One is an explosive athlete with a silky jump shot. The other is a chiseled post player who sweeps the boards. And even though Crane guard Will Bynum and Farragut center Elliott Poole don’t play the same position, the two waged a personal game of H-O-R-S-E on Monday night.
It took overtime to decide the winner, but in the end it was Poole who led the No. 6 Admirals to a 74-72 victory over No. 4 Crane in another Public Red West basketball thriller.
While the 6-foot-7-inch Poole scored five of his game-high 33 points in overtime, Bynum (31 points, six rebounds, three steals) could only watch from the sideline after fouling out with 2 minutes 33 seconds remaining. He was assessed his fifth foul while grabbing a rebound over Poole with the game tied 65-65.
“When you’ve got those two players going at it, you’re in for a treat,” said Farragut coach William Nelson, whose team avenged an earlier loss to Crane during the Chicago Board of Education Tournament.
Poole and Bynum certainly treated the crowd to a show. Bynum, who converted 11-of-17 shots and scored 18 in the second half, forced overtime with a short jumper with 7 seconds left, making it 63-63. He also scored seven straight third-quarter points and buried a three-pointer with 21 seconds remaining in the quarter to give Crane (14-3, 2-2) its first lead of the game–45-44.
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Poole, on the other hand, did most of his damage in the first half as Farragut (11-3, 3-1) raced to an 8-0 advantage and led 36-30 at the half. The junior scored the Admirals’ first 11 points in the second quarter and grabbed 11 of his game-high 13 rebounds in the first half.
But unlike Bynum, Poole was there at the end when his team needed him most. Poole’s layup on a nifty pass from Marcetteaus McGee with less than a minute remaining made it 73-69.
Crane, however, made it interesting in the end when Hubert Jones was fouled with three seconds left and trailing by three. He made the first free throw, and the second attempt bounced left to Crane’s Joplin Johnson, whose putback just rimmed out at the buzzer.
“I felt like I had to prove something against [Bynum],” Poole said. “It was me against him–who could beat who.”
Poole got more help from his teammates, though. Daniel James scored 10 of his 13 in the first quarter and McGee notched seven of his 12 points in the fourth and overtime periods.
Crane’s Florentino Valencia tallied 22 points and nine rebounds.
— Sean Duncan
Morgan Park 83, Carver 60: In the Public Red South, Quinnel Brown turned in 23 points and 10 rebounds to lead five players in double figures as the No. 5 Mustangs (13-3, 4-0) rolled. Jonathan Byrd and Clarence Kelly rounded out a balanced Morgan Park attack with 18 and 13 points, respectively. Teran Lee’s 17 points led No. 19 Carver (11-5, 2-3).
Young 57, Curie 56: Ronald Howard’s three-pointer at the buzzer gave the Dolphins (6-9, 3-2) the upset victory over No. 15 Curie in the Public Red West. Howard finished with 13 points to go with Joshua Williams’ 11. Jimmy Gunn scored 11 points and Eric Borg added 10 for Curie (14-1, 2-2).
Chicago Christian 68, Oak Lawn 67: Russ Kooyenga scored 16 points to give the Knights (9-12) the edge in a non-conference game.
Chicago Vocational 74, Washington 72: Antonio Stamps scored a game-high 32 points to lead Vocational (11-5, 1-3) to their first Public Red South win.
DuSable 79, Hubbard 64: Benyamin Robinson scored 15 points to lead the Panthers (7-8, 3-1) in the Red Central. Rashaun Johnson led all scorers with 24 points for Hubbard (9-12, 2-3).
Gage Park 66, King 61: Pierre Alston scored 28 points to lead Gage Park (15-5, 3-2) in the Red Central.
Kenwood 66, Tilden 55 (OT): Quincy Black scored 19 points for Kenwood (9-8, 4-0) in the Blue Central win. Keith Gayden scored 14 points for Tilden (9-7, 3-1) and forced the game to overtime with a layup with seven seconds left in regulation.
Lake View 82, Schurz 65: Brian Meyers scored 28 points for Lake View in the Blue North.
Lincoln Park 75, Lane Tech 71: Andy Phalen scored 21 points as Lincoln Park (3-9, 2-2) held on for the Public Red North win.
Manley 79, Westinghouse 76: Luther Head had 26 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds to lead Manley (9-8, 1-4) in the Public Red West. Westinghouse (9-7, 1-3) had a 76-74 lead when leading scorer Jamal Washington (27 points) fouled out with 52 seconds left and Manley ended the game with a 5-0 run.
Von Steuben 86, Steinmetz 56: Luke Rogers poured in 33 points to lead the Panthers (11-3, 5-0) to the Public Red North rout. Marcquintice Davis scored 21 points to lead Steinmetz (2-6, 2-3).
Girls
Fenwick 51, Carmel 38: Erin Lawless put in 16 points to lead top-ranked Fenwick (21-1, 7-0) in the East Suburban Catholic. After a recheck of record books, Friars coach Dave Power has 492 career wins–not 497 as previously reported.
Amundsen 53, Madonna 50 (OT): Lissete Plaza scored 15 points for Amundsen and Bonnie Howard hit the game-winning free throws in the non-conference victory.
Chicago Latin 49, Morgan Park Academy 45: Chrissy Dizon scored 16 points to keep Latin (14-8, 8-0) unbeaten in the Independent School League.
Fenger 53, Austin 46: Maria Scott scored 18 points and Tomara Ford added 17 points for Fenger (10-9) in the non-conference win.
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Morris 59, Glenbard South 40: Morris (14-3, 7-2) cruised in the Suburban Prairie Red behind Kate Gibbs’ 24 points.
Oak Forest 47, Eisenhower 28: Lauren Novak scored 16 points to lead Oak Forest (16-5) to the SICA Central win.
Sweet 16 Tournament: Patti Hornung scored 14 points as Lake Zurich (15-4) survived 1-for-11 shooting in the first quarter for a 46-37 win over Maine West. Linnea O’Neill and Diana Boris scored 10 points each to lead Maine West (14-9).