BOYS BASKETBALL

Hales 71, Mount Carmel 70 (OT)
Was this a demo of state championship preview? It sure felt like it as these two teams never let up pushing and pushing even into overtime Friday night... this game had 11 ties and 19 lead changes, but when the dust settled, the Spartans,  reserve forward Jerry Humphrey's layup that gave Hales a 71-70 victory over the Caravan.

Pat Miller knocked down 24 points and the game winning assist to Humphrey.

"This was a high-intensity game for us," said Miller, a 6-foot-1 guard who is looking like a steal for Tennessee State. "We treated this game like it was our league championship. We know Mount Carmel is going to give De La Salle a good game."

Tracey Abrams, an Illinois-bound junior, led the Caravan with 22.

NOTE: With a victory over De La Salle Tuesday night, the Catholic conference could end in a three-way tie including De La Salle, Hales, and Mount Carmel.

Rich South 68, Rich Central 48
The battle in the Southland conference simmered quite a bit on a big run early by the Stars, led by Darryl Hervy, who had team-high 24 points in the victory. Macari Brooks also added a double-double with 15 points and 10 boards for the Stars.

GIRLS BASKETBALL
Homewood-Flossmoor 84, Lincoln-Way Central 45
It was senior night in Homewood as the Vikings hosted the Griffins. From the tip it was all Vikings led by CiCi Shannon, who almost had a double-double, with 20 points and 9 boards.
Honorable mention: Alexis Baker knocked down 5 3-pointers.

T.F. North 84, Evergreen Park 20
Jeanise Randolph had a game-high 31 points in her final regular season contest. Centrese McGee added 11 for  the win.

Morgan Park 72, Young 53 In the words of LL Cool J, "Don't' call it a comeback... we've been here for years..." was the tune sounded around the gym Wednesday night as the Mustangs knocked of Whitney Young, 72-53.

photo courtesy of Tribune sports

 

“We shocked the world,” Irvin said. “No one thought we could do this. The last time I coached against against [Young coach Tyrone Slaughter] was four years ago (in a club basketball game). And I beat him. It’s always intense against Slaughter.”

 

This victory came with lots of drama including an asthma attack in the third quarter and and the teams' key player not feeling well.

Markee Williams, after scoring the first five points of the second half, suffered an asthma attack and struggled breathing until the fourth quarter, when an inhaler was found for him.

 

“I was pretty scared,” Williams said. “I don’t usually have attacks during games, so I didn’t bring my inhaler. I was too dizzy to watch the game.”

 

Williams’ third-quarter heroics kicked off a 21-3 third-quarter run. This run sparked lots of disagreement between Dolphin players on the court as well as the bench.

 

Louisville-bound Wayne Blackshear scored 11 of his game-high 17 points from the free-throw line one day before his birthday (happy birthday).

 

On the other side, senior Ahmad Starks led Young with 15 points followed by freshman Tommy Hamilton Jr. who added 11.

 

GIRLS BASKETBALL
Rich East 71, Rich South 57
After a slow start, the Rockets got refueled late in the 1st half behind the scorching hands of Diamond Burt, who celebrated senior night with a double-double, 25 points and 21 boards. East came out in the second half with jet-fueled packs getting out to a 14-0 run through 5 minutes of play. They only allowed 4 points in the third.

Zion-Benton 51, Grant 32
Junior transfer Juanita Robinson led all scorers with 23 points in this contest. This was a big motivating victory for the Lady Zee-Bee's going in to the playoffs.
 

Hillcrest 91, Tinley Park 50
Senior Gerald Dorsey was a scoring machine against Hillcrest as he knocked down 32 points. The problem was, he was their only offense and Hillcrest were able to play together as a team and dominate offensively. This was a big win for the Hawks in the South Suburban Blue conference. Julius Brown led the Hawks with 19, followed by Darren Tillman who added 18.

Rich Central 70, T.F. South 56
Idideji "Deji" Ibitayo played BIG against TF South burying 21 and rejecting 4 for the Olympians. Nikko Robertson added a "true double-double" with 17 points and 10 boards.
 

GIRLS BASKETBALL
Andrew 68, Thornridge 36
Jenna Kotas had 16 points for Andrew. Freshman Tiana Karopulos added 13 points.

Hillcrest 86, Tinley Park 35
The Lady Hawks didn't let the snow storm distract them in this contest as they "swooped" through Tinley Park Tuesday night. The tag team of Samirah Ali and Jasmine Sanders led the Hawks in scoring. Ali and Sanders both  knocked down 18 points. Jacquenae Foster, Shannise Heady and Uniquah Hampton each added 10 points.