During the first half of Whitney Young’s Public League quarterfinal showdown against Crane, the Dolphins looked every bit like the enigmatic team it was during the regular season.
But coach Lamont Bryant has been preaching to his Dolphins about treating the playoffs like a second season.
As it has throughout the playoffs, Young responded with a brilliant stretch in the second half for a 79-73 victory overCrane.
Chris Hill led Young with 20 points, 18 in the second half.Ronald Howard added 19 points , while Chris Gardner scored all 12 of his points in the second half–including three three-pointers that sparked the Dolphins’ comeback.
“Not to take anything from Crane, but we played good basketball,” Bryant said. “The first season doesn’t count. We don’t even know what happened. We’re talking about the second season.”
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Crane (21-8) used an 11-0 second-quarter run to help itself to a 40-27 lead at the break. The Cougars extended the lead to 49-32 before Young finally came alive.
Gardner’s first two three-pointers highlighted a 12-2 burst that got the Dolphins within striking distance. Young (16-8) cut the lead to three by scoring seven of the final nine points of the third, finally tying the game on a pair of Howard free throws with 6 1/2 minutes remaining.
A layup by Najeeb Echols (11 points) gave Young the lead for good with just under four minutes remaining.
Jabbar Battle and Tony Allen led Crane with 18 points apiece.
Pat Rooney.
Morgan Park 63, CVS 58: Quinnell Brown had 14 points, 12 rebounds and six steals and O’Neal Carter also added 14 points, including four three-pointers, to guide Morgan Park (22-5) to its 14th consecutive victory.
Jamon Dorsey scored 18 points for Chicago Vocational (21-9).
Simeon 83, Washington 57: For about 10 minutes Washington’s improbable postseason run continued to parallel the success of the school’s girls team. With Leslie Hill, Angelina Williams and the other Minutewomen watching, the boys team shot out to a 26-17 lead against Simeon with five minutes remaining in the second quarter. But then it was over, gradually and then very suddenly.
The Wolverines used a 19-9 scoring run to close the half, going up 36-35 at the break and the third quarter belonged to Cameron Echols.
Echols had 13 points and 11 rebounds in the third period, propelling Simeon to a 32-7 run. It marked the second straight year and third time in the last four seasons the Wolverines qualified for the Public League semifinals.
Echols finished with 31 points, 21 rebounds and four blocks. David White added 24 points and 11 rebounds. And guard Dwayne Williams had 17 points and five assists.
“We started out very slowly, a step behind defensively,” Hambric said. “Then we got into that hustle mode. When we do that, we’re a very good team.”
Simeon outscored Washington 15-2 in the opening 41/2 minutes of the third quarter. Gregory Anderson scored 17 points in the first half, but Simeon limited him to two second-half baskets, the only four points the Minutemen (19-10) scored in the third quarter.
“We got tired in the second half,” Washington coach Kenneth Crump said. “We played one good half, but we were outmanned and couldn’t match up with them on the inside.”
Westinghouse 82, Manley 67: Cedric Banks led all scorers with 23 points and Craig Franklin chipped in with 16 points to help Westinghouse (27-1) knock off Manley.
“We haven’t played our best basketball yet, but we are on an upswing,” Westinghouse coach Chris Head said. “We tasted the city championship game last year and we want to get back.”
Manley (23-6) was led by Johnny Jones and Luther Head, who scored 16 and 14 points, respectively.