Chicago Demons Basketball Program

Tryouts for the Chicago Demons 15U and 16U will be this Saturday March 21, 2009 at the Newberry Center 1073 W. Maxwell Street.   Registration is from 11:30-11:55 and there is a $10 tryout fee.  Tryouts will begin promptly at 12:00 and end at 2:30 or so.  The rosters for the team will be put on the website and the coach will call you.  

Please bring gym shoes, gym shorts, and a reversible jersey (white on one side) or white tee shirt and a color tee shirt. 

DIRECTIONS TO THE GYM:

Take Roosevelt Road to Blue Island (1030W), make a turn (south) to the first stop sign (Maxwell Street) where you make a left turn.  Newberry Center will be on the right side of the street across from Smyth School.

For more information email pepdemons@aol.com or marvhoop@vzw.blackberry.net

Walther Lutheran senior Brandon Smith had plenty of motivation for Wednesday's Class 2A Timothy Christian Regional semifinal against the host school in Elmhurst.

Memories of the Broncos' first meeting with the Trojans still haunted the 6-1 guard.

"I was upset with myself the first game," said Smith, who had six points, no rebounds and no assists in a 64-53 loss to Timothy Feb. 6. "I knew I had to come through for my team this time. We're here for each other."

Smith delivered with 25 points, seven assists, four rebounds and two steals to lead Walther to a 59-52 victory in the rematch.

No. 2 seed Walther (19-8) will now face top-seeded Immaculate Conception (17-10)  in the regional final Friday, Feb. 27. IC beat Driscoll in Wednesday's first regional game in Elmhurst.

 Walther lost to IC 57-40 Jan. 3 in Elmhurst.

"The last time we played, we had poor execution and they played extremely well," Walther Lutheran coach Robert Koehne said. "The big guy (Matt) Purdom just killed us and Antonio Taylor was dominant. We need to work hard to try and find a way to stop them."

Walther led 46-35 early in the fourth quarter, but No. 3 Timothy (19-6) rallied to within 52-50 with 1:23 left. Smith then converted a three-point play to stretch the lead to 55-50 before Jaaron Holmes hit a driving basket to make the score 55-52 with 21.9 seconds remaining.

That's when Danny Vassar came up with maybe the game-winning play with about 16 seconds left. Timothy was on the free throw line trying to draw closer, but missed the free throw and Vassar prevented the ball from going out of bounds with a diving save and fed Brian Jackson, who laid it in to help seal the win.

"That was a huge play," Koehne said.

Walther also received key contributions from Jackson (12 points, 5 rebounds), Logan Davis (6 points, 3 rebounds), Jeremey James (6 points) and Elgin Swanigan (4 points, 5 rebounds).

"Coach just told us to come out with intensity and don¹t take them lightly again," Smith said. "Last time they were missing (Peter Tameling) and we thought it was going to be easy. Today we played every quarter like it was 0-0. We played a full 32 minutes and that was the difference this time."

Timothy was led by Rob White (15 points), Reggie Greenwood (9 points, 7 rebounds), Rob Stein (8 points, 8 rebounds), Jaaron Holmes (8 points, 4 rebounds), Justin Peeples (6 points) and Mike Pizzello (5 points).

Demons in bold 

FIRST TEAM

Name - Position - Ht. - Yr.

Chris Colvin, Young, G, 6-3, Sr.

Malcolm Griffin, Hyde Park, F, 6-4, Sr.

Jeremy Jones, Simeon, G, 6-2, Sr.

Jonathan Mills, North Lawndale, F, 6-5, Sr.

Darius Smith, Marshall, G, 6-0, Sr.

SECOND TEAM

Anthony Dixon, Hyde Park, F, 6-4, Sr.

Lavonte Dority, Foreman, G, 6-3, Jr.

Chris Eversley, Payton, G, 6-6, Sr.

Hollis Hill, Vocational, G, 6-0, Jr.

Jermaine Winfield, North Lawndale, F, 6-4, Jr.

