Many Homewood-Flossmoor fans were already at the Chelby Frazier Memorial Shootout at 4 p.m. Sunday to get seats for the anticipated rematch with Thornton.
Three games and almost seven hours later in Thornwood’s gym, senior guard Gianni Cobb made it worth the wait for the Vikings.
Cobb hit his second late-second basket in 31 days — both to sink powerful Thornton — leaving coach Jamere Dismukes needing only one word to describe his standout.
“Winner,” Dismukes said. “Gianni’s a winner. He came to the bench and said, ‘Coach, trust me.’ He told his players to trust him. Gianni got open, and the rest is history.”
With 1.5 seconds left, Dominic Pangallo inbounded the ball to Cobb for a quick catch and shoot, with Cobb draining a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give the Vikings a 65-63 victory.
Fans stormed the court after the dramatic ending.
The first time the Southland powers faced was in the Dec. 29 finals of the Big Dipper Tournament. The 6-foot Cobb scored the winning layup with two seconds left, then stole the ball to seal a 53-52 victory.
Even though he was knocked to the ground during that game, the Columbia-bound Cobb said Sunday’s effort was “for sure” a tougher shot to make in lifting H-F (21-2) to the win.
“I felt good when I let it go,” he said of the 3-pointer. “I got to watch it drop in. They drew up a play, and I said if it doesn’t work, just trust me because I’m going to send them home.
“That’s what happened. I made a big shot.”
Cobb finished with 22 points, while Jayden Tyler added 17 and Carson Brownfield had 12.
Meyoh Swansey paced Thornton (20-3) with 19 points. Illinois-bound Morez Johnson came through with 16 points and 12 rebounds.
Stealing a win
Sophomore guard Zyheir Gardner
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had a steal in the closing seconds to preserve Crete-Monee’s stunning 71-67 victory in triple overtime over Lindblom in the Frazier Shootout.This came five days after Lindblom knocked off Curie 73-66. Curie was ranked No. 1 in the state by The Associated Press in Class 4A.
Gardner was in the right place at the right time for the timely theft.
“It was just there,” Gardner said. “I saw what he gave me and I just took it. It felt great. It was refreshing to get a win like that — a quality win.”
Gardner, a transfer from Simeon, said even through the Warriors (11-13) are making a long climb for a winning record, he’s enjoying his time.
“There were new opportunities here,” he said. “There were better opportunities specifically for me. I need to do what I need to and contribute to a real quality team.”
Crete-Monee coach Jawan Nelson loves the defense of Gardner, who already established himself on offense in December with a 36-point performance against Tinley Park in the Big Dipper Classic.
That broke a program record held by Joshua Evans from the 2017-18 season.
The game between Crete-Monee and Lindblom was the second that went triple overtime in the shootout, which opened up with Little Village beating Bremen 66-58 in three overtimes.
Not a Flash in the pan
Hillcrest’s Adam Page grew up with older brother Julius Rollins, the Daily Southtown Player of the Year in 2020-21 who now plays for the Kent State Golden Flashes.
Aside from trying to keep up with his brother physically on the court, the junior guard/forward said he learned other things from Rollins.
“Seeing him work so hard has encouraged me to work hard and get a result out of it,” Page said. “He taught me a lot about patience and being patient in a game.
“He also taught me how to react in certain situations and keep my composure.”
Jeff Vorva is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.