Chicago Vocational holds the high ground in the Public League Red-South. What No. 6 Vocational has seen lately from that lofty perch is No. 5 Gordon Tech, its opponent in the last of five ”Dream Games” Saturday at Alumni Hall.
What the Vocational players nearly overlooked was conference tail-ender Calumet. Imagine their surprise Friday to find themselves in a real live game, one that was eminently losable at halftime.
”Too laid-back,” Vocational coach Richard Cook said. He had in mind that moment late in the second quarter when Vocational was being outrun and outgunned by a team with two victories to its name. Cook issued a wakeup call at the break; his players responded with two crushing quarters of ball and an 89-56 victory.
”I told them they were stinking up the joint,” Cook said. ”I told them if we played like that, we sure wouldn`t beat Gordon tomorrow.”
Case in point was the second quarter. Vocational (19-4, 9-1) began the period with a 21-11 lead fashioned with a 13-point run over the last three minutes of the first. Juwan Howard (32 points, 12 rebounds) scored six of those points while reserve forward William Whitmore (15 points) got five.
Four minutes later, the lead was down to five. Calumet`s Kwame Henderson
(15 points) personally outscored CVS 9-2 over one stretch. Calumet (2-16, 1-9) outshot its taller foe 60 percent to 40 percent in the quarter, and the half ended with Vocational holding an uncomfortable 38-29 lead.
Between halves, Cook aroused Joe Weaver and Michael Lampley, two non-factors before intermission. Weaver scored 13 of his 18 points in the second half while Lampley got eight of his 14.
”We might have been looking forward to playing Gordon,” Cook said.
”It`s a big ball game. But maybe they realize they can`t keep playing like that and win.”
2. West Aurora
With West Aurora in the home stretch in its bid for an unbeaten season in the Upstate Eight Conference, what better time could Mike Odumuyiwa pick to hit his stride.
”I think he`s stepping up his game,” West Aurora coach Gordon Kerkman said Friday night after his squad whipped Streamwood 68-50. ”He`s starting to pick things up a little bit at the right time.”
Odumuyiwa scored 13 points with nine rebounds to complement three other players in double figures. Bill Taylor scored 19 points with 10 rebounds while Michael Simmons and Rodney Brooks pumped in 12 each.
They helped West Aurora (24-1, 13-0) build an 18-8 lead at the end of the first quarter. Streamwood (11-2, 4-9) managed to hang close until a 12-6 West Aurora run iced it in the third quarter.
Simeon Henderson led Streamwood with 12 points.
4. Westinghouse
Westinghouse couldn`t work up a lot of enthusiasm for its match against Near North, winless in the Red-West. A quick 15-2 lead caused further disinterest, but half a `House was enough to post a 93-71 victory.
”We tried to sustain the effort throughout the game, but it was just too easy,” coach Roy Condotti said. ”Give Near North credit; they played harder than we did.”
Near North (2-14, 0-10) turned the ball over seven times in the first five minutes and trailed by 13, but Westinghouse`s lead had dwindled to eight by the end of the period. After a fairly even second quarter, Westinghouse
(19-2, 10-0) hit seven of its first eight shots in the third quarter with Kiwane Garris (20 points) hitting 3 of 3 and David Greer (13 points) going 4 for 4.
Deshun Thomas added 14 points and Tyim Cannon 13 for Westinghouse. Frank Iverson led Near North with 28.
5. Gordon Tech
Gordon Tech may have won a game but lost a season in its 91-82 Catholic League victory over Loyola.
Tom Kleinschmidt scored 32 points with 14 rebounds before leaving the floor on crutches with 2 minutes 23 seconds left in the game. Kleinschmidt suffered what coach Steve Pappas called ”either a broken right foot or a severe sprain.”
Kleinschmidt hit 4 of 5 three-point shots in the second half while Gordon struggled to pull away from Loyola (15-7, 8-3). Just before he left the game, Kleinschmidt had led Gordon Tech (20-2, 11-1) on an 11-2 run to rally from nine points down into a tie at 62.
”He heard a pop in his foot,” Pappas said. ”After having watched Tommy play for three years, I feel I can say that it`s going to take more than a sprain to get him out of the game.”
Kleinschmidt was taken to Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke`s Medical Center for X-rays.
Gordon wasn`t safe until Antoine Gillespie (35 points, eight rebounds)
scored eight straight points immediately after Kleinschmidt was injured.
Rob Feaster led Loyola with 21 points and 12 rebounds.
9. Hillcrest
Hillcrest`s Jessie James banked in two straight three-pointers that fueled a 14-4 run in the fourth quarter and helped bounce Bremen 77-61 in the SICA Central.
Bremen (11-12, 4-5) cut the Hillcrest lead to 47-41 with 4:42 to play in the third quarter. But a baseline dunk by Torrey Lewis (10 points, 11 boards) touched off the decisive scoring run. Lewis capped it with a 16-footer with 18 seconds left in the period.
Hillcrest (22-2, 8-1) got 20 points from Todd Gillespie and 11 from Terrel Duffin. Ray Chaney with 20 and Kenny Spey with 15 led Bremen.
12. St. Joseph
The one thing St. Viator didn`t want to do was play at St. Joseph`s tempo. But when St. Viator coach Joe Majkowski called time out less than 4 1/2 minutes into the game to remind his squad of the game plan, St. Joe was up 14-3.
”We talked about not letting that happen,” Majkowski said, ”but it happened. To our kids` credit, they didn`t let up.”
St. Joseph scored two more quick baskets after the timeout to stretch its lead to 18-3. When it was over, St. Joseph had clinched an East Suburban Catholic Conference title with its 49-37 victory.
”The big thing is we won,” St. Joseph coach Gene Pingatore said. ”When we got up 18-3, our kids just backed off a bit. You don`t like to see that happen, but maybe that`s the nature of the game.”
St. Joseph (20-3, 13-0) got 17 points from William Gates; Gerald Eaker finished with 14 points, 15 rebounds and five blocked shots.
St. Viator (13-11, 7-5) got 11 points from Matt Fitzpatrick and 10 from Kevin Cox, back after missing eight games with a knee injury.
