Maybe he should be known as Double Duty Weathers.
Senior guard Jonah Weathers has made his mark in both basketball and baseball over the years for Marian Catholic, but baseball is his first love.
He even had a chance in July to play at Guaranteed Rate Field as a part of the Double Duty Classic named in honor of Negro League legend Ted “Double Duty” Radcliffe.
“I got a hit, made a double play in the field,” Weathers said. “I was on the Jumbotron. It was fun.”
It also made first-year basketball coach Rick Romeli a little nervous.
With his two-year varsity guard committing to John Logan College for baseball and playing on MLB fields, Romeli wondered if Weathers was going to finish out his basketball career.
But all ended up well, and Weathers returned to double duty.
“I commend him for playing and giving me the opportunity to coach him,” Romeli said. “Because we obviously wouldn’t be the same team without him.”
The Spartans (18-8) entered this week with signature wins over Marist, Brother Rice and Benet.
Even though he has whittled his athletic list down to baseball for the next level, Weathers was happy he could contribute to both sports one more time as a senior at Marian.
“Through high school and middle school and growing up on the South Side of Chicago, I always wanted to play multiple sports,” Weathers said. “But baseball was a sport I really loved.”
Weathers loved basketball Sunday, scoring 13 points in a 67-60 East Suburban Catholic Conference upset of Benet, which was ranked No. 5 in Class 4A by The Associated Press.
In December, Weathers had a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds against St. Viator.
“He’s very steady,” Romeli said. “All of the kids gravitate to him, and he has a great personality. He relates well with everyone. He’s been scoring the ball well, and that doesn’t hurt, right?”
“It’s going to be my last time playing basketball, so I have to lock in until it’s time for baseball,” Weathers said. “I just want to keep having some fun.”
In the zone
Domas Narcevicius did something that not even Cleveland Cavaliers starting guard Max Strus could do when he wore a Stagg uniform.
Narcevicius tied a program record for 3-pointers with eight for the Chargers in a 90-64 SouthWest Suburban Red win over Bradley-Bourbonnais, which was on a roll with a five-game winning streak that featured victories over Homewood-Flossmoor and Lincoln-Way East.
The junior guard finished with 28 points against Bradley and tied Sean Dwyer’s standard with the 3-pointers. Strus’ top game for Stagg was seven 3-pointers.
“I don’t know, it was one of those days that happened,” Narcevicius said. “I was in a slight slump before that game and just kept shooting.
The basket felt like an ocean. I was throwing it up and it was going in.”
X marks the spot
While some people use social media for negative chatter, St. Laurence’s Josh Pickett is using X, formerly Twitter, to spread positive messages and lessons.
Some of the posts from the Denver-bound senior guard include controlling what you can control, loving the grind of hard work and not confusing adversity with toxicity.
“I was talking to my parents,” Pickett said. “They said it would be a good idea to give back and talk to some of the young kids on social media about some of the experiences I’ve had and help them out with their journey.
“I thought it would be a good idea to do that and just be positive because the world has so much negative.”
Jeff Vorva is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
