Jack Tosh Tournament: Monday Notebook

The Jack Tosh Tournament kicked off on Monday at York High School. The 32 team event has its best field ever with high level prospects throughout the event. We caught the first day of action and recap it here in Jack Tosh Tournament: Monday Notebook!   Thomas Makes Case for #1 in Dominant Lake Forest Win Lake Forest opened up the day with an impressive 72-52 win over Hinsdale South. Their star [player_tooltip player_id="989263" first="Asa" last="Thomas"] is in consideration for the currently vacated top spot in the 2023 class. At 6'6” he has tremendous positional size along with such a skilled game. Early on his passing caught our attention as he made three on point dishes for dimes in the beginning part of the game. Then he got his offense rolling. Outstanding shooter with an effortless stroke and deep range which was shown on several threes. Got on the glass for put backs and used a floater game en route to 24 points. Senior Alex Forowycz had a monster first half scoring most of his 19 points. The 6'2” small college guard prospect is a sound spot up shooter that moves without the ball. Tommie Aberle is a 2024 that had several nice and-1s showing toughness finishing in the paint at 6'2” as he scored 12 points. [player_tooltip player_id="1276135" first="Sam" last="Gibson"] displayed solid feel as a combo guard along with getting in the lane for some runners. Hinsdale South's go to player [player_tooltip player_id="1048722" first="Garrett" last="Bolte"] had quite a game netting 30 points in the loss. The 6'7” four man is a perimeter oriented big that can really stroke it from distance. Drained an array of feathery mid-range shots and threes. Smooth and effortless release getting height off the floor. Can also create a little in the mid-range and posted up some in the second half. Good area rebounder that should be considered at the D2 level. Brendan Savage was the other prospect who had a solid outing for Hinsdale South. The 2024 6'0” sophomore went for 10 points showing some promise.   Akron Commit is Dynamic Distributor Caught a few minutes of second half action of the Lyons vs Wheaton North game. It was a blowout but always love to see Akron commit [player_tooltip player_id="1048712" first="Tavari" last="Johnson"] when we can. What you have to like about Johnson is his elite vision and passing feel. In just the little time I was watching he made three college type passes that led to dimes. Long outlet over the defense to a rim runner, hits a shooter for three, and a slick read in a ball screen. Akron is getting a stud!   Conant Shocks St. Ignatius with Buzzer Beater in 1st Round This one had a March Madness type feel as the first big upset of the tournament happened as Colin Francisa buried a three with two defenders on him to give Conant the opening round victory over St. Ignatius 48-45. He was 4-4 from deep including the game winning dagger scoring 12 points in the victory. We were intrigued with the play of 2024 shooting guard Yusuf Cisse. Good length and a slick ball handler that scored 11 points and dished out 6 assists. Camden Lathos showed some skill as another 2024 prospect to track long term netting 12 points doing most of his damage in the paint. For St. Ignatius 2023 wing [player_tooltip player_id="989270" first="Richard" last="Barron"] is a big bodied scorer that can get buckets from the perimeter on takes including a floater, scoop shot, and and-1. Didn't shoot it particularly well from three scoring 13 points. Air Force commit [player_tooltip player_id="925217" first="Kolby" last="Gilles"] had some flashes showing his energy and activity level inside in a 14 point outing.   D1 Wings Shine in Lemont Win over Timothy Christian What a performance for Lemont 2024 small forward [player_tooltip player_id="1157223" first="Nojus" last="Indrusaitis"] in their 75-50 win over Timothy Christian. The #3 sophomore in the state had one of the best halves we have seen from a prospect all year scoring 25 of his game high 32 points (13-21 FG) (4-7 3 PT) in the first two quarters. Scored in about every way possible. Clean looking jumper that he created on his own and drained off the catch. Quick second jump getting put backs on his own misses. Smooth ball handler that can get to the rack on straight line takes. Despite all his points he showed a good passing feel in the half court with a couple of sweet dimes. Also grabbed 10 rebounds. [player_tooltip player_id="1215313" first="Rokas" last="Castillo"] was fantastic in the victory going for 22 points. He is a point guard that can really shoot the rock and is a pesky defender. You can say the same about his brother on the defensive end who was a force along with passing it with a ton of flair getting everyone involved as [player_tooltip player_id="1279762" first="Matas" last="Castillo"] finished with 9 points and 9 dimes. Both twins also had 4 steals. Future is really bright for this team! Furman commit [player_tooltip player_id="863619" first="Ben" last="VanderWal"] didn't have the help to stay in this one, but he was super impressive in the loss. Great size and skill on the perimeter. Put his head down on several straight line takes for buckets. Has good bounce at the rim and in the second half showed off his sniper three point stroke as he scored 27 points (10-16 FG) and 10 rebounds.   