The excitement surrounding Thornton basketball is back, as evidenced by the partisan neutral-court crowd.
A return to the state finals in Peoria is going to have to wait, though, because all the purple in the world wouldn’t have been enough Friday night to take down Simeon.
Thornton started in a quick 12-0 hole and never quite recovered, ending its exciting season with an 88-75 loss to the Wolverines in the Class 4A Bloom Sectional championship game in Chicago Heights.
“It was mostly Thornton kids,” said Tai Streets, who led his alma mater to a 25-4 record in his first season as coach. “It is back. I hate that we came up short with everyone here, but I’ve got to give them credit. That’s a good team over there.
“I love my guys. We were predicted to not do anything. We competed all year and just came up a little short.”
Curtis Dilworth scored a game-high 33 points in his last game in a Thornton uniform, and was instrumental in the Wildcats’ refusal to to let Simeon run away and hide.
The Wildcats got back within single digits on six different occassions in the first three quarters, but it seemed like every time they did, a different Simeon player had an answer.
Josh Thomas scored 23 points for the Wolverines, while 6-foot-5 junior Madison Lowery had 17 off the bench and Gonzaga-bound guard Zack Norvell had 16 points and five assists.
Thornton’s trademark pressure was no problem for Simeon (28-3), which will face East Moline United at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the Illinois State Supersectional.
“When teams play like that, that actually plays to our strengths,” Simeon coach Robert Smith said. “We play a lot of half-court basketball so we are able to do that if we have a chance to make it downstate, where the game will be played like that.
“But we play that way all the time, so that was right up our alley.”
Simeon’s depth also hurt Thornton.
After the Wildcats cut their deficit to 49-40 with 3:41 left in the third, Madison Lowery and Talen Horton-Tucker had consecutive 3-point plays in a 12-3 spurt that made it 61-43 entering the fourth.
Sophomore Orlando Allen, Jr. scored 14 points for Thornton. Senior standout Sam Taylor III was held to eight points in his final game.
“They are very loaded,” Streets said. “They’re loaded like a mug.”
Women’s Basketball
Grand Valley State 72, Lewis 70: Janae Lange’s basket with three seconds left lifted Grand Valley State (23-9) past No. 6 Lewis (28-3) in the NCAA Division II Midwest Regional quarterfinals in Ashland, Ohio. Lewis’ Jessica Kelliher, whose layup with eight seconds left tied the score at 70, had a game-high 20 points.
Senior Mariyah Brawner-Henley had 15 points and 20 rebounds and is the Flyers’ all-time leader in both categories with 1,981 points and 1,282 rebounds. Her 72 double-doubles are second in Division II history. Tiana Karopulos added 10 points for the Flyers.
Goshen 84, St. Xavier 66: No. 2 St. Xavier was held to 31-percent shooting in falling in the second round of the NAIA Division II National Tournament in Sioux City, Iowa. Kara Krolicki scored a game-high 20 points for the Cougars (30-4), while Brittany Collins (10 points, 12 rebounds) and Mikayla Leyden (10 points, 11 rebounds) finished with double-doubles.
College Baseball
Truman State 7-3, Lewis 5-6: Neal Tyrell had five hits in the doubleheader for Lewis (5-5) and is batting .500. Though both teams are in the GLVC, the games in Kirksville, Mo., did not count in the conference standings.
Webber International 5, St. Xavier 3: Alex Neufeld was 3-for-3 with a run and an RBI for St. Xavier (7-10) in Babson Park, Fla.
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Joliet 5, Prairie State 4: Jermaine Terry had two hits and two RBIs for Joliet (2-4).
College Softball
Maryville 6-5, Lewis 2-6: Kaylee Prieto and Carly Jaworski each went 3-for-4 with a run and an RBI in the nightcap as Lewis (11-8, 1-1) split a GLVC doubleheader in St. Charles, Mo.
Mike Helfgot is a freelance writer for the Daily Southtown. Daily Southtown staff contributed to this story.