Youth has been a matter of fact at Westinghouse this season, and less than three weeks ago, coach Chris Head put his foot down. No more excuses.
Since dropping to 0-5 in the Chicago Public League Red West, the young Warriors have continued to grow, and posted their third consecutive league win Friday night, 80-69 over No. 14 Farragut.
“There was never a doubt how good this team could be,” Head said. “We’re young, but I decided to stop using youth as an excuse after the fifth conference game. Now we’re growing up.”
Jamal Brown scored 15 of his game-high 21 points in the first quarter as Westinghouse (12-10, 3-5) built a 12-point lead. Pressure defense helped the Warriors to an 8-0 second-quarter run (including six points in 27 seconds on three straight turnovers) that saw them build a 37-24 edge with 2:27 remaining.
The Admirals (13-7, 4-5) closed the first half on a 12-2 run to trail 39-36 at the half and set the stage for a second-half brawl. Back-to-back threes by Anthony Gross (16 points) and Courtney McGarry to start the second half gave Farragut its first lead of the game at 42-39. The lead would change four times heading into the early fourth, where Danny Wallace’s three with 5:32 left gave Westinghouse the lead for good at 59-57.
Phil English.
Next: Saturday at No. 17 New Trier.
1. Thornwood: Beat No. 5 Shepard 69-57.
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Next: Saturday at home vs. Champaign Centennial.
2. Marshall: Marshall coach Al Williams said earlier this week that his squad’s defense is always capable of shutting teams down. Second-ranked Marshall backed up Williams’ words Friday when the visiting defense put the clamps on Curie and keyed an 82-54 rout in the Public Red West.
Marshall (20-3, 8-1), which trailed by as many as six points at 46-40 with 3:41 left in the third, outscored Curie 13-3 for the remainder of the quarter to lead 53-49. Marshall’s defense seemingly put a lid on the basket and stymied Curie from there, allowing only one field goal in 19 attempts in the fourth.
Curie (16-8, 2-6) appeared confident and poised to end its three-game West skid when the Condors outscored the Commandos 8-1 to take that six-point lead in the third quarter. Guard Jimmy Gunn (team-high 22 points) hit a jumper and a three, while teammate Eric Borg added a three during the Curie spurt.
“We know what we’re capable of doing defensively,” said Williams, whose team held Curie to a 21 percent clip on 17-of-78 shooting. “But we are still making mistakes that we have to correct.”
Next: Saturday at home vs. East St. Louis.
3. West Aurora: In the DuPage Valley, the Blackhawks (17-2, 8-1) blew out Glenbard East 78-37 as Jamaal Thompson scored 25 points. Thompson had 21 points in the first half when West Aurora jumped out to a 41-16 lead. Christopher Staron had 11 points for Glenbard East (8-10, 3-6).
Next: Friday at Wheaton North
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4. Downers Grove North: Lost to No. 20 Lyons Township 60-56.
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Next: Saturday at home vs. Rockton Hononegah.
5. Shepard: Lost to No. 1 Thornwood 69-57.
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Next: Tuesday at Oak Lawn.
6. Lincoln-Way: Lost to No. 9 Joliet 52-48.
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Next: Tuesday at home vs. Argo.
8. Morgan Park: Lynell Ingram had 15 points and seven rebounds and O’Neil Carter made 1-of-2 from the free-throw line with six seconds left as the Mustangs (16-4, 6-1) held off Chicago Vocational 54-53 in the Public Red South contest. Morgan Park started the game with a 20-4 run, but Vocational closed the gap to 30-29 at the half.
“We jumped out on them at the beginning and then we let them back in,” Morgan Park coach Herb Ray said. “They put a nice press on us and gave us a lot of trouble. We’re just lucky to get out of here alive.”
Antonio Stamps’ 18 points and seven rebounds led Vocational (11-9, 3-5).
Next: Saturday at No. 7 Crane.
