DeAndre Thomas was about to live out a childhood dream.
The 6-foot-8-inch, 260-pound Westinghouse junior was on the wide-open end of a breakaway dunk, right here in the United Center, driving toward the same basket where Michael Jordan had elevated the slam to an art form.
As Thomas was trying to concoct the best way to bring down the house, the ball began slipping out of his grasp. The missed two-handed dunk brought a gasp from the crowd and could have instilled new life into Simeon.
Instead, Thomas responded with 10 fourth-quarter points in leading No. 4 Westinghouse to a 60-48 victory over No. 3 Simeon to capture its third Public League title in the last five years.
When the missed dunk was mentioned, the affable Thomas covered his head with a towel.
“I had to make up for that,” said Thomas, who led Westinghouse (25-3) with 15 points, eight rebounds and three blocks before fouling out with 2 minutes 32 seconds left. “My teammates were getting me the ball inside, and once that happens, no one can stop me.”
Behind 6-6 Calvin Brock (21 points, 11 rebounds), Simeon (21-4) had closed to 40-38 early in the fourth quarter. That’s when Thomas and his teammates went on a decisive 15-3 run, with the big guy scoring eight of those points.
“We made a [conscious] effort to get the ball into DeAndre,” Westinghouse coach Quitman Dillard said. “It takes two or three guys to stay with him. We were tough on defense, boxed out and played Westinghouse basketball.”
This was the West Side power’s eighth city championship. Yet the first one for Dillard marks the beginning of a new era.
“You might say that,” said Dillard, who followed controversial yet highly successful former Warriors coach Chris Head. “These kids believe in what we’re doing, and they didn’t let any of the doubters distract them.”
On a night when Westinghouse’s leading scorer, Jamarcus Ellis, was limited to six points on 2-of-15 shooting, the Warriors compensated by winning the rebounding battle 40-36 over Simeon’s vaunted 6-6 trio of Brock, Anthony Newell and Brandon Alexander. Ellis finished with 13 rebounds.