THIRD TEAM

Crandall Head, Crane, G, 6-4, Jr.

Terry Johnson, North Lawndale, G, 6-0, Sr.

Marcus Jordan, Young, G, 6-3, Sr.

Ahmad Starks, Young, G, 5-9, Jr.

John Taylor, North Lawndale, G, 5-11, Sr.

FOURTH TEAM

Cortney Bell, Lincoln Park, F, 6-5, Sr.

Eriq Harris, Marshall, F, 6-5, Sr.

Derrick Hill, Hope, G, 6-1, Sr.

George Marshall Jr., Brooks, G, 5-11, So.

Victor Scott, Morgan Park, G, 6-4, Sr.

SPECIAL MENTION

Floyd Campbell, Von Steuben; Emil Clayton, King; Fabyan Harris, Hyde Park; Anthony Johnson, Young; Michael McCall, Foreman; Eric Mitchell, Harlan; Jerome Moore, Hyde Park; LaShane Purdey, Robeson; Asante Smiter, Curie; Brandon Spearman, Simeon; Tommy Woolridge, Foreman.

Players who have tried out to play with the Demons:

Here are the Prospect Profiles from the ChicagoHoops.com 7th and 8th Grade Middle School SuperStar Showcase which was held this past weekend in Deerfield, Illinois, and featured 120 top prospects. Prospects are listed in no particular order. We will continue with more profiles each day until All of the prospects from the event are profiled.
 

Steven Waddell
6'1" Forward
Oak Park Brooks
Class of 2013
Love his versatility and ability to make plays on both ends of the floor. Good size. Long and extremely active. An excellent rebounder and finisher inside. Can also step out and make shots from the floor. Does an outstanding job of using his length and athleticism to create chaos defensively. A very nice prospect!

Te'Andre Dailey
5'11 Guard/Forward
Chicago Stockton
Class of 2013
Love his ability to be plugged into multiple positions on the floor. Long and quick off the floor. Very solid rebounding skills. Likes to go baseline. A more than solid all-around basketball talent.
 

Royale Ewing
6'1" Shooting Guard
Chicago Beasley
Class of 2013
A big time basketball talent! Can score the basketball any way you want it. Has all the tools to become a high level prospect at the next level. An explosive leaper who is quick off the floor. A plus rebounder for his position.

Jeremiah Ewing
5'7" Guard
Chicago Beasley
Class of 2014
Like the way he handles himself on the basketball court. A leader on the floor! Strong handle. Very active and agressive with his on-the-ball defense. Quick hands. Excellent court instincts on both ends of the floor. Makes things happen that win games!

Rasheen Bell
5'5" Point Guard
Chicago Sutherland
Class of 2013
A very steady point guard. Really like the way that he runs a team. Does an excellent job of scoring in traffic. Combines a solid handle on the basketball with excellent decision-making skills. At his best with the basketball in his hands.

Brandon Clemons
5'6" Point Guard
Chicago Beasley
Class of 2013
Excels with the basketball in his hands. An excellent ball distributor who knows how to run a team. Quick both with and without the basketball. Nice form on his jump shot. A solid penetrator who also does a nice job of pushing the basketball up the floor.

Class Of 2009 Chicago Walter Payton Star Chris Eversley Of The Chicago Demons Verbals To Play In Conference USA For Head Coach Ben Braun, And Rice University

Class of 2009 Chicago Walter Payton star Chris Eversley of the Chicago Demons has given a verbal commitment to play his college basketball in Conference USA for head coach Ben Braun, and Rice University. Eversley ranks as one of the top 2009 basketball prospects in the state of Illinois. 
 

Eversley, who stands 6'6", is a unique combination of size and versatility. He is a player who can be plugged into multiple postions on the basketball court, and has the ability to play strong inside, but can also make things happen on the perimeter with shooting range that extends out to the three-point arc.

This past spring and summer, Eversley led a strong 17-U Chicago Demons team that had a number of impressive showings on the travel team circuit.