Five Homewood-Flossmoor players saw the bulk of the playing time Friday night in their game versus No. 11 Thornridge, but it was Falcons coach Mike Flaherty who seemed exhausted after his team escaped with a 44-40 victory.
“That was ugly,” Flaherty said, after Thornridge (14-3, 5-0) rallied from a 35-30 fourth-quarter deficit to stay tied with Thornton atop the SICA East. “You have to give H-F credit because they played their style of game.”
Jason King and Nelson Grant led the Vikings (4-11, 1-5), who suffered from 25 turnovers, including nine in the fourth quarter.
That’s when John Lott took over, scoring six of his 17 points to rally the Falcons.
Farragut 89, Manley 80: Top-ranked Farragut (14-1, 5-0) watched a 20-point fourth-quarter lead get trimmed to nine before hanging on for the Public Red-West victory. Kevin Garnett led the way with 33 points and 20 rebounds, while Ronnie Fields added 28 points and 12 rebounds.
Carver 69, Fenger 46: No. 3 Carver (16-1, 5-0) posted the Public Red-South victory behind Marcel O’Neal’s 20 points and Nick Irvin’s 14.
Thornton 55, Bloom Trail 35: No. 5 Thornton (14-1, 5-0) prevailed in the SICA East behind Tai Streets’ 15 points. Bloom Trail led 20-19 at halftime, but didn’t score a field goal until two minutes remained as Thornton went on a 33-5 run.
Shepard 73, Oak Lawn 45: No. 6 Shepard (17-1, 5-0) scored a school-record 52 points in the first half of the SICA North blowout. John Economos and Craig Taczy led the winners with 16 points and 10 rebounds apiece, and Sam Jones contributed 15 points.
Zion-Benton 75, Antioch 69: Darius Wesley scored 21 points and Chuck Patton added 19 to power No. 12 Zion-Benton (16-1, 7-1) in the North Suburban.
Downers Grove South 58, Addison Trail 53: No. 14 Downers South (15-3, 4-1) opened the fourth quarter with 10 straight points and hit eight of 11 free throws down the stretch to overcome an 11-point, third-quarter deficit and earn the West Suburban Gold triumph.
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“It really shows that the character of this team is amazing,” said Downers South coach Dick Flaiz. “These players like each other, like to play together and complement each other.”
Eric Norberg (18 points, 10 rebounds) and Antwaun Cubie (17 points) led Downers, which trailed 42-36 after three quarters. Fred Krecik’s 14 points topped Addison Trail (10-7, 3-2).
Elgin 52, Streamwood 36: No. 16 Elgin (15-2, 7-1) used a 7-1 run to break a 17-17 second-quarter tie and never again trailed in the Upstate Eight. Mark Bartee led the winners with 13, while Yolin Eddins added 12.
“The key again was our team defense,” said Elgin coach Jim Harrington, still without leading scorer Rodney Clifton (hand injury).
Sandburg 82, Argo 67: Tanner Mitchell scored 26 points and Chris Beranek had 18 for No. 17 Sandburg (13-2, 4-1) in the SICA North. Jasper Mallory of Argo (6-10, 1-4) led all scorers with 29 points.
Lincoln-Way 88, Aurora Christian 82: Lincoln-Way (12-5) handed No. 18 Aurora Christian (17-1) its first loss as Ryan White scored 30 points and Mark Griffin added 20 points and 10 rebounds. Joe Mann led Aurora Christian with 31.
Mundelein 90, Stevenson 67: Brian McMahon scored 25 points, Sean Stackhouse had 22 and Ivan Hourruitiner added 16 as No. 19 Mundelein (15-3, 8-1) cruised in the North Suburban. Peter Ferguson’s 24 points paced Stevenson (5-13, 3-6).
St. Charles 70, DeKalb 58: No. 20 St. Charles (13-2, 6-2) stopped a two-game Upstate Eight losing streak as Jason Nord’s season-high 22 points led four in double figures. Nord hit nine of 11 shots. Casey Dodson added eight of his 12 in the third quarter to doom DeKalb (8-9, 3-6), which was led by Greg Sulaver’s 22.