In less than four minutes, Homewood-Flossmoor’s nine-point halftime lead–and seemingly tight grasp on the game–disappeared.
As Vikings coach Roy Condotti watched Moline rattle off 12 straight points to open the second half of a Class AA state quarterfinal Friday night, he signaled for a timeout and brought his players in for a calm but direct message.
“I kind of settled them down a bit and said, `It’s time,'” Condotti said. “`If we’re going to do something, we’ve got to do something now.”
The Vikings got that message. Mitchell Hayes drained a game-tying three-pointer immediately after the timeout, and Julian Wright’s three-pointer early in the fourth put Homewood-Flossmoor on top for good in a 41-34 victory.
Homewood-Flossmoor (30-2) moves on to face West Aurora in Saturday’s 12:45 p.m. semifinal. Moline (28-3) saw its winning streak end at 19 games.
“Coach stressed that we wanted to have a little more patience,” said Vikings junior Julian Wright, “and at the same time, feel confident when we shot it.”
The 6-foot-8-inch Wright found his outside touch, draining three three-pointers en route to a team-high 15 points. This after a 1-for-15 performance while shooting around in the IHSA fanjam between sessions.
“They were allowing me to take a lot of open looks,” Wright said of Moline. “I tried to step up and make big shots.”
When Wright drained a three-pointer with 3 minutes 4 seconds left in the first half, H-F boasted a 20-8 lead and complete control of the game.
But Wesley McCorkle hit a three with just under two minutes left in the half, and he and Paul Bayer combined to score the first 12 points of the second half, giving Moline a 23-20 lead.
Hayes’ three-pointer out of the timeout and Brian Nussbaum’s layup gave the Vikings a 25-23 lead. McCorkle’s layup tied it going into the fourth.
Wright’s three-pointer with 6:47 left made it 28-25, and Homewood-Flossmoor led the rest of the way. McCorkle, who had scored 13 points entering the final quarter, scored just three more while being guarded by the Vikings’ Freddie Barnes.
“He was our focus defensively,” Condotti said of McCorkle. “We wanted to make sure we limited the number of looks he got.”
McCorkle’s three with 35.7 seconds left pulled Moline, which only attempted two free throws during the game, within 39-34. The Maroons fouled Cyrus Tate on the inbounds, and he missed the front end of the one-and-one. But Wright grabbed the rebound, and Moline never again threatened.
