UPDATE: Sandburg's Chris Pajak is Patch MVP

Sandburg wrestling standout Chris Pajak outpolled seven others in voting for Southland Patch MVP, Feb. 18-24. He is now eligible for Patch Athlete of the Month honors.

Your Patch is a place to celebrate local high school athletes. Show your support for these prep sports MVPs—each of whom is Athlete of the Week in his or her local Patch—by cheering them on in the comments thread, sharing your own photos with the Patch community and voting in the poll. Do you think we're missing someone? Tell us in the comments and share his or her photo to the gallery above. (It's easy. Just click the Upload Photos and Videos link — learn more here.) Read more about this week's MVPs in the photo gallery, and show your support for them by: There is one more way for you to become a more interactive fan: Sign up to become a Patch sports blogger. (Learn more about blogging on Patch here).

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Watch Mother McAuley and Marist Girls Basketball Live on Patch

McAuley takes on Marist at 7:30 p.m. and you can watch the full game live on Patch.

The 14-6 Mighty Macs take on the Marist Redhawks in the McAuley 2013 girls varsity basketball sectional. You can catch the game live on Patch starting at 7:30 p.m.

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Watch Live: Tonight's Oak Lawn Girls' Basketball Game

The Oak Lawn Spartan girls take on Argo at 6 p.m. and you can watch it live on Patch.

The Oak Lawn Spartans girls' basketball team takes their show on the road to Summit when they take on the Argo Argonauts on Thursday night. You can watch the full game live on Patch starting at 6 p.m. Oak Lawn is 10-1 this season and Argo is 6-5.

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Girls Basketball: Nye Leads McAuley to Upset Win Over St. Joseph

Elizabeth Nye scores a career-high 20 points as the host Mighty Macs score a huge 60-49 victory.

Girls Basketball: Oak Lawn Outruns Oak Forest for Big Home Victory

Oak Lawn 67, Oak Forest 59: The Spartans consistently pushed the tempo and LaTondra Brooks and Brooke Annerino combined to score 45 points in the host team's victory.

The Skinny: Oak Lawn turned Thursday’s basketball game into a track meet, pushing the ball in transition consistently and coming away with a 67-59 victory over visiting Oak Forest. The sophomore duo of Brooke Annerino and LaTondra Brooks combined to score 45 points for the Spartans. Oak Forest dug itself a seven-point halftime deficit, partly due to nine first-half turnovers. The Bengals got within five points several times in the second half, but couldn’t close the deficit further. Oak Lawn overcame late turnover issues to put away the Bengals in the fourth quarter. Patch’s MVP: Oak Lawn’s LaTondra Brooks. The 5-foot-6 sophomore guard was electric on both ends of the court. When Brooks wasn’t scoring, she was pushing the ball in …

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Coach Kortz Has the Winning Touch at Richards

Jeff Kortz has been a part of six straight conference championships among three different teams, leading one colleague to call him Richards' Most Valuable Coach.

Last August, the South Suburban Conference honored Richards’ Jeff Kortz at a banquet for being named the conference’s girls basketball Coach of the Year. There was just one problem: Kortz didn’t show. The longtime Richards coach is not one for attention or self-congratulation. Therefore, Richards Athletic Director Ken Styler stood in Kortz's place at the banquet. Kortz may be unusually humble, but considering his accomplishments, he has no reason to be. Winning has come in bunches for Kortz over the last two years. He is Richards’ head varsity girls basketball coach and is an assistant coach for the varsity football and baseball teams. With Kortz patrolling the sidelines, these three teams have combined to win six straight conference …

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Hot Shot: Oak Lawn's Niemiec Honored as Top Winter Sports Athlete

Spartans' senior is a standout on the court and in the classroom, too.

Bridget Niemiec, Oak Lawn, senior, basketball * Niemiec was a four-year varsity regular on the Spartans' girls basketball team. * She earned all-conference honors as a sophomore, junior and senior. * She set the school record for most points scored in a game with 32. * She scored 841 points in her four-year career. * She was named as Oak Lawn's co-MVP after her junior and senior seasons. "When I look back, I will remember the Winter of 2010-11 and I will be proud of what my team accomplished. We all worked so hard day-in and day-out to achieve more. Every game just didn't go our way, but we worked hard and accomplished a lot more than people thought we were going to. The season was fantastic and all the girls got along so well. We had a …

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andy skoundrianos

8:40 am on Monday, March 14, 2011

Great job Bridgey I taught ya everything ya know Ha Ha Your loving neighbor Andy Congrats   more ›

Analysis: No Panic Mode for Marian vs. Marist

Three starters pick up their third foul in tight third quarter of Thursday night's L-W North Sectional title game, but Spartans don't bend or break against the RedHawks.

The second half of Thursday night’s Lincoln-Way North Sectional championship game couldn't have started any better for Marist. It took only six seconds for it to happen, and some fans probably hadn't made their way back from the restrooms or concession stand when Marian Catholic standout Simone Law was whistled for her third foul. The Loyola University-bound senior retreated to the bench, and 40 seconds later Marist's Jetaun Rouse made a pair of free throws to cut Marian's lead to 24-20. The Redhawks would later cut Marian’s lead to 27-24 on a bucket by Asiana Bey and seemingly had momentum in their favor. That was until Jasmine Matthews and Jamie Johnson ignited the Marian crowd with back-to-back three-pointers to make it a 33-24 game. …

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Girls Basketball: Marian Catholic Surges Past Marist for L-W North Sectional Title

Marian Catholic 57, Marist 42. Foul trouble plagues the Spartans, but team depth helps finish off the Redhawks.

The Hot Read: Marian Catholic standout Simone Law picked up her third foul just six seconds into the second half and didn't convert a field goal after halftime. But Marist couldn’t take full advantage in Thursday night’s Class 4A Lincoln-Way North Sectional final. Marist trailed 24-18 at halftime but couldn’t get any closer than 24-20 in the second half. Marist's Randyll Butler split a pair of free throws with 1:50 left in the third quarter to make it a 35-30 contest, but Marian closed the quarter with a 7-0 run to take an impressive 42-30 lead into the final quarter en route to a 57-42 victory. Patch's MVP: Marian Catholic's Jasmine Matthews scored 14 points, but just as important was her leadership in the third quarter when starters …

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