From the student sections to the last man on the bench, there is never any love lost when Fenwick and Oak Park and River Forest high schools spar every year at the Chicago Elite Classic. The East Avenue foes went head to head on Dec. 6 at Wintrust Arena where the Friars pulled out a 58-48 victory over the Huskies.

In a press release on Dec. 9, Fenwick announced that Matt Battaglia will be taking over as the Friars next varsity football coach. He steps in as the 16th head coach to be at the helm of the school's football program. Battaglia will also fill the assistant athletic director role starting on Dec. 23.

The Paul Eckenroad Memorial Alumni Game serves as the ultimate high school reunion where the older participants can reminisce about their time with Eckenroad (a former OPRF swimmer and water polo player) while the younger alumni get to reconnect with their erstwhile teammates.  

But if one were to take a closer look at the Friars' roster, there are only three players with significant varsity experience — Bryce Hopkins, sophomore guard Trey Pettigrew, and senior guard Sean Walsh. The youth on the roster oozes potential but there are going to be growing pains.

Such was the case on Nov. 27 at Fenwick in the title game of the John Malone Thanksgiving Tournament. In front of a large, boisterous crowd, the Friars fell to Benet 50-42.

You might have had the weekend of Thanksgiving off, but Oak Park and River Forest and Riverside Brookfield high schools spent Nov. 29 sparring in the Bill VandeMerkt Thanksgiving Classic. The Bulldogs upset the Huskies in an 88-79 thriller that saw both teams tugging back and forth with the momentum. 

On Nov. 13, four Fenwick student-athletes signed letters of intent to play collegiate sports next season. Kennedy Berschel is going to play soccer at University of Illinois, Katie Drumm is going to attend Boston College and join the swim team, Ellie Kaiser will play ice hockey at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Benjamin Katzbeck will swim at Lynn University.

With the NBA opening the floodgates to high-school hoopers joining its league as early as 2021, the question needs to be asked: Is it healthy to expose high school athletes to NBA level scrutiny? Because whether you like it or not, NBA Twitter is coming to high school basketball with a viciousness that rivals a Wednesday Journal Facebook comment section.

Not only are OPRF and Fenwick among the top teams in Chicagoland, they also compete in two of the area's most competitive boys basketball leagues. Here's how the West Suburban Silver and Chicago Catholic League Blue look like entering the season according to Melvin Tate:

After both programs dominated at sectionals last week, Fenwick's swimming team and Oak Park and River Forest's swimming and diving teams made their way to state on Nov. 22-23.

After taking two days last week to observe OPRF and Fenwick's practices and with high expectations for the two programs expected this season, here are four reasons why you need to pay attention to boys hoops in 2019-20.