Michael O’Brien’s high school basketball notebookMichael O’Brienon February 4, 2021 at 3:06 am

Highlights, scores and analysis from the top games of Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2021

So I considered making the trip to Glenview tonight to catch Hersey against Glenbrook South, but I remembered the words of my old boss Steve Tucker: “Don’t push too hard that first week. It’s a marathon.”

And yeah, this season isn’t exactly a marathon. But I have a ton of preview work I’m trying to finish right now and I plan to hit games the next three days. So I fired up the Glenbrook South livestream and kinda enjoyed sitting in my little home office to watch some high school basketball.

Truthfully, and I know this won’t mean much to all the fans left out of games this season, there isn’t a ton of difference between watching a well-produced livestream and being there in person without a crowd. They both have positives and negatives.

This game was exactly what I needed. Hersey and Glenbrook South played a really clean game. The Titans knocked off the visiting Hawks 69-49. Junior Nick Martinelli was just way too much for Hersey.

Martinelli scored 29 points, had seven rebounds and four assists. He looked an awful lot like his older brother Dominic out there. Nick Martinelli has stepped right in and filled his big brother’s shoes.

Fellow junior Cooper Noard added 22 points for the Titans (1-0). Martinelli closed the first quarter with a three-pointer at the buzzer. He had back-to-back dunks at the end of the second quarter and both times that Hersey (0-1) threatened to get back into the game in the second half it was Martinelli that stepped up.

Ethan Roberts led Hersey with 19 points. I liked the look of this team. They played hard and smart. It’s just tough to run up against Martinelli and Glenbrook South on the road to open the season.

The Daily Herald’s Dave Oberhelman was actually at the game tonight. Check out the video below. It appears the teams waved at each other at the conclusion. Awkward, but actually looked kinda nice.

Indian Creek 78, Hinckley Big Rock 31: It looks like the Timberwolves may be a force again this season, which was kind of expected. Cam Russell led the way with 25 points and 7 rebounds. Drew Gaston added 18 and Michael Lampson scored 14 points.

Noah Badal, Jack Scott and Ben Hintzsche each scored six for Hinckley-Big Rock.

CPS Update: There really isn’t anything concrete on this. It appears the CPS and CTU are close to ironing out an agreement. It appears that CPS may allow sports once that happens, at least according to what I’m hearing. I had a few sources that thought maybe an announcement would come tonight. But it is now 9 p.m. and we have nothing. I’ve put the Super 25 preview on hold for now though, since there’s a chance the Public League could play.

Joe Henricksen and I did rip off a non-CPS top ten teams on No Shot Clock today. We also answered a ton of questions from listeners.

Send me things: Today I posted a story that collects all the livestream links. Keep them coming, I still have less than 20. This is only for teams that won’t be on the NFHS Network. My thinking is that everyone knows where to find those games. I’ve been informed that some schools will have free broadcasts on NFHS this season, so that is worth checking if there is a specific school you want to watch this season.

Also, keep sending me info for the Twitter Previews. I’m super behind, but I promise to send a tweet out for every team that sends me info. Just email mobrien@suntimes.com.

I’ll be in Niles to see Notre Dame vs. Prospect tomorrow…if the weather allows. It’s good to be back.

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