Both teams came into the game 3-0 in the Chicago Public League Red North/West. Winner gets the lead in the race. Longtime champ Whitney Young (Chicago) already has one loss which was to Lincoln Park (Chicago) in December. This was a hard fought game with the coaches shouting at each other at one point. Here we go:
Westinghouse College Prep (Chicago) 56 Lincoln Park (Chicago) 55 Overtime.
Westinghouse has been a long time city power. Has won multiple city championships with historically relevant players as Mark Aguirre, Eddie Johnson, Hersey Hawkins, Kiwane Garris, Cedric Banks, David Bailey, Martell Bailey, Darius Glover, DeAndre Thomas, and the late Jamarcus Ellis to name a few. Won a Class 2A State title (when it was only 2 classes) in 2001-2002 season finished 2nd in 1999-2000 and third place in 1980-1981, 1991-1992, and 1995-1996. School closed around 2007 and reopened as a College Preparatory aka Magnet school in 2009. Former player Rafie Fields was a City Championship player at Westinghouse, came back to coach at his alma mater in 2017. It's been a long road back to relevance but they could be on their way back as they are now in the drivers seat for a Conference Title. Westinghouse led the entire game as they held leads of 18-9 after first quarter, 27-21 at halftime, and 43-38 after three quarters. Lincoln park battled back to a 50-50 tie with a minute left, a couple of turnovers by both teams led to Lincoln Park having a shot to win in regulation. Lincoln Park junior Damian Pearson Jr hit a half court shot at the buzzer, but the official said it came AFTER the buzzer. They had to bring in a makeshift clock when the overhead scoreboard went out. You can barely hear the buzzer go off, but the official had perfect position to see the clock and hear the sound. Overtime. Not much scoring in the overtime, but Lincoln Park took their only lead of the game, which was only for about 5 seconds as Westinghouse pushed it down the court to the basket to get an and one opportunity. Lincoln Park junior Chayse Turner split two free throws to tie the game at 55 with about 30 seconds left. Westinghouse held the ball, called a timeout, inbounded it, then Westinghouse senior point guard Askia Bullie, who had a big scoring game attacked the basket and drew a foul at the rim. Bullie hit 1 of 2 free throws with 4 seconds left. Lincoln Park sophomore Ahmad Lee had a half court shot at the buzzer that missed. Lincoln Park was led by sophomore forward Larry Harris with 12 points 2 rebounds. Turner ended up with 11 points (7 free throws) 10 rebounds (double/double) 2 assists 2 steals 1 block. Westinghouse College Prep (Chicago) ups it's record to 13-4, 4-0 in conference for first place. Lincoln Park (Chicago) drops to 12-6, 3-1 in conference. Westinghouse has another huge game at perennial conference champ Whitney Young (Chicago) on Wednesday.
Askia Bullie, 6'0" senior point guard, Westinghouse College Prep (Chicago) had a big time scoring game of 23 points (11 free throws) 3 rebounds 2 assists and 1 steal. He constantly attacked the defense the entire game drawing fouls and scoring at the cup. Good floor general and quarterback on football team.
DJ Bolden, 6'3" senior combo guard, Westinghouse College Prep (Chicago) hit 3 threes in the game to accentuate his driving ability and mid range pull-up jumpers. He ended up with 20 points 6 rebounds 2 assists and 1 steal. Picked his spots to score in this game as he had a lot of attention from Lincoln Park defenders.
Comments