LANSING, Ill. (December 14, 2023) – Watching Jonah Weathers run the floor, grabbing rebounds, making steals, and adding a productive scoring option for Marian Catholic, it’s strange to think his basketball career is almost over.
But as good as the 6-3 senior is on the hardwood, he’s even better on the diamond.
One of the top baseball prospects in Illinois, Weathers committed last month to junior college national power John Logan in downstate Carterville.
So he’s looking to end his basketball days in style for the Spartans, who are 6-3 overall and 3-1 in the East Suburban Catholic Conference after beating St. Viator 51-40 Tuesday night in Chicago Heights,
“I just want to leave it behind, make it something special (in) my last year,” Weathers said.
After playing both sports most of his life, he’ll miss basketball to a degree.
“But I know that I want to focus on baseball as I get older,” he said.
First-year Marian boys basketball coach Rick Romeli can relate to Weathers’ mindset.
“I think we had a pretty good relationship right away when I took the job because I mentioned to him that I played two sports at St. Xavier, baseball and basketball, my first two years,” Romeli said. “And obviously I played (both) here at Marian. “So we just had a little bit of that bond right away.”
A lot of college recruits playing multiple sports in high school don’t continue to do so after committing. Romeli is glad Weathers didn’t go that route.
“I appreciate him for sticking with basketball, giving me the opportunity to coach him,” Romeli said. “He’s a great kid.”
Weathers, who had a double-double of 14 points and 11 rebounds against St. Viator, joins 6-7 senior James Bullock to give Marian a formidable 1-2 punch. Bullock also had a double-double vs. the Lions with 17 points and 10 rebounds.
“When he gets double-(teamed) in the paint, he’ll always be out there to kick it (out),” Weathers said of Bullock. “And I know that he’s going to be posting down low, so we just find a way to find each other.”
Weathers, meanwhile, found a way to give the Spartans some separation during a key sequence in the third quarter.
After St. Viator pulled with five at 33-28, Weathers had two steals in 14 seconds, converting those two turnovers into five points and a 38-28 lead.
His mindset: “Just be aggressive, just do something for my team and make my defense turn into offense,” Weathers said.
Earlier, the Spartans picked up a signature win on Friday, beating Chicagoland top-10 Marist 71-60.
Marian also fell 52-47 to Evanston Saturday in the Team Rose Shootout at Mount Carmel and lost 58-57 in overtime to St. Patrick on December 5.
Zack Sharkey had 14 points and Bullock added 10 for Marian vs. Evanston.
The Spartans outscored Marist 25-11 in the fourth quarter, including a 9-0 run.
Bullock led Marian vs. St. Patrick with 16 points and six rebounds. Tyler Jolly had 14 points and five rebounds, Weathers added 12 points and four assists, and Sharkey scored 10.
Girls basketball
After getting a signature win against two-time defending Class 3A state champ Nazareth on December 6, the Spartans (7-2, 2-0 East Suburban Catholic) split two pool-play games in their own Christmas Classic on Saturday, beating Bloom 54-31 and losing 36-33 to St. Laurence.
Madison Davis scored 18 points and Taylor Bolton added 14 against Bloom.
Davis added 10 points vs. St. Laurence as Marian rallied from 15 down after three quarters to nearly pull off the comeback win.
In Marian’s 39-36 victory over Nazareth, Davis scored 17. She and Alainna Poisson each hit key free throws in the final minute to seal the win.
TF South
Boys basketball
South split a pair of conference games last week, losing 57-47 to Hillcrest on December 7 and beating Argo 68-58 on Dec. 5.
Sam Townsend scored 15 points for the Red Wolves (3-4, 2-1 South Suburban Blue) vs. Hillcrest, while Amari Dukes added 14.
Jaylen Taylor led South’s comeback from a first-half deficit against Argo, scoring 14 points. Eion Ikner added 13 points and Alex Lesure scored 10. Townsend and Dukes each had nine points.
Girls basketball
The Red Wolves snapped a three-game losing streak by going 3-1 last week, including 2-0 in conference play.
South (6-5, 2-1 South Suburban Blue) beat Argo 59-15 on December 5 and downed Hillcrest 63-34 on December 7 before splitting two games at the Oak Lawn Tournament on Saturday, losing 48-42 to Sandburg after beating Riverside-Brookfield 49-42.
Rayvan Rush led South in scoring against Argo with 15 points, three assists and four steals, while Gigi Dillon had a double-double with 14 points, 10 rebounds, three assists, and two blocks. Jaiden Thompson added eight points, three rebounds, three assists, and two steals.
Rush paced the Red Wolves against Hillcrest with 21 points, while Dillon had 15 points, nine rebounds, four assists, seven steals, and two blocks. Thompson contributed 11 points, five assists, and four steals.
