Hillcrest and Jerry Jones, Lyons Township, Bloom Trail, Elgin and Rockford Boylan were just bumps on the road toward a state championship for Homewood-Flossmoor.
Ed Horton and Springfield Lanphier were full-fledged road blocks Saturday afternoon for the Vikings. Horton scored 26 points in Lanphier`s 65-54 victory, blocking the Vikings` path to the title game. But getting as far as the semifinals was a lot of fun.
Fun as in winning 8 of 10 games decided by four points or less. Defeating Hillcrest 62-60 in overtime and holding Jones to 17 points was a good time in the H-F regional. Friday`s 39-36 victory over Rockford Boylan was fun with 6- foot-6-inch junior Dick Seidel scoring the last six points of the game.
Horton`s second straight sparkling performance in Assembly Hall wasn`t fun. And it wasn`t just Ed Horton doing all the damage. William Horton, Ed`s sophomore brother, scored 12 points after he had just two in Friday`s victory over defending champion Simeon. Wali Abdul-Rahim added 15.
”Horton`s brother shot the ball well from outside and their guards hurt us from the top of the key,” said Viking coach Don Laketa. ”They hurt us by being hot in the first quarter. That was the difference from guarding Horton and Jones.
”Horton`s teammates were shooting well from the outside. Their free-throw shooting (10 of 19) was a surprise. As a team, they had been shooting 54 percent and they were way above that until some of their reserves missed some.”
H-F got back to having fun in the third-place game. Seidel and Tracy Wilson led the Vikings to a 56-46 victory over Cahokia. H-F struggled in the first half and trailed 21-19 at halftime. The Vikings took the lead 23-21 on a Ken Ridgway shot early in the second half.
Wilson scored 11 of his points in the second half, nine on three three-point plays in the fourth quarter. Sophomore Scott Tierney added 13 points.
”Before the second half, coach told us to come on out and represent H-F,” said Wilson, a senior. ”We have three seniors in the lineup and that meant a lot. When we started the game, we wanted to go out and prove we belonged here. We wanted third place tonight. We`re happy with third. We`d rather have first, but we`re very pleased with third.”
The Vikings weren`t expected to get to Champaign after last year`s 17-10 season. H-F didn`t start out too strong, blowing a 20-point lead to Marist in its own Thanksgiving tournament and finishing third.
”At the beginning of the year, we were just 2-1,” said Seidel, who scored 21 points and grabbed 11 rebounds against Lanphier. ”After we blew that 20-point lead against Marist, that didn`t make me feel too good. I was real worried. Starting the sectionals, we really woke up. Instead of saying
`Let`s win the next game,` we started saying `Let`s go all the way.` ”
”We played in the consolation game, and if anyone had said to me that we could play in the consolation, I`d say `sure,` ” Ridgway said. ”It was a good year. I think we`re happy we got this far. We hustled and got here because of it.”
Ridgway, Wilson and Tim Haggerty will graduate but Seidel and junior guard Tim Walton return. They will be joined by the 6-3 1/2 Tierney, who scored 13 points against Lanphier. Glenn Howard, a 6-2 sophomore, could fit into the front line next season.
”Tierney is a good outside shooter and that will help,” Seidel said.
”We have a couple of big sophomores and our guards should be steady. I don`t know if we`ll have a team like this, but we`re not going to give up.
”I`m just 6-6, and as a 6-6 center I`m not a prize to colleges. I`m going to work on my outside game this summer, my 18-foot shot and my ball handling. I`m not going to work much on my inside game. We have a chance next year. Nobody expected us to do this much this year. Next year, I don`t know. I`m just proud to be down here.”
”We were just hoping to be competitive this year,” Laketa said. ”This team stayed in every game.”
