Thornton Fractional North beat Hillcrest by 20 on their senior night. I'm sure Hillcrest remembered that tonight. It did take a while to put the Meteors away, but they did in double digit fashion and executed an ambush. Here we go:
#1 seed Hillcrest (Country Club Hills) 74 #4 seed Thornton Fractional North (Calumet City) 56: It was not a good start for Hillcrest's Darrion Baker (6'9" senior wing), and Akron commit. He had three personal fouls in the first nine minutes of the game. He ended up with 5 points and 3 rebounds way below his averages. His teammates picked up the slack though namely Quentin Heady (6'6" senior wing) who had a monster game. Heady is one of my key players for Hillcrest win this playoff run. Baker came back in the second half, then had to leave for a bit, but came back and did enough to keep his team on top. Thornton Fractional North never led in this game. Hillcrest was on top 19 13 after one quarter, 40-25 at half, and 51-42 after three. Thornton Fractional North got it to within five in the fourth quarter but never really threatened. Hillcrest had a monster finish with a couple of dunks and a sick two handed blocked shot by Reuben "Tolu" Samuels (6'6" senior wing). Thornton Fractional North had 2 players foul out in the third quarter and another one foul out with 2:20 left in the game.
QUENTIN HEADY WAS AN ABSOLUTE MONSTER: Heady finished with 31 points 6 rebounds 2 steals and 2 blocks. He was everywhere on the court with nice drives and finishes, drawing fouls and getting to the free throw line. Had a lot of deflections in the zone press. He was 12 for 15 from two point range and 7 for 13 from the free throw line.
REUBEN "TOLU" SAMUELS (#3) IS AN ELITE RIM PROTECTOR: Yes he's the size of a wing but he has great timing on blocking and altering shots. He ended up with 7 blocks to go along with his 14 points 5 rebounds 4 assists 1 steal. Runs the court well and was on the receiving end of some good assists by multiple teammates.
BRYCE "DIGGY" TILLERY HAD SOME NIFTY ASSISTS: 5'10" senior point guard for Hillcrest had some nice assists from penetrating in the lane and getting the ball to his wings for layups and dunks. He did have some uncharacteristic turnover tonight, but had 15 points 5 assists and 4 steals.
JAYQUAN RATLIFF WAS AN ASSIST AND STEAL MACHINE: 5'10" junior guard for Hillcrest did not score and did not take a shot but had 4 rebounds 8 assists and 5 steals.
THORNTON FRACTIONAL NORTH:
JEVON WARREN BROUGHT HIS A GAME WITH HIM: 6'2" senior wing was constantly attaching the basket even when his shot was blocked. He had 23 points 5 rebounds and 2 blocks.
CHASE ABRAHAM BROUGHT IT OFF THE BENCH: 5'11" junior guard had 23 points 6 rebounds and 3 steals.
Hillcrest (Country Club Hills) advances to Sectional Final with a 28-3 record, while Thornton Fractional North ends season at 20-6.
Notes:
#1 seeds lost tonight:
Huntley to East (St Charles) (4A)
DeLaSalle Institiute (Chicago) to Fenwick (Oak Park) (3A)
Whitney Young (Chicago) to North (Downers Grove) (4A)
South (Crystal Lake) to Marmion Academy (Aurora) (3A)
Rock Island to Richwoods (Peoria) (3A)
#1 seeds surviving:
Kenwood Academy (Chicago) with a two point win over Bloom Township (Chicago Heights) who held the ball till last shot.....and did not get a shot off (4A)
New Trier (Winnekta) hits a buzzer beater to beat Glenbrook South (Glenview) (4A) : https://twitter.com/HoulihanMarty/status/1630772504317812739?s=20.
Libertyville a three point win on the road with a buzzer beater at Barrington (4A): https://twitter.com/LHSwildcatBball/status/1630763747382906883?s=20
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