By Michael Wojtychiw

Nestled in possibly the furthest area in the city on the North Side resides a school that holds only 375 students, one that is looking to make a name for itself on the athletics scene in the Chicago Public League.

Now in its second year after winning the Green Division in the then-CPL’s Girls Basketball, Chicago Math and Science is in the White Division, playing against school two or three times its size. But that hasn’t stopped the Titans from trying to make their mark in the Public League’s White Division, one step under the league’s top level.

“I’ve seen a lot more teamwork, collaboration and communication both on and off the court,” Abisola-Gold Popoola said. “When we played at DePaul for the championship a couple years ago, nobody really knew who we were. A lot of people underestimated us. But winning that game really helped us give us the confidence that we can win games and play with other teams.

“The best advice I’ve been able to give the girls is that if you have a bad game, don’t let that one bad game define you. If you do, it’ll get in your head and you’ll think about it in every game. Just stay positive all the time and don’t lose your composure.”

“Playing on varsity as a freshman, even though I didn’t get a lot of time on that championship team, I learned that communication is key,” junior Youmn Abdalla said. “When you’re on the court, sometimes you can’t see what’s going on, so having players that will call things out to you has helped us so much in a lot of our games.”

Morgan has been at the Rogers Park school’s helm for the past five years, so he’s seen the good and the bad with the program.

Some teams prioritize wins and losses more than anything, but something that Morgan has learned is that there’s more to what a team’s record looks like at the end of the year.

“A lot of our players continue to improve every year and that’s what we love to see,” Morgan said. “The girls’ roles have changed as they’ve played more and they’re adapting to them.

“My approach to this year is we have no seniors, so a lot of freshmen, sophomores and even our juniors are going to get a lot of playing time. So when they come back next year, their confidence and their comfort will be pretty high.”

And that’s something that his players also appreciate because they know that when they go out on the court, they’re improving each and every day.

“We’ve got a number of new players on the team and even though it’s only my second year on the team, I’ve been telling them to just go out there and have fun,” junior Jamia Jackson said. “It feels good to have a win, but as long as you have fun that is what matters. If you make a mistake, shake it off, it’s ok. We’ll fix it next time.”

“This year, I’m really just hoping to improve on my skills and build some new ones too,” Abdalla said. “It’s best coming in looking to learn and come out as a new person because you know that you’ve improved.

“I really like to see my improvement. You don’t have to prove anything to anyone on the court, you just have to prove it to yourself.”

Even with the move up to the White Division, the Titans knew that if they want to prepare themselves for a potential successful season, they were going to have to play tougher opponents out of conference as well.

So Morgan went out and scheduled Dyett, a Red Division team as his program’s first game of the year. And even though the Titans ended up dropping their opening contest, they showed they could hang with the higher division team.

“At first, we were a little intimidated because they’re in a higher division than us,” Popoola said. “But when we played them, we played them close and realized it’s good competition that will help us improve and get to where we want to be.”

“One of the other team’s players came up to me and told me that we gave them good competition and that was good to hear because they’re in a higher division,” Abdalla said. “It’s really nice hearing that from other teams. We’ll get better.”

The interest level is there as well.

For the first time in as long as anyone can remember, the program has enough players for two levels, not just a varsity team. That can only help it as it grows.

“It’s exciting for us, but also a unique challenge,” Morgan said. “We’re getting more student interest. We have a lot of freshmen, but as a coach now I have to change my approach on how to run practices so all of them stay engaged.

“I think we’re setting a new norm, a new expectation. We have continuity. Everyone is welcome. If you’re committed, you’ll get better.”

“That’s amazing to see because not many people at our school want to put themselves out there and go out and play sports, so I’m really proud of the girls that have come out and shown what they can do,” Popoola said.

“I’m excited to have a bigger team because everyone really underestimated us because we were a small team and nobody knew what we were capable of,” Jackson said. “Now we have more girls who are able to play JV and then maybe play varsity next year.

“Seeing all the interest…I love to see it.”