And another one bites the dust.
No. 3 Marshall was the latest victim to succumb to the pressures of the Public League`s rugged Red-West Section, arguably the most competitive league in the state, when the Commandos stumbled 72-71 Thursday at Farragut.
Victor Hardges carried the magic wand this time, hitting a buzzer-beating three-point basket that gave the Admirals (15-3, 5-0) sole possession of first place in the Red-West while Marshall fell to second with a 15-2, 5-1 record.
”I had a dream I was going to hit that shot against Marshall,” said Hardges, who finished with nine points. ”All I thought about when I was bringing the ball up the floor was hitting the shot.”
The Admirals had four players in double figures. Monte O`Quinn led with 19, Arvy Arter added 16, Twon Jones 13 and Curtis Ganes 12. The Commandos had four players in double figures: Quadell Kimble 17, Cesare Christian 14, Mozell Williams 12 and Roderico Dale 12.
Hardges got the chance to be the hero on the combination of a belated rally by Farragut and an apparent mistake by the official scorer.
Trailing 69-63 with 3:22 left in the game, Farragut outscored Marshall 9-2 the rest of the way with Hardges scoring five points and O`Quinn four.
With :09 left and Marshall leading 71-69, a personal foul was called against a Farragut player and a free throw was awarded to Marshall when it was believed the foul was the seventh team foul against Farragut. When Marshall missed the free throw, O`Quinn grabbed the rebound and whipped a pass to Hardges who dribbled across the mid-court line and fired.
”Our kid shouldn`t have been at the free throw line,” said Marshall coach Luther Bedford. ”But there was so much confusion before we could find out about it (the scorer`s error). Anyway, we just didn`t execute in the last minute of the game. I think we`ll be able to rebound from this loss, though.” Julian 66, South Shore 46-The third quarter has been Julian`s nemesis all season, and against Red-South rival South Shore, it was no different.
The section-leading Jaguars (12-4, 5-0) saw a 16-point lead shrink to six as South Shore went on a 12-2 run to close the period. Tobias Lampkin (19 points) had eight points for the Tars (12-7, 3-2) during the stretch. Julian recovered and outscored South Shore 23-9 in the fourth quarter to win going away.
Westinghouse 69, Collins 51-David Greer was hot in the first half, and Kiwane Garris came alive in the second as No. 6-ranked Westinghouse applied the knockout punch in the final quarter of this Red-West matchup. Greer (22 points, 10 rebounds) sparked the Warriors (14-3, 3-2) with 10 first-half points, including eight straight bridged over the first and second period.
Garris (23 points) nailed two consecutive three-pointers followed by a layup in the third quarter to extend Westinghouse`s lead to 49-36. Collins
(11-7, 1-4) rallied to make it 49-41 before Westinghouse iced the game with a 12-1 run at the start of the fourth quarter.
”We`ve had instances where we haven`t held our concentration after enjoying big leads and let the other team get back in the game,” said Westinghouse coach Roy Condotti. ”The kids realized that maybe it was going to happen to them again. But this time it wasn`t me who was the motivator, they did it themselves.”
Simeon 72, Carver 54-One week after dropping out of the Tribune`s Top 20 because of two losses in three games, Simeon (10-3, 3-2) rebounded this week with a pair of impressive victories in the Red South Section.
Ben Coupet did the bulk of the damage Thursday, spinning his way to a season-high 26 points. Guard Shawn Young, making a rare start, chipped in with 18 points, and Bernard Mitchell finished with nine.
”Slowly but surely, we`re starting to get a little better,” said coach Bob Hambric. ”I don`t think we`re out of the conference race yet. If we just worry about taking care of ourselves, like we did today, we`ll be a lot better off.”
Orr 63, Young 52-Robert Gaylord had 16, Dwayne Funches 14, Steve Mitchell 12, Tyree Kirby 11 and Calvin Galloway 10 as Orr (16-3, 3-2) prevailed in the Red-West. Jelani Boline had 14 for Young (10-8, 1-4).
More Top Picks Best Waterproof E Readers For Reading
Hyde Park 64, CVS 62-Alphonso Johnson swished a short jump shot with six seconds remaining as visiting Hyde Park (8-4, 2-2) kept Chicago Vocational
(3-10, 0-4) winless in the Red South Section.
Lincoln Park 73, Manley 68-John Owens and Stacey Fluckes had 14 points each and Darrell Locke and Randall Scott 13 apiece to spark Lincoln Park
(16-2, 5-0) in the Blue-West. Allison Hubbard had 18 to lead Manley (9-7, 3-3). Flower 96, Austin 94-Shantrell Tucker (23 points, 11 rebounds), Jermaine Jackson (18 points, 20 rebounds) and Andre Johnson (18 points, 7 assists) led the way as Flower (5-4, 4-1) prevailed in the Blue-West. Charles Branscom had 27 to lead Austin (2-13, 1-4).
Corliss 80, Washington 58-Corliss (9-7, 5-1) breezed in the Blue-South behind Andrew Carrothers (18 points) and Turando Long (15). Andrell Hoard had 21 for Washington (6-12, 1-5).
Wells 66, Cregier 61-DeWayne Ford scored 24 points and DeAndre Clark 20 to power Wells (6-5, 4-1) in the Blue-West.
Morgan Park 55, Harlan 54-Mani Adams (10 points) sank the front end of a one-and-one with :12 seconds left to lift Morgan Park (7-8, 4-2 in the Blue-South. Chris Backstrom (15 points) saved the Mustangs with a steal in the final seconds. Ryan Alston had 14 points for Harlan (6-7, 3-3).
Kenwood 55, Bowen 53-Mark Odom had 19 points for Kenwood (5-10, 3-3 in the Blue-South).
Yeshiva 69, Northridge 67 (OT)-Jesse Pavony (21 points, 10 rebounds)
scored four points in the OT for Yeshiva (3-6, 3-5) in the Metro Prep. Bob Bardon had 30 points for Northridge (1-5, 0-3).