Make no mistake: Julian’s Sean Dockery and Proviso East’s Dee Brown have the utmost respect for one another.
Dockery said Brown reminds him of Duke playmaker Jason Williams. Brown compares Dockery to a high school version of NBA All-Star Gary Payton.
But the moment the two top-rated high school players in Illinois step onto the court Saturday night at Welsh-Ryan Arena, they’re going for the jugular.
“We’ve been talking smack to each other for the last six months,” said Brown, the point guard and leader of the No. 3 Pirates. “You know, Sean isn’t even the best player on Julian’s team. The best is [freshman] Brandon Ewing.
“We’re going to beat Julian by 20 points. I’ll say 30 points for me, 10 for Dockery.”
A thin smile comes over Dockery’s face as he endures Brown’s opening salvo. He realizes his adversary’s gift of gab is matched only by the Illinois signee’s dazzling talent.
“I first met Dee when we were both 9 years old playing in a little kids league,” said Dockery, who has signed with Duke. “He wasn’t good enough to start, but I could hear him all the way from the bench. That’s just Dee, and that’s why I love him.”
Proviso East (19-2) vs. Julian (17-7) is the marquee matchup in the seventh annual City-Suburban Showdown on Northwestern’s home court. The 6:15 p.m. opener pits No. 11 Schaumburg (17-5) against No. 16 Brother Rice (19-4).
Action in the stands could be as intense as it is on the floor during the opener, when Rick Harrigan, who is sinking 50 percent of his three-point shots, and Brother Rice’s other dangerous outside shooters challenge guard Tony Young and Schaumburg’s formidable 10-player rotation.
That’s because these two schools boast perhaps the rowdiest student sections in the Chicago area.
“They’re called `the Superfans,’ and before a game our students will be rolling their bodies down the court, doing pushups, wearing wigs and football helmets and taunting the other team,” Young said. “They were so loud one time that the opposing team asked the referee to quiet them down.
“There’s no doubt we have the best fans in the state.”
Harrigan would beg to differ.
“Our guys are called `the Crusader Crazies,’ and they go everywhere with us,” Harrigan said. “There are times when they make more noise than the home team’s crowd. It really fires us up when they get going. I’ve been to a lot of gyms, and nobody has a better student section than Brother Rice.”
Both student sections are in for a treat if they stick around for the nightcap. Dockery has averaged 35.2 points in his last five games, including 43 against Carver. Brown lit up Addison Trail for 42 last Friday, firing in 12 three-pointers.
And then there’s Proviso East’s 6-foot-3-inch, phenom Shannon Brown, rated among the top five juniors in the nation by recruiting services. He scored 50 points in a 97-62 rout of Hinsdale South on Tuesday.
