Shelby Jordan made one spectacular play after another Tuesday, but his leaning jumper with six seconds left–against three defenders no less–bordered on magnificent and lifted fourth-ranked Hillcrest past Rich Central 74-72.
“He’s the greatest finisher of games that I’ve ever coached,” Hillcrest coach Tom Cappel said.
Jordan finished with a game-high 38 points, including 18 in the fourth quarter when there were six lead changes and five ties. After he sank the game-winner, he couldn’t resist a huge grin and approached his friend, Rich Central star Jimmie Miles, after a timeout.
“I told him, `You can tell everyone to go home now,'” Jordan said. “I had a feeling we were going to win.”
Miles had been unstoppable in transition throughout most of the non-conference game in Olympia Fields. In the final seconds he came up short on a three-pointer that was rebounded by teammate Brandon Long, who couldn’t get off a final shot.
Long and Miles combined for 17 of their team’s 20 fourth-quarter points. Long finished with 28 and Miles scored 24.
Jordan helped Hillcrest (19-1) recover from an 11-point deficit in the second quarter and a six-point deficit in the third. With a second left in the third period and Rich Central (14-5) leading 52-46, Shawn Richardson inbounded the ball to Jordan, who had cut through the lane and sank a baseline basket as time expired.
It was only a preview of things to come.
Marlen Garcia.
Warren 74, Libertyville 51
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As poorly as Warren shot the ball in the first half, the Blue Devils made up for it exponentially in the fourth quarter. They played a near-perfect final eight minutes, which helped turn a five-point halftime deficit into a 74-51 rout of No. 18 Libertyville in a pivotal North Suburban Lake game in Gurnee.
Warren (12-6, 6-2) outscored Libertyville 27-6 in the fourth quarter as it made 8-of-11 shots. Warren entered Tuesday in a three-way tie for first place with Libertyville (14-5, 6-2) and Stevenson.
“We knew for us to play with [Libertyville] we had to play [very hard]” said Warren coach Chuck Ramsey, whose team shot 30 percent in the first half and trailed 29-24. “We played a great fourth quarter.”
Ryan Treiber gave Warren some momentum entering the fourth quarter when he went coast-to-coast and hit a pull-up jumper at the third-quarter buzzer to give the Blue Devils a 47-45 advantage. Treiber, a 5-foot-11-inch senior guard who finished with 12 points, nine rebounds and seven assists, scored Warren’s first five points of the fourth quarter to spur a 9-0 run.
Warren featured a balanced scoring attack, with five players scoring in double figures. Charles Thomas, a 6-1 power forward, scored 16 points and grabbed 11 rebounds..
Jared Taylor paced Libertyville with 13 points and four blocks.
Sean Duncan.
West Aurora 74, Naperville Central 37: Justin Cerasoli had 19 points to go with Dameon Mason’s 17 as the top-ranked Blackhawks (16-2, 9-0) demolished Naperville Central (12-8, 5-4) in the DuPage Valley.
St. Laurence 66, Evergreen Park 59: Pete Stankiewicz scored 17 points to lead the No. 20 Vikings (17-4).
Eisenhower 52, St. Ignatius 45: Chris Hobson scored 22 points, including nine in the fourth quarter, to lead the Cardinals (16-3). St. Ignatius led 41-36 after three quarters, but Eisenhower outscored the Wolfpack 16-4 in the fourth.
Glenbrook North 63, Glenbrook South 56: Eric Walowitz scored 21 points and Jon Scheyer added 16 points to lead the Spartans (13-6) in the non-conference game.
Johnsburg 67, Harvard 43: John Smith’s 23 points led Johnsburg (19-1, 7-0) in the Big Northern East.
Lisle 65, Dwight 63 (2OT): Thomas Crowder’s driving layup with 2.8 seconds left in the second overtime gave the Lions (12-12, 8-3) the Interstate Eight win.
Northridge Prep 62, North Lawndale 59: Steve Stoll scored 14 of his game-high 27 points in the fourth quarter as the Knights (13-7, 9-1) moved into first place in the Chicago Prep.
North Lawndale (19-7, 7-1) pulled to within 60-59 on Jimmy Williams’ three-point play with 33.5 seconds left, but Stoll made two free throws with 13 seconds to play for the final margin. Williams had 16 points for North Lawndale.