By Dominic Scianna
Walter Payton College Prep boys head basketball coach Reggie Bates gave his team the ultimate compliment as their season came to an end to upstart St. Patrick by a score of 56-38 on March 1 at Fenwick High School.
“These seniors have been the gold standard and this team will always be remembered for putting Payton Basketball on the map,” said Bates.
The Grizzlies won 10 of their last 13 games to end the regular season and got back to .500 at 14-14 with impressive wins over Lane Tech, Lincoln Park, and Westinghouse. They parlayed their good fortunes into the IHSA state playoffs with wins over Clemente to win their first regional title in school history and Westinghouse for a second time to earn a spot in Friday’s sectional final.
“We played them (Payton) early in the season and won, so I told our team not to take them lightly,” said veteran St. Patrick coach Mike Bailey. “And it’s human nature for young players to think they’ll beat them again – but this is a very good shooting Payton team and (Jakob) Blakely and (Kai) Fogelson are talented players so we had to make sure we limited their offensive opportunities as much as we could.”
The game was fast-paced and back and forth the entire first quarter as the Grizzlies matched St. Patrick’s intensity to tie the game after the first quarter 10-10 on a corner jump shot by Fogelson (9 points) at the buzzer to close the period.
That’s when the game took a decided turn as the Shamrocks ran off 17 straight points to close the half, and shut down Payton, holding it scoreless in the second quarter as the Grizzlies struggled to find their offense, trailing 27-10 at intermission.
The Grizzlies cut into the Shamrocks’ 20-point lead in the second half and narrowed the gap to 13 points at 46-33 midway through the fourth quarter behind the stellar play of Myles Townsend (10 points), Grant Gugino (10 points), and Blakely (7 points) to go with Fogelson’s long-range three-point shooting. But the valiant effort wouldn’t be enough as St. Patrick (24-9) pulled away for the victory behind the backcourt tandem of A.J. Thomas (18 points) and E.J. Breland (14 points).
“I’m just incredibly proud of this team,” said Fogelson. “We went through a lot of adversity and injuries this year but we were able to piece it together at the end of the year. Our only hope is that the next generation of Payton Grizzlies can carry on that legacy.”
Blakely wound put the game and the season into perspective with his heartfelt comments after a lengthy locker room talk between the team and coaches after the game.
“It was tough tonight and it seemed like every time I got the ball, there was someone pressuring me. They are a great team (St. Pat’s) and have a great coach,” said Blakely. “It’s a great feeling (to have had a senior season like this) and it’s bigger than basketball. We were able to change a whole community – from the fans coming out the way they did – to the people at school and around the team telling us how excited they were. At the end of the day, that’s what I’ll remember the most is that we left a lasting impact at our school and you can’t beat that.”
Photos by Michele Legacy-Gugino
