The Marist boys basketball team attended the 14th annual Chicago Elite Classic at UIC to face off against nationally-ranked Sidwell Friends from Washington D.C. on Saturday, December 6.
The Chicago Elite Classic is an annual Showcase held by Nike in order to show off some of the best high school basketball talent in Illinois, as well as Indiana, Ohio, Missouri, and Washington D.C., along with other states in previous years.
It takes place during the first weekend of December at UIC every year. From Friday afternoon to Saturday night, dozens of teams face off against each other in order to attract the attention of college coaches and to put their team on the map.
This was the first time for many of the players, coaches and managers attending the event.
“I thought the event was a great opportunity not only for the players, but also for the audience,” said Michaela Vitaliano, a junior manager on the team. “It allows you to see teams play that you usually don’t get to see.”
This is the RedHawks 3rd time in a row being featured in the Elite Classic. In previous years, they took down the St. Laurence Vikings and the Hyde Park Thunderbirds. This year they took on the Sidwell Friends Quakers.
Coming into the Elite Classic, the Quakers started their season off 0-2, losing to other nationally ranked teams. Despite this, they were still highly ranked.
On the other hand, the RedHawks were undefeated, starting the season off 4-0. Winning their own Thanksgiving tournament, and taking on King high school the night before in a close battle, the RedHawks had worked themselves to a ranking of 83rd in the nation according to MaxPreps.
Senior Ryan Lawlor felt ambitious going into the game.
“We had a lot of confidence because we know we can compete with anyone.” This was Lawlor’s second Chicago Elite Classic.
The contest was nothing short of a battle. In the first half, the RedHawks were outscored 20–17. The second half was even tougher on the RedHawks.
“They were a tough team with tons of talent,” said Lawlor. “They play physical and are hard to move around.”
The RedHawks eventually fell to the Quakers, with a final score of 34-46.
“We battled and fought hard for 32 minutes,” said Vitaliano. “We never stopped fighting, just shots weren’t falling.”
The RedHawks shot at a season low of 25% for 2, and 12.5% from deep. At the line, they only made 63.6% of their shots.
First year coach and Marist Alumn, Morgan Taylor knows what the team needs to do now.
“The team has to continue working on execution, said Taylor. “From an offense and defensive perspective, the better that we can be with our running our sets throughout will help us to be better on the floor. This will result in us getting a lot more W’s.”
Going forward, Marist has several other tough opponents scheduled.
“We know that playing this competition will only make us better,” said Lawlor.
Over winter break, Marist heads down south to Southern Illinois to attend the Centralia Holiday tournament.
“Looking a little further at Centralia, that will be an amazing trip because of the experience that it provides.” said Taylor.
Although the RedHawks couldn’t find success at the Chicago Elite Classic, they know that this isn’t the end for them.
“The team believes there’s bigger things ahead for this team,” said Lawlor.
