Prep Hoops Chi-Town Tip Off – Ramsey’s Friday Notebook

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Another weekend of basketball is underway on the Prep Hoops Circuit. We have boots on the ground at the Chi-Town Tip Off with scouts in two different locations between the Romeoville Athletic Center and the Wintrust Sports Complex. For Friday evening's action I was stationed at Romeoville taking in primarily Class of 2026 prospects. Let's empty out the notebook and get into what we saw.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">[program_tooltip program_id='2075622' first='M14' last='Hoops'] Holds Off [program_tooltip program_id='2078376' first='Illinois' last='Attack']</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In battle of two solid programs out of Illinois, [program_tooltip program_id='2075622' first='M14' last='Hoops'] National-1 2026 defeated [program_tooltip program_id='2078376' first='Illinois' last='Attack'] Chapman by the final score of 64-61. 6'3” forward [player_tooltip player_id='2217951' first='Cooper' last='Mellican'] (St. Charles North H.S. 2026) ended up leading [program_tooltip program_id='2075622' first='M14' last='Hoops'] with 18 points, but early on it was a couple of his teammates that set the tone.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>R'Mani Sims (Oswego East H.S. 2026) and [player_tooltip player_id='2409259' first='Jacob' last='Harvanek'] (Glenbard West H.S. 2026) each got off to hot starts for [program_tooltip program_id='2075622' first='M14' last='Hoops']. Sims was the primary playmaker getting to the basket consistently, showcasing some explosiveness in the open floor, and knocked in a pull up three-point shot on the wing. Then, Harvanek showed off his silky-smooth left-handed stroke knocking in a pair of three-point shots to get his team out to an early lead.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>However, [player_tooltip player_id='1552428' first='Marshawn' last='Cocroft'] (Aurora Christian 2026) and company would not go away. [program_tooltip program_id='2078376' first='Illinois' last='Attack'] Chapman had a couple of shots in the air to tie it at the end before falling by the three-point spread. Cocroft finished with a team-leading 15 points in the loss.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Basketball Paradise Defeats Mad City Mambas</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>With just about five minutes to go in this matchup it looked like Basketball Paradise 2026 was going to run away with it. Their skilled guard duo of [player_tooltip player_id='2382447' first='Mariano' last='Velasco'] (Oswego H.S. 2026) and Cade McCartney (Lyons Township H.S. 2026) was getting a lot done offensively and they forced turnovers on the other end. Velasco provided some outside shooting as the skilled guard made multiple shots from the perimeter while McCartney displayed fluid athleticism getting to the rim consistently.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Down the stretch, [player_tooltip player_id='2409540' first='Michael' last='Wilson'] (Madison West H.S. 2026) and Quincy Mosley (Madison West H.S. 2026) continued to chip away for the Mad City Mambas 2026 out of Wisconsin. Wilson has incredibly impressive physical and athletic tools playing above the rim in transition and bullying his way to the rim consistently. Mosley was similarly physical and able to get a lot done off of the bounce.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In the end, Basketball Paradise came away with a 70-67 victory. Accurate final stats were not available, but Velasco seemed to lead the way for Basketball Paradise in the scoring column alongside [player_tooltip player_id='2334404' first='Tre' last='Watkins'] (Metea Valley H.S. 2026).</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Quick Hitters + Other Top Performers</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2410507' first='Deen' last='Hatibovic'] (Vernon Hills H.S. 2024) is an unsigned senior that small college programs should check out this spring with PAC Elite Basketball. He is a skilled 6'3” wing that shot the ball very well from beyond the arc and displayed the ability to play through contact and score some off of the bounce.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Region Force Elite 2025 came up short, 76-69, against PAC Basketball Elite, but Kolby Henderlog (Crown Point H.S. 2025) knocked in five three-point shots on his way to a team-leading 19 points.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Bryce Perry was a standout for [program_tooltip program_id='2078449' first='[program_tooltip program_id='2076910' first='Meanstreets' last='']' last=''] National 2026. He displayed some real explosiveness in the backcourt while scoring a team-high 14 points in their 69-54 win over [program_tooltip program_id='2075386' first='Chicago' last='Lockdown'] Manzke 2026.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2394088' first='Prescott' last='Horvath'] (Mishawka Marian H.S. 2026) used his size 6'7" to dominant [program_tooltip program_id='2075267' first='All' last='in Athletics'] Figueroa 2026 as Indiana Attack Basketball Club 2026 won 64-53. He finished with 17 points.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->