According to Homewood-Flossmoor 6-foot-8-inch center Cyrus Tate, his team is starting to “live up to the hype.”
That hype appeared justified Friday night against Rich Central in a Class AA sectional final in Chicago Heights.
Consistent defense, tenacious rebounding and plenty of shot-blocking lifted the Vikings to a 67-50 victory and a meeting with SICA East rival Thornton (21-8) on Tuesday in the second supersectional at the United Center.
“Both [games against Thornton] were great games,” said Vikings coach Roy Condotti, whose team split with Thornton during the regular season. “The team that plays the better defense will win.”
An 8-4 first-quarter lead by the Vikings set the tone in a physical game that eventually wore down the smaller Olympians (22-8). Tate and 6-8 teammate Julian Wright (six assists) combined for nine blocked shots and each had 17 points and eight rebounds. Freddie Barnes added 12 points, while Excell Hardy and Brian Nussbaum each had nine.
“Me and Cyrus wanted to take control in the paint,” Wright said. “We were ready to play. We’re just trying to contain our season and continue to play hard.”
The Vikings, ranked No. 1 most of the season, never trailed but didn’t pull away until the final quarter when they went on a 9-0 run and took command 51-35. That came after the Olympians cut the lead to 28-24 in the third quarter behind Tyrone Brazleton, who finished with 16 points.
“We had a great year; I’m happy with our year,” Olympians coach Glenn Hefferman said. “If I can go 22-8 with the kids I had this year. . . . Guys are busting their butts on the court and in the classroom. I’ll take that every year.”
The Vikings (28-2) won their first sectional title since 1996 and will try to go Downstate to the Elite Eight for the first time since 1985.
