Levante Greenwood scored seven points–his only points of the game–in overtime as Thornton outlasted Marist 54-50 in Wednesday night’s Class AA sectional semifinal at Eisenhower.
Greenwood connected on a three-pointer that put the Wildcats (20-8) ahead 48-45 with 3 minutes 23 seconds left in overtime and went 4 of 4 from the free-throw line to secure the win.
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“I really wasn’t thinking about scoring–I was worried about fouling out with four fouls,” he said.
Thornton trailed Marist (25-5) for most of the game, but Joevan Catron’s steal and dunk with 3:04 remaining tied the game 38-38.
Marist regained the lead and Thornwood’s Brandon Dagans (14 points) tied the game again 45-45 at the end of regulation with a three-pointer.
Catron, who had two points in OT, led all scorers with 20 points and 11 rebounds. He had 10 of Thornwood’s 11 points in the third quarter that kept the Wildcats in striking distance after trailing by five at halftime.
Marist was paced by Mitchell Bouie’s 14 points.
Thornton faces Thornwood in Friday’s sectional final.
At Niles West: Von Steuben’s 16-1 surge in the fourth quarter, coupled with a six-minute St. Patrick scoring drought, powered the Panthers (23-6) to a 76-61 win. Von Steuben advances to Friday’s sectional final against Evanston.
Angel Santiago scored 24 points and Demetrius Evans added 20 for Von Steuben, which outscored St. Patrick 25-9 in the fourth quarter.
“We feel our talent and athleticism can take over like it did [Wednesday],” coach Vince Carter said. “In my opinion the best talent is in the northern part of the state, and this is where the best of the best play.”
The Shamrocks (22-6) were led by Matt Marino’s 26 points.
At Elgin: C.C. Kilbert had 18 of his 25 points in the second half as Dundee-Crown prevailed over Barrington 63-60.
“My shots weren’t falling at the beginning of the game,” Kilbert said. “But my teammates and my coaches told me to never stop shooting. This game was do or die, and I wanted to do as much as I could before it ended.”
The Chargers (15-13) used a 10-3 run in the fourth quarter to erase a two-point deficit and lead 54-49. T.J. Peters sank one of two free throws to give Dundee-Crown a 63-60 advantage with six seconds left. Barrington’s Derek Maropis attempted a game-tying three-pointer but was fouled with one second remaining and missed the ensuing three free throws.
Peters finished with 13 points, while Jason Richards paced the Broncos (20-9) with 20 points.
At Moline: Rockford Boylan took control with a 12-0 run in the second half and rolled past Rochelle 88-65. Quinten Ponius had 20 points, including eight in the final two minutes, and Bobby Schorsch added 20 points and 11 rebounds for Rockford Boylan (21-8), which shot 35-for-64 from the floor.
Matt Rogers had 35 points and eight rebounds for Rochelle (20-10), which was outrebounded 40-23.
At Waubonsie Valley: Jarrett Starwood scored 11 of his game-high 28 points in the first quarter as Waubonsie Valley advanced past Batavia 74-59.
The Warriors (23-4) went 16 of 23 from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter, including 10 from Mason Stewart (19 points), and outscored Batavia 11-1–all from the line–in the final 2:15.
Justen Boyd and Mike Kinane each had 15 points in the loss for the Bulldogs (18-10).
At Hinsdale South: Willowbrook survived a 21-5 run by Glenbard West in the second half to advance 53-50.
The Warriors had taken a 43-29 lead with 1:52 to play in the third quarter, but a Ben Webster layup with 1:54 to play in the game pulled Glenbard West to within 50-48. Glenbard West had two chances to tie following Willowbrook turnovers, but the Hilltoppers came up empty.
Chris Perkins finished with 17 points, including two free throws with 27.1 seconds to play that stretched the lead to 52-48.
“We’re going to enjoy this one, but we’re not satisfied,” said Perkins who also grabbed seven rebounds. “Our job isn’t done because even though we’re one of 32 teams left in the state, we’ve got a real tough one Friday against Downers [South].”
Lee Taylor added 12 points and seven rebounds and teammate Joe Chapin chipped in 10 points, six rebounds for Willowbrook (16-12).
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Glenbard West (15-3) was led by Ricky Angel with 15 points, 3 rebounds and Conor Shields with 13 points and four rebounds.
At Waukegan: Despite being outscored 23-10 in the third quarter, Warren defeated Libertyville 52-47 to advance to Friday’s sectional final against Waukegan.
Libertyville took its first lead since the opening minute 41-39 on a three-point play by Curtis Goodwin (8 points) that capped a 7-0 run to start the fourth quarter. A three-pointer by Warren’s Marcus Lewis put the Blue Devils (17-11) on top for good 44-43 with 3:44 left as they closed the game on a 6-2 run to seal it.
“We thought we had it [at halftime],” Lewis said about Warren’s 29-11 lead. “But as it turned out, we were a little overconfident because Libertyville came storming back. We lost our composure a little bit in the third quarter.”
Lewis came off the bench to finish with a career-high 17 points to go with nine points from Mitchell Moore.
Dan Gibbons led the Wildcats (18-10) with 13 points and 10 rebounds, while Kevin Morkin added 12 points.