On Friday, January 12, camera crews from NBC Sports Chicago came to the Parker vs. North Shore Country Day School upper school boys’ varsity basketball game to film for NBC Sports Chicago’s High School Lites, which features one minute highlight videos from various high school games in the Chicagoland area.

On Preps Talk, an NBC Sports Chicago Twitter that gives updates on Illinois High School Association content, a poll was sent out to its followers with the choice of three Illinois Independent School League boys basketball games: Elgin Academy vs. Northridge, Morgan Park Academy vs. Latin, and North Shore Country Day School (NSCDS) vs. Parker. With the help of the athletic department at both NCSDS and Parker, along with other community members, the Parker game won with 61% of the vote.

“I wasn’t really expecting us to win the vote,” captain Zach Lansburgh said, “so when we won the vote, it was kind of cool to see us on TV, especially after winning the game.”

Since the camera crew came during the second half, the video starts early in the third, with North Shore down by 10. After a North Shore score, senior Cameron Miller makes an assist to Lansburgh, making it a 30-22 lead. Later in the third quarter, Lansburgh makes an assist to senior Jack McNabola to make it an 11 point lead. And in the closing seconds of the third, Lansburgh drives through traffic, and makes a floater at the buzzer of the third quarter. Parker “did not look back,” according to the video, and beat North Shore 51-43.

“I don’t think it was nerve-wracking having the camera crews there, but I definitely think it made the team play better,” Gross said. “Knowing we were on camera, and knowing we would be seen on TV, I think made the team play a lot better.”

The first time Parker was broadcasted on NBC Sports Chicago was during last year’s Latin vs. Parker boys basketball game at Depaul, where both teams, that were a part of what the video coined “the battle of Clark street,” went into overtime, and ended up in a lost after alum Marc Taylor’s missed attempt at a buzzer-beater.  

The video, broadcasted at 11pm on NBC Sports Chicago, was also an opportunity to get Parker athletics out there. “Any promotion of that sort is good for the school, good for our athletic department, and good for our student athletes,” athletic director Bobby Starks said. “Hopefully viewers all over, across the Chicagoland area and more got a chance to see Francis Parker, and get to know our school.”

In reaction to the video, Starks says that he heard from “fans of the athletic department, who love athletics, who talk to me everyday, to teachers, to students, other community members, and from folks that don’t normally talk about athletics.” In addition to that, he had also received calls from other alumni, that, according to Starks, were “happy to see that it was going on.”

According to varsity Coach Kevin Snider, who initiated the boys wearing dress shirts and slacks on game days, the reactions he received about the team was that they looked like a “well-oiled machine.” But the “biggest reaction” he received was from a former high school teammate of his. His teammate said that it was good to see Snider doing so well. For Snider, it also meant that he had the “opportunity to be able to reconnect with an old friend.”

According to both Lansburgh and Gross, the season was off to a rough start. But the team has been on a four-game winning streak prior to their game against Latin on January 26. “I think going to the game against Latin,” Lansburgh said. “we feel pretty good because we have been winning as of late, and we kind of have good vibe going around with the team right now. I feel like we do have a chance.”