Eric Gray nearly threw away all of his hard work.
The 300 jump shots he had taken daily in the summer and the 3 1/2 hours he had spent each day to improve his skills, in addition to the time devoted to the team’s workouts, were almost lost.
All because the Thornwood senior wanted things his way, and coach Bob Curran wasn’t about to let it happen.
“I wanted it to be my game,” Gray said recently.
His arrogance and impatience with his teammates resulted in a two-game suspension by Curran. It was a bold move for Curran, 32, a first-year head coach who had replaced coach Kevin Hayhurst shortly before the season began.
“I wanted him to go off in life and be successful,” said Curran, who welcomed Gray back after his leading scorer agreed to ground rules. “He has responded, and he’s a better person and a better basketball player.”
In his first game back Gray scored 19 points in a win over Thornton. The team is 11-1 since.
“I started fitting into the system,” he said. “I became more of a team player.”
Gray’s comeback, and the team’s improved chemistry, is why Thornwood is in the Class AA state quarterfinals for the third straight year and seeking its first state championship. He’s averaging 17 points per game and will continue playing in college. He plans to sign a letter of intent with Indiana State next month.
There are no hard feelings between him and his coach, and that was evident in the embrace Gray shared with Curran immediately after Thornwood beat St. Laurence in Tuesday’s East Aurora supersectional.
“I thanked him for not letting me get away with things,” Gray said.
His story is one of many comeback tales in this weekend’s state tournament at Carver Arena.
Thornwood
The adversity: After Thornwood started 14-0, a loss to Bloom on Jan. 24 snapped the Thunderbirds’ SICA East winning streak at 26 games and started a four-game losing streak. Senior Eric Gray was suspended for disciplinary reasons for two of those games.
Defining moment: The Thunderbirds (25-5) rebounded in early February and beat Young, ranked second at the time, by 15 points. By then Gray had returned to the team with a renewed work ethic, and it spread among his teammates.
Title hopes: Thornwood, the top team in the lower half of the bracket, is expected to be in the title game.
Evanston
The adversity: Injuries began taking a toll on the Wildkits (21-7) in January. Forward Jonathan Blakley had not made his season debut because of a stress fracture, and forward QuoVadis Harper spent two weeks in a hospital after a car accident. Alex Ford-Carther also was sidelined because of a leg injury sustained in the Proviso West Holiday Tournament. All three players returned in February.
Defining moment: A 23-point rout of Loyola in a sectional semifinal gave the Wildkits a big lift, which carried over into their sectional final victory over Central Suburban South champion Niles West.
Title hopes: Blakley and Harper improve with every game and will need to make big contributions to give Evanston its second state championship and first since 1968.
Von Steuben
The adversity: A tough schedule early and selfish play resulted in an 0-4 start for the Panthers, who fell to Homewood-Flossmoor, nationally ranked Brookhaven of Ohio, Curie and Crane, two of the city’s top teams.
Defining moment: After an OT loss to Lincoln Park in the second round of the Public League Red Division tournament, coach Vince Carter held separate meetings with seniors and underclassmen and told them he was giving them a chance to start over. In rigorous practices, a sense of cohesiveness emerged among starters Ryne Hamblet, Demetrius Evans, Temi Soyebo, Angel Santiago and Bryon Johnson.
Title hopes: If Hamblet is at full strength after sustaining a leg injury in Von Steuben’s supersectional victory over Brother Rice, the Panthers will be in contention for their first state championship–if they get past Peoria Central in the opener.
Downers Grove South
The adversity: The Mustangs went 4-4 in their final eight games of the regular season. Their overtime loss to West Suburban Gold rival Proviso East was expected, but losses to cross-town rival Downers Grove North (14-13), Hinsdale South (17-11) and Morton (12-14) were not.
Defining moment: They pulled the biggest upset of the season with a sectional semifinal victory over West Aurora, the state’s No. 1 team heading into the postseason, thanks to senior captain Brendan Mullins, who scored 32 points, and younger brother Bryan’s poised ball-handling.
Title hopes: Despite their remarkable postseason, the Mustangs (24-6) are still considerable underdogs.
Belleville West
The adversity: The Maroons’ playoff schedule required them to log more than 1,200 miles to and from games the last two weeks, and along the way they had to beat Centralia, a third-place finisher in Class AA last season, and East St. Louis. “Not only have we had to deal with awfully good basketball, we’ve been on an NBA-style style road trip without first-class accommodations,” coach Bill Schmidt said with a laugh.
Defining moment: The team’s 64-60 victory over Centralia in a regional final gave the Southwestern Conference champs the momentum they needed for sectional victories over East St. Louis and Belleville Althoff, which had defeated the Maroons (27-5) in two regular-season games.
Title hopes: The Maroons don’t have the depth that some of the other Elite Eight members boast, and that could hurt them.
Glenbrook North
The adversity: Freshman Jon Scheyer had an immediate impact on coach David Weber’s program, and that created angst for some seniors on the team. “How many shots each guy took, it became a little bit of a problem,” Weber said. “Jon creates shots. When you play with someone like that, you’re not always sure what he’s going to do. When the shots went in, everything was fine. When they didn’t, the seniors got upset.”
Defining moment: After a loss to Niles North in late February, Weber addressed the team and assigned each player a role for the remainder of the season. “I don’t think everybody liked it,” Weber said. “But they all accepted it. I told them, `Jon has carried us this far. We have to accept what he does because it’s usually going to be good at the end of the game.'”
Title hopes: It won’t be a surprise if Scheyer leads the Spartans (22-8) to a trophy finish this year, next year and for two years after that.
Peoria Central
The adversity: Transfers Shaun Livingston of Peoria Richwoods and Brandon Lee of Peoria Manual worked hard to fit in with new teammates and have earned rave reviews from coach Chuck Buescher. Guard Daniel Ruffin made the adjustments easier with his unselfish play, Buescher said.
Defining moment: Fans expected close games against Bartonville Limestone in a sectional final and against Lincoln in Tuesday’s supersectional. Both opponents were Top 10 teams in the final regular-season Associated Press poll. But Peoria (28-1) avenged its November loss to Limestone with a 33-point rout and beat Lincoln by 26 points.
Title hopes: Behind Livingston and Ruffin, Peoria Central is a heavy favorite to win its third state title and first since 1977.
Johnsburg
The adversity: Johnsburg (30-1), the smallest school in this tournament–enrollment: 781–slipped only once this season, a loss to Round Lake in late January. The Skyhawks’ season has been without fanfare, perhaps because many question the strength of their schedule, which hasn’t included a game against a ranked team.
Defining moment: When the Skyhawks beat host Jacobs in a holiday tournament Dec. 28 to win the championship, it reminded the players they could play with and beat top teams outside the Big Northern Conference.
Title hopes: Behind 6-8 center John Smith and his 20.5-point average, Johnsburg is capable of beating Glenbrook North in the quarterfinals and playing for a trophy Saturday.
