No. 1 Morgan Park and No. 3 Simeon had matching 9-1 records in the state’s strongest conference, the Public League Red South, and split their two matchups.
Simeon won the most recent meeting, 60-57 at Morgan Park on Thursday, which served as the tiebreaker for the conference title.
City and state championships are what really matter to these behemoths, not conference titles, but winning the Red South is meaningful in a tangible way, because one of the four No. 1 seeds in the upcoming Public League tournament is the reward.
Simeon (18-3) probably has the easiest path to the city semifinals of any of the top seeds, while Morgan Park’s road as a No. 2 seed couldn’t be more difficult.
Ranked No. 1 almost all season with seven victories over top 10 teams on its resume, Morgan Park (17-2) will have to begin tournament play with one of the more talented teams ever to compete in the White Division, Orr.
All 16 first-round games are scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at the higher-seeded team’s gym.
A Red West power in recent years, Orr (16-2, 10-0) is only in the White West — and therefore in position to play Morgan Park — because it had to forfeit all of its victories last season for use of ineligible players.
Like European football, the last place team in the Red divisions and the first place teams in the White swap the following year.
The Spartans are still stocked with one of the state’s most athletic players, 6-foot-5 sophomore Raekwon Drake, and coach Lou Adams came back from his suspension from the city and state tournaments last year to put together another talented group.
“To me it is just another game we have to play,” Morgan Park coach Nick Irvin said. “You eventually have to play everybody. My thing is we need to get a better system for tiebreakers. Both teams are 9-1. We’ve got to get a better system.”
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Morgan Park would also likely have to beat Hyde Park (17-6, 7-3 Red Central) and Red West champion North Lawndale (18-6, 8-2) just to reach the semifinals, where a third meeting with Simeon could take place.
Young (15-7, 8-2 Red West) looks like Simeon’s biggest hurdle to reaching the semis.
Simeon coach Robert Smith did not make a big deal about his team’s biggest win of the season against Morgan Park, in part because his Wolverines did not handle prosperity well last season.
“We’ve got to build on it,” Smith said. “We had a team last year that when we won big games we came back the next game and lost. We beat Stevenson and come back and lose to Bogan (in the city final). We beat St. Rita and come back and lose to Normal (in the Class 4A supersectionals).
“We have to understand that game is over now and we got to build on it and come back for the next game.”
Finishing third behind Simeon and Morgan Park in the Red South did not prevent Bogan from winning its first city title last year, and the No. 5-ranked Bengals are once again a No. 3 seed in their repeat bid.
This year’s road is rougher, however, as Bogan is set up to face No. 6 Curie (17-4, 8-2) in the second round. Curie finished second to No. 4 Kenwood in the Red Central.
Red North champion Uplift (15-6, 8-2) is the No. 1 seed in that quad, and Farragut (16-9, 4-6 Red West) is also a threat.
The Public League tournament’s quarterfinal quadruple-header at one site was one of the annual highlights on the schedule, but it is no more.
The quarterfinals will instead be held at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 13 at the higher-seeded team’s gym.
The semifinals and finals will be Feb. 19 and 21 at a neutral site to be determined.
If Simeon or Morgan Park reach the final, they will have to play on three consecutive days. The City-Suburban Showdown is Feb. 20 at Lyons, where Simeon will face No. 7 Evanston and Morgan Park will play No. 9 Riverside-Brookfield.
Mike Helfgot is a freelance reporter for the baiduhai.