Rolling Meadows Better Than Last Year? We have heard a lot about Rolling Meadows being better than last year. Well last season they had the best senior in the state and went undefeated. This year the depth is showing through even more and they still have a Christie as their star. Top 5 2023 [player_tooltip player_id="939055" first="Cameron" last="Christie"] displayed quite an all-around game in the Rolling Meadows 68-54 win over St. Laurence on Monday. Christie did a little bit of everything. Scored with his silky smooth three point shot nailing an array of them both off the catch and pulling straight up like he loves doing. Worked well in transition often going to the euro step. Dished it well in the drive and kick and contributed on the boards. Finished with 21 points. His backcourt mate [player_tooltip player_id="1210381" first="Orlando" last="Thomas"] is a prospect that has seen his stock rise a ton in the last year. Much better shooter as the lefty bombed in four triples while also using his size and physicality getting downhill. Went for 22 points. Junior posts Tsvet Sotirov and [player_tooltip player_id="1215298" first="Mark" last="Nikolich-Wilson"] also contributed in the win. Sotirov popped to us as a spacing big man that drained threes from distance for 9 points along with high pointing rebounds. Nikolich-Wilson is a super skilled five with his passing out of the post and is a good interior defender. Their next star is Ian Miletic. The point-forward has elite size and passing feel already and the 2025 can make shots too as he scored 10 points. D1 written all over him. For St. Laurence they were led by Brandon McCoy. The 6'2” senior put his name on the map with a 20 point outing. Lefty shooting guard that likes to get his shoulders squared and get downhill for buckets in the paint. Did display a crisp mid-range pull up.   Batavia Completes Comeback in OT to Defeat Stagg It looked like Batavia was going to get shot out of the gym early as Stagg opened up 13-0 on them and hit everything from the perimeter. In fact Stagg led the entire regulation until under 30 seconds left when [player_tooltip player_id="1210416" first="Trent" last="Tousana"] stole the ball for a layup to tie the game and send it to OT. Batavia jumped out early and ended it in the extra session by a final of 74-66. Tousana was a microwave scorer in the second half as he really heated up hitting an array of threes and breaking defenders down with his shifty handles for 26 points. Wisconsin-Parkside commit [player_tooltip player_id="863630" first="Ethan" last="Ivan"] was phenomenal in this one. One of the premier shooting big men in the state drained his normal corner threes at a high rate along with mixing it up inside for seals, and-1s, and skilled finishes en route to 34 points (11-17 FG) (4-7 3PT) and 10 rebounds. Elite D2 get for Parkside! It was a pretty balanced effort from Stagg's senior trio. Danny Ellsworth led the way with 16 points draining multiple threes. Alex Gamboa was also a sniper from deep for 14 points. TJ Griffin got in the lane for floaters and pull ups contributing 13 points. All three are worth looking at for small colleges.   Leo Wins Behind Defense The Leo Lions advanced to the winner's side of the bracket with a 50-37 victory over Naperville North on Monday. They were dominant in the first half not allowing Naperville North to even score a single point in the game until midway through the 2nd quarter starting off 15-0. There would be no epic comeback like in the previous game as Leo's defense continued to create turnovers over and over again making life hard on the Naperville North guards. Leo has a ton of depth. [player_tooltip player_id="1215310" first="Jarrod" last="Gee"] is a prospect that really jumps off the floor as an upside player long term. The 2023 small forward has excellent bounce, defensive instincts, and flashes potential putting it on the deck as he had 12 points. His fellow 2023 [player_tooltip player_id="1215291" first="Tyler" last="Smith"] is another outstanding perimeter defender that brings perimeter scoring pop getting buckets from multiple levels. Went for 8 points. Naperville North was led by their Northern Illinois football commit [player_tooltip player_id="925230" first="Zeke" last="Williams"] who had 14 points. Athletic combo guard lives in the mid-range where he drained an array of jumpers.   Seniors Duel in St. Pats vs Minooka St. Patrick took home the narrow win against Minooka in the opener by a score of 60-49. They were led as always by their senior do it all forward [player_tooltip player_id="771543" first="Timaris" last="Brown"]. At the next level he is an undersized four. In high school he is an absolute nightmare for opponents. The powerfully built senior is so quick and agile around the hoop being able to physically overwhelm defenders in the paint. Excellent rebounder that gets second chance points and finishes well through contact. Can put it on the deck a couple dribbles. He had 22 points. For Minooka it was their senior 6'1” shooting guard Trevor Hudak who did the damage. Plus shooter with range on his shot. In the second half he showed some athleticism around the hoop in his 17 point outing. Worth a look at a small college.