9. Joliet:Defeated No. 6 Lincoln-Way 52-48.
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Next: Friday at home vs. Stagg.
10. Proviso East: Dee Brown scored 20 points, while Arthur Talley and Chris Shields added 12 points as the Pirates (16-3, 8-0) coasted past Leyden 79-39 in the West Suburban Gold. Proviso East jumped out to a 31-6 lead and never looked back. Jose Valdez led Leyden (9-12, 3-4) with nine points.
Next: Saturday at York.
11. Brother Rice: Beat Leo 64-63.
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Next: Tuesday at Stagg.
12. Hillcrest: Tyre Robinson had 18 points and nine rebounds as the Hawks (17-4, 8-1) rolled over Eisenhower 82-60 in the SICA Central. Hillcrest made seven of its first 10 shots from the field to grab a 14-2 lead. Chris Hobson led Eisenhower (7-13, 3-5) with 39 points and five three-pointers..
Next: Tuesday at Rich Central.
13. DeKalb: Anthony Maestranzi scored 15 points and Donte Frazier and Ray Richmond added 14 points as Bartlett (13-9, 3-8) upended DeKalb 52-44 in the Upstate Eight. Justin Diedrich’s 17 points led DeKalb (19-2, 9-1). DeKalb was a stunning 0-of-12 from the free-throw line.
Next: Saturday at home vs. East Aurora.
15. Bloom:Joe Chapman scored 22 points as the Trojans (17-4, 4-3) held off Thornton 65-61 in the SICA East. Josh Argue added 10 points and six rebounds for Bloom. Tyrone Coleman had 14 points and five rebounds to lead Thornton (4-14, 0-7).
“Thornton and Bloom is still a big rivalry,” Bloom coach Gary Meyer said. “When you play your rival, the kids tend to be energized and the kids from Thornton were tonight.”
Next: Saturday at Rich South.
16. Julian:Sean Dockery tallied 27 points, eight assists and four steals as the Jaguars (16-7, 7-2) cruised past Washington 82-63 in the Public Red South. Dockery had 15 points in the second quarter, including eight in a critical 14-2 run that opened up the lead before halftime. Anton Palmer added 22 points and 12 rebounds for Julian.
Chris White had 20 points and nine rebounds for Washington (9-14, 1-8).
Next: Wednesday at home vs. Simeon.
17. Evanston: Anthony Lenoir scored seven of his 17 points in the fourth quarter as the Wildkits (15-4, 7-0) downed Niles West 63-52 in the Central Suburban South. Stacy Moragne contributed 13 points for Evanston. Sergio Papillon led Niles West (6-10, 2-5) with 17 points.
Next: Saturday at home vs. Thornton.
18. St. Patrick: Anthony Scala scored 38 points on 13-of-22 shooting from the field as the Shamrocks (16-3, 9-1) defeated St. Joseph 68-58 in the East Suburban Catholic. Chris Hart scored 16 points to lead St. Joseph (4-16, 3-7).
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Next: Sunday vs. Loyola at Loyola University.
19. Thornton Fractional North: Playing archrival Thornton Fractional South always holds a lot of significance for Thornton Fractional North, but Friday night the stakes were doubled as the Meteors were out to maintain sole possession of first place in the SICA Central.
Senior Paris Hardamon scored a game-high 15 points and T.F. North got out of Lansing with a 53-47 win. The Meteors improved to 16-4 overall and 9-0 in the conference. The Rebels fell to 10-9, 3-4.
After seeing a 41-34 lead evaporate, the Meteors put together a 10-0 run in the final quarter to take a 53-45 lead. Hardamon had four points in that stretch.
“Beating T.F. South means a lot to our community and our school,” Hardamon said. “We love playing them, especially when everything was on the line; we wanted to keep moving [through the conference].”
Next: Tuesday at home vs. Bremen.
20. Lyons Township: Defeated No. 4 Downers Grove North 60-56.
See story, Back Page.
Next: Saturday at home vs. Oak Park.