After beating Hinsdale Central on the road and state-ranked Stevenson High School at the Derrick Rose Shootout this past weekend, OPRF's boys basketball team may have turned a corner. Here's how they got back on track:

The Huskies boys swim team traveled to Western Springs to take on their conference foes in Lyons Township High School on Dec. 13. OPRF took care of business with a 112-73 win over the Lions.

The latest installment of Fenwick versus Trinity girls hoops played out on the basketball court on Dec. 10 at Sister Michelle Germanson Gym in River Forest. In front of a large crowd, the Friars secured a hard-fought 41-36 victory over the host Blazers. 

Sporting a fresh black and white Fenwick long-sleeve shirt, Matt Battaglia was greeted by Friar nation on Nov. 11 before being publicly introduced as the program's next football head coach.

GOvember Challenge lived up to the name. It was challenging. Full disclosure, I made plenty of rookie mistakes. I was out of town and didn't start until Nov. 5. And though I thought I was plotting my routes efficiently, my methodology resulted in lots of doubling back and repeating streets, so my Ludacris N/S+E/W total mileage was much higher than it should've been.

Rivalry games typically aren't decided until the closing minutes or even seconds. But that wasn't the case on Dec. 3 at Oak Park and River Forest High School when the Huskies hosted Trinity in a non-conference girls basketball showdown.

OPRF's Lilah Gery scored the game's first two points, but Trinity outscored the Huskies 17-1 the rest of the first quarter and gradually pulled away for a 66-30 victory.

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.