The story of the state championship could be written in three installments.
First, Brandon Lee, a multifaceted guard, left Peoria Manual for Peoria Central after Rams coach Wayne McClain left to become an assistant coach at Illinois.
A year later, local basketball prodigy Shaun Livingston transferred from Peoria Richwoods and joined Lee in an all-city backcourt as a junior, and together they won Peoria Central’s first state title.
Then last summer, 6-foot-5-inch Dustin Warfield left Richwoods to join Livingston and Lee and become what Warfield described as “an all-star team.”
But the star that glowed the brightest Saturday night in front of a Carver Arena capacity crowd of 11,539 was Livingston, who seemed to resonate in the vindication of leading Peoria Central to a repeat Class AA title with a 53-47 win over Homewood-Flossmoor.
After enduring a season of doubters and detractors while performing under the intense pressure of leading a nationally ranked team, Livingston stood tall in his finest hour.
OK, so maybe the 6-6, 175-pound All-American isn’t ready for the NBA despite analysts who project him to be a lottery pick. Even a potential career at Duke can wait. For now, he just wants to be an 18-year-old high school kid looking forward to all-star games and the senior prom.
“I had a lot of pressure on me with people saying I’m not ready for the NBA, that I can’t shoot outside and other stuff,” said Livingston, who scored 27 points on 9-of-16 shooting and grabbed nine rebounds.
“It feels great to win this despite all the people saying I’m not this or I’m not that. With all the expectations, you would think I’m the almighty Livingston who’s 9 feet tall and 300 pounds. This is a great way for people here to remember me.”
They won’t soon forget how Peoria Central (31-2) moved out to a 42-30 lead late in the third quarter when H-F (31-3) began to gradually cut into the Lions’ lead.
“We lost our composure at times out there, but we gathered ourselves and never stopped fighting back,” said H-F junior Julian Wright, who finished with 13 points and four blocks. Teammate Cyrus Tate had 17 points in 23 minutes after collecting three fouls in the first quarter. Both played the fourth quarter with foul fouls.
Behind Wright and Tate, the Vikings went on a 7-0 run to cut their deficit to 49-46 with 1 minute 18 seconds left in the game. But four free throws by Livingston doused the rally.
“It hurts,” Wright said. “Our trophy says second place, but it’s like we’re really first-and-a-half. It was a big advantage that Peoria has been through this before.
“What I learned from playing Livingston is composure. He comes off as so confident, has this swagger, and it’s because he’s a winner and knows how to win.”
