It was a loud and vivid night, the two teams battling it out while the crowd cheered and roared. November 26 marked the end of the Thanksgiving tournament for the Spartans; they brought it home with a 3rd place finish against St Laurence high school, 65-49.

The player leading with the most points and rebounds in this game was our very own John McGowan, with a whopping 26 points and three rebounds single-handedly! His teammate, Nicco Reyes, supported him with 12 points and six rebounds.

Our second most recent game was another win against Sandburg High School. The Spartans worked together as a team, ending the game with 55 points against 31. The person leading this game was Ayham Salah, who scored 10 points alongside nine rebounds. His teammate Reyes once again supported his friend and also had 10 points and a pair of rebounds.

Our third most recent game was a really close and intense win for Oak Lawn with 76 points against Lincoln-Way West’s 74 points. The player who shined the most this game was Davion Lawrence with an astonishing 19 points and 15 rebounds. He was supported by his teammate Corey Lee, who himself, scored 13 points and had three rebounds.

The Spartans opened the tournament with a heart-shattering 72-69 loss, a game that we actually expected to win. It was a hard-fought battle, but Bremen got the best of us. Even with the loss, one Spartan who did great was McGowan, who had 18 points alongside four rebounds. His co-star Salah brought 15 points and three rebounds to the table.

The Spartans always look past adversity, and we work together and solve problems together as Head Coach Jason Rhodes said, “I thought our focus improved on the defensive end of the floor, especially as the tournament went along, and we shared the ball and played with a good pace offensively. Our thing is, we have to play both very hard and smart basketball on both ends of the floor, and I was pleased with our progress on both accounts.

The season is only getting better, so if you have some free time after school, come support our wonderful and hardworking basketball team.