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PHOENIX RISE...

CHICAGO - Talk about an instant classic… South Side vs. West Side!!! Defense vs. offense! Second year team, North Lawndale, taken on a resurging team for the city championship! And what better stage than at the UIC pavilion?

The Thunderbirds of Hyde Park led the entire game including a 9 point lead mid-way through the second period, 34 - 25. But no matter how hot the Thunderbirds got, the Phoenix made their own run. In fact, they had a solid 6-0 run to end the half bringing to the score to 34-31.

The constant pressure applied on the afternoon by North Lawndale (24-5) seemed to not only wear Hyde Park (23-4) down, but also became a mental obstacle. "You could tell they backed off once we started to get really physical," said the 6'4" junior Jermaine Winfield. Winfield suffered a gunshot wound in January at Collins high school after a game. "It's been a rough year, but the leg isn't bothering me at all anymore."

With the game close throughout the second half, North Lawndale made a got a lot of second chances and tied the game up with 3 minutes left in regulation. After a timeout, the strategy by Coach Thorpe was to hold the ball and force the Thunderbirds to foul or to play man-to-man. The Phoenix were able to hold the ball for over 2 minutes and 30 seconds at the top of the key, while the Thunderbirds surrendered to them the final shot - not applying any pressure whatsoever to senior Ziligan Jones. The crowd definitely disagreed with the strategy exploded with vigorous boo's and shouts of 'let 'em play.' North Lawndale had a shot, actually two shots, to win the game in regulation but neither fell for them… so they went into overtime.

The Phoenix dominated the overtime applying even more defensive pressure. "We just refused to lose," added Senior Jonathan Mills, who led the Phoenix with 23 boards, 4 blocked shots and 13 points on the afternoon. "Coach told us when you play a team like Hyde Park, it's the little things that win the game. Everyone wants to look pretty and shuffle around, I just go out like a warrior.''

The Phoenix played a solid 10-man rotation, in what Coach Thorpe, described as 36 minutes of constant, swarming, intense pressure.
This stifling defense held senior forward, Malcolm Griffin to 6 points on the afternoon. The Thunderbirds were led by Fabyon Harris with 17 points and Anthony Dixon with 10.

Coach Kirksey of Hyde Park shared with us that "it was execution and patience down the stretch that cost us tonight. In life, not just in sports, you have to have patience and make good decisions."

Final score... 54 - 51.

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