Hillcrest coach Don Houston has plenty of faith in his bench.
So much, in fact, that Houston went without his starters for the entire second quarter Friday night against visiting Eisenhower despite the Hawks holding just a three-point lead after the first eight minutes.
“This is a really balanced team, more balanced than people think it is,” Houston said. “I’m not afraid to put those guys in.”
The bench did its job and then the starters took Hillcrest home. The Hawks received points from 12 players, including a team-high 13 from Marcus Garrett, as Hillcrest grabbed a 78-68 victory in the South Suburban crossover.
“Coach wanted us to pick it up and just play harder in the second half,” Garrett said. “We needed to play help line (defense) because they have a lot of shooters. They’re physical. We (the starters) were giving up a lot of points at the beginning.”
Hillcrest (4-1) received 33 points from its starters and 45 from its bench. Jordan Moore led the reserves with 10 points. Stephen King and Robert Harvey added eight apiece. Seven players scored at least seven points.
“If the starters come out sluggish, we have to be the spark off the bench,” Moore said. “We all know our role. We all have our time to shine. We want everyone to eat.”
Moore’s big moment came before halftime as the 5-foot-9 junior buried a deep 3-pointer off the glass as the buzzer sounded. Moore’s shot gave Hillcrest a 44-34 lead.
“That’s Hillcrest for you,” first-year Eisenhower coach Neil Miguez said. “It seems like their ninth guy is just as athletic and tough as their starters.”
Demariae Collins led Eisenhower (3-3) with 16 points. Matthew Beasley chipped in 15 points, Javon Boyd added 10 points and six assists, and Lorenzo Smith had nine points.
Collins, whom Miguez called “tough as nails,” did a nice job maintaining his dribble against Hillcrest’s pressure. He was forced to leave the court in the fourth quarter after sustaining a cut above his eye while fighting for a loose ball.
Hillcrest led 75-62 after a putback from Moore, but Beasley hit 3-pointers on consecutive possessions to make it a seven-point game with just under two minutes to go. Hillcrest, though, buckled down on defense and didn’t surrender any points after that.
“We haven’t seen anybody like Hillcrest yet this year,” Miguez said. “But we battled hard.”
Eisenhower’s Aaron Sanders scored a quick five points to start the game, but the 6-1 forward picked up his third foul with 6:47 remaining in the first half. Sanders finished with eight points before fouling out midway through the fourth.
“This was the second game he’s started,” said Miguez, whose Cardinals shot only 6-for-17 from the free-throw line. “He’s one of our top five or six. We’ve been mixing up starters quite a bit. We need him out there. He would have helped, for sure.”
Logan Malloy is a freelance writer for the Daily Southtown.
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