Julian Wright’s timing couldn’t have been better Tuesday night.
The player nicknamed “The Pied Piper” by his coach is leading Homewood-Flossmoor to Peoria for the Class AA quarterfinals.
Wright’s four points, two assists and a blocked shot at the outset of the fourth quarter sparked a decisive 8-0 run that lifted H-F to a 41-36 victory over SICA East rival Thornton before an estimated 14,000 fans at the United Center.
H-F (29-2) will face Moline (28-2) in the 6:30 p.m. quarterfinal Friday. This is the Vikings’ first trip to the Elite Eight since 1985.
“My shot wasn’t falling [Tuesday],” said Wright, a 6-foot-8-inch junior who led H-F with 10 points, nine rebounds, four assists and two blocks. “I started looking to get the ball inside to (6-8) Cyrus [Tate].”
Leading 35-29 after the Wright-engineered burst, H-F extended the advantage to 41-33 with 2 minutes 10 seconds left as Brian Nussbaum and Tate scored inside and Excell Hardy swished a pair of free throws.
“I think we missed five layups in the first half,” said H-F coach Roy Condotti. “But we continued playing defense, handled their press pretty well, and in the second half got some easy baskets after breaking their trap.
“Julian got rolling in the fourth quarter. He got into the open court and was able to distribute the ball. When he plays well, the rest of us fall in line.”
Thornton (21-9), which split the SICA East series with H-F, led 29-25 near the end of the third quarter after Brandon Dagans (14 points) connected on back-to-back three-pointers.
But Wright hit a jumper to bring his team within two after three quarters and then worked his fourth-quarter magic.
In a 72-70 overtime loss to Thornton on Feb. 27, H-F committed 19 turnovers and squandered an 11-point lead in the fourth quarter.
“Coach gave us a limit of 12 turnovers, and that’s exactly what we had tonight,” Nussbaum said. “I’m looking forward to playing Downstate and representing the south suburbs and the SICA East.”
