In perhaps the ugliest postseason basketball game of the year, Homewood-Flossmoor center Tim Williams did his job well.
Williams scored only three points Wednesday, but pulled down eight rebounds and had five blocks and the Vikings finally pulled away from No. 9 Andrew in the fourth quarter for a 36-22 victory in a Class 4A Lockport Sectional semifinal. The Vikings will face No. 6 Bloom on Friday for the title.
Williams’ three blocks in the first quarter were one reason the Thunderbolts went 0-for-13 from the floor and trailed 5-0 after one. The rest was mostly Andrew (24-3), which went scoreless for the first 10 minutes, 31 seconds and had nine turnovers during that stretch.
“It seemed like there was a lid on both rims for both teams, but we stepped up defensively and pressured the ball and got a lot of turnovers and some easy buckets,” Williams said. “We didn’t have much offense, so I tried to make up for it on defense. Just playing help side and trying to get a lot of blocks and rebounds.”
The Vikings (22-7) were barely better. H-F led 13-6 at halftime and 20-18 with 6:22 minutes, 22 left in the game. That’s when two Williams blocks led directly to two scores — a Tyrone Sherman (14 points) layup and Williams’ only field goal during a 10-0 run that put the Vikings ahead 30-18 with 2:34 remaining.
Andrew finished by going 0-for-18 from the floor and 5-for-44 in the game. Jubril Adekoya had 14 points and 14 rebounds for the Thunderbolts.
Player the game: Tyrone Sherman, Homewood-Flossmoor, 14 points, 6 steals.
Key performers: H-F — Tim Williams, 8 rebounds, 5 blocks; Willie Lipsey, 8 points. Andrew — Jubril Adekoya, 14 points, 14 rebounds.
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