A victory over the defending state champs and Chicago‘s top-ranked team Wednesday night took the breath out of Markee Williams, a freshman point guard at Morgan Park High School.
A big moment for the Mustangs turned into an anxious one.
Williams scored 13 points, helping the Mustangs knock off 2009 Illinois Class 4A champ Whitney Young, 72-53, to advance to Monday‘s quarterfinal round of the Chicago Public League playoffs at the University of Illinois-Chicago. Louisville recruit Wayne Blackshear scored a game-high 17.
While this was billed as a Blackshear-takes-on-the-state-champs kind of a game, the real deal was Williams, who wound up on the bench suffering from an asthma attack after scoring the first five points of the second half for Morgan Park (16-6). It wasn‘t until the fourth quarter than an inhaler was found.
"I was pretty scared," Williams told the Chicago Sun-Times. "I don‘t usually have attacks during games, so I didn‘t bring my inhaler. I was too dizzy to watch the game."
Williams had better keep that inhaler ready for next week. The Mustangs will meet traditional city power Simeon (18-7) in Monday‘s quarterfinals. They overcame a 10-point deficit to beat Young.
"We shocked the world. No one thought we could do this," Morgan Park Coach Nick Irvin said.
Oregon State recruit Ahmad Starks scored 15 points for Young (17-4), which took a similar path last year to the state championship. The Dolphins lost to North Lawndale in last year‘s Public League semifinals.
Other winners Wednesday included Foreman, which got 11 fourth-quarter points from Mike McCall in an 81-71 win over Farragut, and defending Public League champion North Lawndale, which edged Curie 57-53 in The Game of the Missing Players. North Lawndale lost five varsity players to bad grades Monday, leaving the Phoenix with two starters, a reserve and a bench full of sophomores. North Lawndale canceled a game earlier in the week against Hales. Curie lost starters Asante Smiter and Andre Arrington due to their transfer to another school (Foreman).
In addition to Monday’s Simeon-Morgan Park quarterfinal, North Lawndale will play Hyde Park, Foreman will meet Robeson and Bogan will battle Marshall.
Around Chicagoland: Clark is Spirit of Sport nominee
* Tori Clark, a senior at Roselle Lake Park High School, is Illinois‘ nomination for the national Spirit of Sport Award, an annual honor given out by the National Federation of State High School Associations. Clark, who played at Lake Park‘s volleyball team in the fall, led an effort to arrange to help a Naperville woman who had been diagnosed with Myelodyplastic Syndrome, a form of pre-leukemia, and whose two daughters play volleyball at Naperville Neuqua Valley. "Teams Helping Teams" Night raised nearly $4,000 for Christine Federico and her family. "I never dreamed that the fundraiser would be as successful as it was. … I am just happy that I was able to help the Federico family and hopefully raise awareness of Myelodyplastic Syndrome."
* Geneva High School’s girls’ basketball team has just one obstacle remaining, a Friday night home game against Batavia, before finishing a perfect 27-0 regular-season record. The Vikings have won 53 consecutive regular-season games, dating back two seasons. By the way, the school’s volleyball team won the Western Sun championship in the fall with a 14-0 record.
* Whitney Young still has not lost a girls’ basketball game played in Illinois since last March, but the Dolphins had their 22-game winning streak halted last weekend in losses to Mater Dei of Santa Ana, Calif., ranked No. 3 in the MaxPreps Xcellent 25, in the Nike Extravaganza, and to fourth-ranked Long Beach (Calif.) Poly.
* Steve Kimbro, the boys basketball coach at Nokomis High School, won his 600th game Feb. 4 when the Redskins defeated Raymond Lincolnwood, 64-61. "I’m not going to think about 700 wins. We’ll worry about them maybe 10 at a time from now on," Kimbro told the State Journal-Register.
* Fremd advanced to the state finals in gymnastics for the 19th consecutive year, thanks to a first-place finish in the Schaumburg Sectional on Monday. The Vikings totaled 147.35 points, edging Schaumburg by less than five points.
* Pierre Washington Steel, who helped lead Glenbard West to the Class 7A championship game in football this past fall, died as a result of injuries from a car crash Jan. 29. Washington-Steel and football teammate DeMarco Whitley were in a car that crashed into a utility pole. Washington-Steel rushed for 717 yards and nine touchdowns last season for the 13-1 Hilltoppers, who lost the 7A title game in overtime to Wheaton Warrenville South.
Top performances
* Kiana Johnson scored 14 points in the first quarter, sending Whitney Young quickly on the way to a 73-38 win over Bogan in the Chicago Public League girls’ basketball championship game. The Dolphins, Illinois Class 4A runner-ups last year, have won five of the last six city titles.
* Duke recruit Patricia Liston scored 37 points in Fenwick’s 73-63 win over Marian Catholic, a victory that clinched the East Suburban Catholic title for the 16th consecutive year for Fenwick.
* Oswego East’s Jay Harris scored a game-high 20 points at the United Center, leading the Wolves (17-4) past Plainfield Central in a Southwest Prairie Conference game. "It’s the perfect place to play," Harris told the Sun-Times.
On deck
* Mount Carmel, which has won 20 of its first 22 games and has a starting lineup that includes Illinois recruit Tracy Abrams, has a couple of big games coming up against the two other best Catholic League teams. Friday night, they’ll play host to Hales (19-2) at 7:30 p.m.; Tuesday, the Caravan plays at De La Salle (13-6).
* Whitney Young’s boy’s basketball team will play St. Vincent St. Mary’s, NBA star Lebron James’ high school, at 7 p.m. Saturday in Akron.
* The Class 4A girls basketball state playoffs begin next week, and three of the big favorites will play second-round games at 6 p.m. Wednesday. Defending 4A champ and nationally ranked Bolingbrook (21-1) will play Plainfield Central or regional host Romeoville; 4A runner-up and regional host Whitney Young (22-2) will play Chicago Hyde Park or Burbank Reavis; Geneva (26-0) will play South Elgin or Batavia in the Huntley regional. The state finals will be played March 6 at Redbird Arena in Normal, and the bracket is set up so that Bolingbrook and Young could meet in the title game for the second consecutive year.
Paul Bowker, a sports journalist for 25 years who has worked at newspapers nationwide, covers the Chicago area for MaxPreps. He may be reached at bowkerpaul1@aol.com.
