No. 10 Lincoln Park – 56 No. 13 Joliet West – 55
LP managed to escape Joliet Central in the top card of the evening, the Lions withstood a three-pointer at the buzzer by senior Tre’Vonta Hall to send the game into overtime, then the Lions had to hold their breath in OT when Jamere Hill’s three-pointer was on mark, but a shade long. Hill, who recently gave a verbal to Toledo, was marvelous down the stretch scoring 13 of his game high 22 points. Lincoln Park (16-3) still without a head coach Pat Gordon due to suspension, still has the ship rolling, received a stellar performance from 6-foot 8 Big Man Romelle Howard who was the difference with 15 points and 15 rebounds while patrolling the paint. Ismail Habib tallied 15, while Julio Montes had 11. Great game for viewers!
Oak Park – 73 Lincoln Way East – 69
Pretty rare for a West Suburban and South Suburban team to stroll into a South Side Public League gymnasium for physical scrappy square off. Junior Isaiah Barnes and Josh Smith combined for 49 points to propel the Huskies past Lincoln Way East in an entertaining affair that was close the entire game. East actually held a one-point advantage heading into the fourth quarter, but with under a minute left to play, Oak Park forced a turnover with score 67-63, that pretty secured the win for the Huskies. Lincoln Way East received 22 points, 6 assists, 5 rebounds, & 3 steals from junior guard Jhei-R Jones. Oak Park’s talented wing Isaiah Barnes finished with 27 points and rising prospect Josh Smith recorded 22 markers.
Chicago Crane – 62 Plainfield Central – 55
Crane, a West Side White Division Program, opened the game with a sizzling stretch where they drained 9 threes and ran out to a 41-13 lead, but then that pace eventually subsided to a 45-28 half-time score. Crane shot a scorching 11 for 13 from the three-point arc in the first half. The second half was totally a different vibe, Crane’s shooter was now covered closely, went 1 for 5 due to some adjustments from Central Coach Gregg Bayer who kept his squad in striking distance with heads up scrappy play and was able to close the gap to 57-54 with 1.30 left, but couldn’t finish several contested driving lay-ups. Crane sealed the game by knocking down foul shots. Senior Robert Hobbs led the Cougars with 18 points and 10 rebounds, 6-4 junior shooter Marcus Gaston tailed 16 points, forward Jimarius Sneed chipped in with 11. Central, who did not play bad at all throughout the contest, had to fight up-hill from such a huge early deficit because Crane was hitting on all cylinders. Central was led by senior guard Tavari Johnson 17 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 steals. Fellow senior guard Brandon Shoemaker finished with 16 & Javari Johnson at 11 points.
Chicago Phillips – 72 Hyde Park – 68 OVT
This battle was marked as two historical neighborhoods, Bronzeville versus Jackson Park colliding on MLK Day, my only hope was the tussle would not turn chippy. The Wildcats came into the game without a loss to Chicago area team all year. The contest was tight throughout with several lead changes, but with Phillips ahead 58-57 with the ball and 50.1 second remaining, Philips’s Coach Lawrence Briggs had the dubious distinction of receiving a technical, Hyde Park split the two free throws to tie the game, which went into overtime. The Thunderbirds missed 5 foul shots in OT which pretty much doomed their fate. Philips freshman guard Jaheim Savage was impressive he recorded 27 points and 10 rebounds, he’s definitely a top 10 first year player and one to watch. Un-signed senior 6-3 Keyon Joiner demonstrated he’s a marvelous passer who sees the floor extremely well netted 14 points & 7 assists, Davion Jordan added 14 points as well. Junior Jalen Houston finished with 13 points, freshman guard Raeshom Harris hit three 3s in the overtime period which kept the Thunderbirds close, led them in scoring with 19 points.
Hammond High (Ind) – 84 Peoria High – 59
The Wildcats trounced Peoria in our only disappointing/blow-out of the day, they veered into town not ready to play, which was so disheartening. Seemingly though this was pegged to be a barnburner, a great match up on paper. You would think that Lions would be prepared and ready to play in Chicago. It was obvious from the on-set that they weren’t ready, mostly due to the exhilarating performance of 6-foot 7 junior forward Darrell Reed who threw down 3 devastating flushes in the mist of traffic. This game was a wash by half-time with Hammond jumping out to a 42-23 cushions. The lone bright spot for Peoria was the determined play of 6-4 junior Dionsyious Hogan, he went for 21 points & 6 boards. Wildcats Coach Larry Moore Jr. had his team re-tooled and ready, they looked well in tuned from when we watched them in early December in a home-opener against Hyde Park where they dropped a close one. Moore’s group has vastly developed some identity since that debacle. Reed finished with 19 points, followed by senior guard Tim Wilder’s 18 points, junior Harold Woods added 14 points and senior Jamar Styles grabbed 8 rebounds & 11 points.
Chicago South Shore – 61 Walter Payton – 52
Two academic schools squaring off to open-up the venue, South Shore came into the game winners of the last 9 games and jelling at the right time. Coach Troy Farrow has done admirable job re-vitalizing the culture of his Program despite of being faced with numerous challenges daily. Now on the other side first year Coach Phil Gary Jr. is re-shaping his Program with resemblance of a youth movement, headed by talented freshman Luke Newhall, but presently senior Jabari Chiphe (23 points) is the leader and main go to guy. South Shore sophomore point guard Nathaniel Lee had a game high 25 points while hitting 5 three pointers. The game was close for a while, then the Tars went on a 25-9 run to take a 48-32 lead and the rest was history. Senior Small College gem Andre Stewart had 10 points, 8 rebounds, and 3 blocks, sophomore wing Chris McDonald finished with 10 markers as well. Payton received 10 points from junior Eamon Glasscott.
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