Nick Rakocevic, a 6-11 junior, scored a double-double for the second-seeded Chargers’ Proviso West opener with 18 points and 17 rebounds.
St. Joseph hammered 15th-seeded Proviso West (4-5) in Monday’s quarterfinal 70-44.
St. Joseph (9-1) trailed 30-27 at halftime, but allowed only 14 points in the second half to move into the quarterfinals at 8:30 p.m. Tuesday against Hillcrest.
Rakocevic said his teammates responded to a halftime message sent by St. Joseph coaches.
“It was a little bit of a slow start, but in the locker room we got together with the team and said, ‘This is our season. We have to put it out there for our seniors.’ “
Nebraska-bound guard Glynn Watson returned after missing two games due to an ankle injury and scored nine points and had a game-high five assists.
“He’s not 100 percent,” St. Joseph coach Gene Pingatore said. “You can tell on his cuts. I thought he tried to do too much.”
Northwestern-bound Jordan Ash scored 16 points for the Chargers and Thomas Lavin added 10 points and six rebounds.