Despite an impressive record, Chicago Latin went into Tuesday night’s contest at No. 8 Fenwick with one sole purpose–to earn some respect around the state.
And while there was little doubt the Romans accomplished that, respect came with a painful price, a 54-53 overtime loss in Oak Park.
Vince Humphrey scored 27 points and Jason Okrzesik had 12, including two free throws with 7.4 seconds remaining in overtime, to pace the Friars (12-4) to the non-conference victory.
Mike Rudoy had 15 points and 13 rebounds for Latin (17-2) while 7-foot-2-inch junior center Kenny George had 10 points, 10 blocks and five rebounds as the Romans outrebounded the Friars 32-20.
“The bottom line is a win is a win,” Okrzesik said. “I was only thinking about making the free throws and thank goodness we made a big stop in the end.”
An 11-0 run to close out the third quarter put Latin up 34-32, but Humphrey hit two free throws for the Friars with 43 seconds remaining to tie it 44-44 and force the extra session.
Latin took advantage of a strange set of circumstances in the final 20 seconds of overtime.
Rudoy picked up his fifth foul as he tried to tie up Fenwick’s Ken Izzo on a rebound with 17.5 seconds remaining and Fenwick leading 52-49. Izzo was then whistled for a technical foul for throwing an elbow. Latin’s Josef Johnson hit the two free throws and was fouled away from the ball when the Romans were trying an inbound pass. He hit both shots to give Latin a 53-52 lead.
Just 10 seconds later Okrzesik was fouled on a drive to the basket and hit two free throws for the final margin.
Phil English.
Hillcrest 64, Thornton Fractional North 58: Shelby Jordan collected 28 points and eight rebounds as the No. 4 Hawks (17-1, 6-0) held on in the SICA Central. Darrell Bullock’s 17 points sparked North (8-9, 4-2), which led 56-53 before Hillcrest closed out the game on an 11-2 run.
Bloom 60, Rich South 49: The No. 6 Blazing Trojans (18-2) won as Kevin Howard and Jonathan Austin each scored 14 points.
Curie 83, Tilden 38: Cliff Manning and Jonte Johnson scored 12 points each for No. 12 Curie (19-5, 8-0) in the Public Red Central.
Thornton 66, Rich Central 54: Robert Bush netted 22 points as the Wildcats (8-9) upended No. 16 Rich Central. Jimmie Miles’ 25 points led Rich Central (13-4).
Marian Catholic 63, Hales Franciscan 58: Cedrick Middleton’s 29 points and four steals and Ryan Owens’ 14 points and 10 rebounds helped the Spartans (10-6) upset No. 17 Hales Franciscan.
Blake Craft led Hales (16-5) with 18 points, all on three-pointers.
Hales sophomore Nate Minnoy didn’t start after missing Monday’s practice, but entered the game with two minutes left in the opening quarter and finished with 13 points after facing double- and triple-teams the entire game.
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Minnoy’s three-pointer with 2:52 left in the game put Hales up 52-50 but Middleton provided 10 points in a game-ending 13-6 run to seal the win.
Brother Rice 74, Marist 47: Steve Woerheide and Mike Harrigan scored 15 and 14 points, respectively, as the Crusaders (15-5) cruised past Marist (7-10).
Dunbar 55, Kenwood 54: Deshawn Germany scored seven of his 11 points in the fourth-quarter as the Mightymen (12-7, 5-3) held off a Kenwood rally for the Public Red East win.
Jason Maclin’s 15 points led Kenwood (14-6, 3-5), which hosted a special dedication for injured captain Thomas McGee, who has been hospitalized since he was in an auto accident on New Year’s Eve.
Naperville North 61, Plainfield 42: Kevin Koelbl hit four three-pointers to finish with 20 points for the Huskies (16-3).
St. Laurence 65, Oak Lawn 47: John Gencius had 13 points for the Vikings (15-4).
Sandburg 65, Joliet 60: Brian Lee put in 20 points, to lift the Eagles (13-5, 5-1) in the SICA West.