Rush had 20 points, five rebounds, and three steals vs. Riverside-Brookfield, Dillon had a double-double of 12 points and 11 rebounds plus two assists and five steals, and Brie Hawthorne added three rebounds, five steals, and three assists.
Against Sandburg, Dillon had 12 points, eight rebounds, three assists, and two blocks, while Thompson finished with seven points, eight rebounds, three steals, and five assists. G’Yah Capers added seven points, four rebounds, and three assists.
Boys bowling
Karter Thomas’ high game of 266 helped the Red Wolves beat Hillcrest 1,815-1,567 on Monday.
Daniel Patton’s high game of 206 paced South to a 1,797-1,698 win over Bremen on December 7.
Girls bowling
The Red Wolves improved to 5-0 in duals with a 1,551-1,438 win over Evergreen Park on Tuesday. Dazani Holmes (225) and Trinity Kimmons (387) had the high game and series respectively for South. Olivia Gifford added a 309 series.
South defeated Bremen 1,636-1,342 on December 7. Kimmons had South’s high series (360), while Gifford had the high game (201) to go along with a 333 series. Also contributing were Holmes and Teniola Odutusin with 350 and 306 series respectively.
South also beat Tinley Park 1,620-1,421 on December 5. Kimmons had the high game (206) and series (394), while Odutusin had a 190 game and 340 series. Gifford contributed a 312 series and Holmes had a 299 series.
TF North
Boys basketball
The Meteors (3-2, 3-0 South Suburban Blue) went 2-1 last week, losing 57-48 to Riverside-Brookfield in the Team Rose Shootout at Mount Carmel on Saturday, beating Oak Forest 69-60 on December 7 and defeating Reavis 62-31 on December 5.
Leon Cooks scored 11 and Naiem Evans had nine points for North vs. Riverside-Brookfield.
Jaylen Blakes had a double-double of 21 points and 10 rebounds vs. Oak Forest, Naiem Evans added 14 points and seven rebounds, and Norrye Evans contributed nine points and eight rebounds.
Blakes led the Meteors against Reavis, scoring 18. Jamari Littleton scored 15 and Nasir English contributed nine points, four steals and four assists.
Girls basketball
Precious Agwu had her seventh double-double of the season with 21 points and 15 rebounds, but the Meteors’ six-game winning streak was snapped with a 66-51 loss to Hammond Morton on Tuesday. Gabrielle McClain added 18 points for North (6-5, 3-0 South Suburban Blue).
The Meteors beat Oak Forest 47-30 on December 7, getting big games from McClain (16 points, 5 rebounds, 3 steals), Lauryn Jackson (15 points, 6 rebounds, 3 blocks, 5 steals) and Agwu (7 points, 12 rebounds, 5 steals).
Boys wrestling
The Meteors swept a conference double dual on December 7, beating Tinley Park 42-24 and TF South 37-27.
North dropped double duals on December 1 (54-30 to Richards and 42-42 vs. Bremen, which won the tiebreaker criteria) and November 30 (64-16 to Lemont and 36-26 to Argo).
Boys bowling
North beat Tinley Park 1,632-1,472 on Tuesday as Caden McLucas (201-213–414) and Fernando Rios (161-196–357) led the way.
The Meteors lost 1,647-1,478 to Hillcrest December 7.
Girls bowling
The Meteors beat Hillcrest (1,096-973) and lost to Tinley Park (1,738-1,096) on Tuesday, fell 1,257-1,109 to Oak Forest on December 5 and lost 1,316-1,085 to Oak Lawn on December 4.
Illiana Christian
Girls basketball
Abbie Ritzema scored 25 points and Cheyenne DeJong added 12, but the Vikings (4-7) lost 51-48 to Hobart on December 6.
South Suburban College
Men’s basketball
The NJCAA Division II top-ranked Bulldogs’ unbeaten start to the season ended with an 83-78 road loss to Kalamazoo Valley (Mich.) on Friday.
South Suburban came from 18 down in the first half to take a one-point lead with about four minutes left before Kalamazoo Valley went back ahead for good.
Jemel Jones led the Bulldogs with 33 points and 12 rebounds and Quentin Heady also had a double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds.
The Bulldogs bounced back to finish 1-1 on their Michigan road trip and move to 9-1 overall with a 71-67 win against Jackson on Saturday. Jones had 24 points, six rebounds, and three assists, while Heady scored 20.
South Suburban also beat local rival Prairie State 101-75 on December 5 as Jones scored a career-high 48 points, grabbed 10 rebounds, and had four steals. Heady contributed 19 points.
Related
- Athlete spotlights of the week: TF South’s Trinity Kimmons and Marian’s James Bullock (December 11, 2023)
- Meet Christian and Tristan, TF South’s twin bowlers – local sports scores (December 6, 2023
