North is a program that has enjoyed quite a bit of success while dealing with injuries, both last year and again this season. However, savvy point guard Josh Fridman remains the catalyst for the Spartans and is healthy again.
For Mount Carmel, the chemistry on this team seems to be working well. The deep balance is proof. Angelo Ciaravino will be the target of a heavily-hyped DePaul defense, but the support he receives extends to Lee Marks, Christian Uremovich, Noah Mister, Cameron Thomas and Grant Best, who are all capable of scoring in double figures.
The pick: Mount Carmel 58, Glenbrook North 52
No. 14 New Trier (16-3) vs. No. 8 Kenwood (12-5) at New Trier
Both of these teams have a surplus of weapons. But the new one Kenwood added recently, freshman guard Devin Cleveland, seems to be elevating a team that needed help, particularly in the backcourt.
Cleveland seems to be just what the doctor ordered after being slowed down and missing a stretch of the season due to injury. Kenwood hopes its size with 6-11 Jaden Smith, 6-9 Aleks Alston, 6-5 Chris Riddle and 6-5 Calvin Robins can establish itself and make a major impact. But the lopsided loss to Curie, even if it was the No. 1 team, has left a lot of doubt and erased the good from the blowout win over Warren.
The Trevians have some length across the board, but they don’t have a whole lot of inside height to throw at the Broncos. But they do have shooting. Pick your poison among seniors Ian Brown, Logan Feller, junior Colby Smith and sophomores Christopher Kirkpatrick and Danny Houlihan.
Picking a Kenwood game these days? Yikes. The feel at home — and some hot shooting — will help the Trevians find a way.
The pick: New Trier 60, Kenwood 57
No. 4 Thornton (14-2) vs. Niles North (14-4) at Homewood-Flossmoor
A fun, interesting matchup at the H-F MLK event featuring two teams from different geographical areas. Niles North, which is fresh off a nice win over Evanston, travels to the south suburbs to face one of the state’s top teams in Thornton’s backyard.
But is Niles North, a junior-dominated team led by the backcourt of Yaris Irby and Reid Olson, ready for the massive test highly-ranked Thornton and 6-9 Morez Johnson will give them? No, not yet.
The pick: Thornton 65, Niles North 52
Romeoville (14-5) at No. 2 Homewood-Flossmoor (15-1)
The ranking, the talent, the growing attention and hype — they’re all present for a Homewood-Flossmoor team that escaped a major upset to Andrew earlier this week.
With one of those look-ahead showdowns on the schedule with Bolingbrook postponed on Friday, the focus turns to a MLK Suburban Classic event H-F is hosting and a quality opponent in the Spartans.
Romeoville, however, has scuffled since impressing at the State Farm Holiday Classic over the holidays, losing four of its last five. However, the Spartans have played five teams in the last five games with a combined record of 74-13. This remains a dangerous young team that can sneak up on you with junior guards EJ Mosley and Damian Porter, Jr.
Homewood-Flossmoor is riding high. The trap game with Andrew was inevitable. The Vikings were coming off wins over Thornton and DePaul Prep while looking ahead to a Friday showdown with Bolingbrook, a game that has since been postponed.
But the Vikings have weapons. A lot of them.
The pick: Homewood-Flossmoor 67, Romeoville 58
