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

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The annual Prep Hoops Circuit Chi-Town Tip Off got underway on Friday night with a team full of scouts spread between a handful of different venues covering just shy of 200 teams in the high school age groups. I had boots on the ground at the Romeoville Athletic Center for the evening watching the three rounds of games that got us going to start the weekend. Let's unpack the notebook at talk about what went down on Friday evening at the Romeoville Athletic Center.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">PAC Elite 16u Holds Off [program_tooltip program_id='2075808' first='Powerhouse' last='MN'] 16u</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>For much of this contest it felt like the outcome was a forgone conclusion. PAC Elite 16u came out of the gate hot led by 6'1" wing [player_tooltip player_id='2125596' first='Charles' last='Schlicht'] (Grant Community H.S. 2027). He was using his athleticism and strength to consistent get to the rim and finish through contact as PAC Elite built a lead. Schlicht even elevated for a two-handed dunk off of an OB Under play. Meanwhile, his backcourt mates [player_tooltip player_id='1943071' first='Leo' last='Brinias'] (Wauconda H.S. 2027) and Phoenix Stevens (Niles West H.S. 2027) got hot from beyond the arc as they would lead 29-18 at the half. However, Braxton Landa (New Richmond H.S. 2027) wouldn't let [program_tooltip program_id='2075808' first='Powerhouse' last='MN'] go down quietly. His hot shooting from beyond the arc actually gave them a brief lead about midway through the second half before PAC Elite flipped the script and went on to win 62-53. The backcourt trio of Schlict, Brinias, and Fisher led the way, but [player_tooltip player_id='2407899' first='Cohen' last='Ottaviano'] (Stevenson H.S. 2027) and 6'10" [player_tooltip player_id='2831749' first='Nathan' last='Freiheit'] (Buffalo Grove H.S. 2027) were big down the stretch on the glass to secure the victory. Freiheit even stepped out and knocked down a big face-up jumper with his toe on the line. The young left-handed big man was certainly intriguing.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">[program_tooltip program_id='2075622' first='M14' last='Hoops'] 16u Gold Dominates [program_tooltip program_id='2078449' first='Meanstreets' last=''] National 16u</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>This one was never in doubt. [player_tooltip player_id='2409204' first='Collin' last='Booker'] (Naperville North H.S. 2027) was the first one to stand out for [program_tooltip program_id='2075622' first='M14' last='Hoops'] 16u Gold as he nearly single-handily built their early lead. The 5'9" guard knocked in a pair of three-point shots and had three different tough finishes in transition which included an And-1. His finishing ability as a smaller guard against size was very impressive. Then, [player_tooltip player_id='2409224' first='Jack' last='Zitko'] (Naperville North H.S. 2027) got going from three-point range. [program_tooltip program_id='2075622' first='M14' last='Hoops'] Gold runs a lot of really good half court offense from a Pistol entry and ran Zitko off of some creating screening action from it to get him loose from beyond the arc. The 6'1" guard looked very comfortable making shots on the move. Finally, it was [player_tooltip player_id='2255121' first='David' last='Showman'] (Wheaton Warrenville South H.S. 2027) who really put it on ice with his three-point shooting in the second half as the lead really ballooned. For [program_tooltip program_id='2078449' first='Meanstreets' last=''] National, Alex Chenoweth-Peralta (Peotone H.S. 2027) was a bright spot despite the 66-32 loss. The 5'11" point guard did his best to take care of the ball and run the show in the face of adversity. He was able to make some plays off of the bounce and played hard until the final buzzer.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Limitless Select 17u Takes Down Illinois Superior Basketball 17u</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1385294' first='Joey' last='Hernandez'] (Hoffman Estates H.S. 2026) was the star of the show in this one as Limitless Select 17u defeated Illinois Superior Basketball 17u 65-44. The 5'10" guard put together one of the most impressive individual performances that I saw on Friday night. He was incredibly creative as a finisher against size at the end of his drives. On the perimeter, when he wasn't knockdown down a couple of jump shots, Hernandez was using his shifty ball handling ability to penetrate and create for himself or others. It was an all-around excellent game for the guard from Illinois. [player_tooltip player_id='2832108' first='Alex' last='Guzman'] (Lisle H.S. 2026) and [player_tooltip player_id='2832056' first='Jason' last='Moore'] (West Aurora H.S. 2026) both did some good things for Illinois Superior Basketball, but ultimately they never had an answer for Hernandez.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->