Thornwood is a nightmare matchup for most teams because of its deliberate style and dangerous outside attack, and No. 10 Homewood-Flossmoor discovered just how nightmarish Friday night.
But the Vikings pulled out a 50-46 overtime thriller decided in the final minute in South Holland in a SICA East battle. H-F standout Julian Wright, fighting off illness, scored a game-high 20 points.
After Thornwood junior guard Lorenzo Williams (14 points) forced overtime with a three-pointer from the top of the key with 15 seconds remaining, Wright broke the 44-44 tie by rebounding his own miss in traffic. Wright was fouled in the act and converted the three-point play for a 47-44 lead with 1:48 to play.
“Coach [Roy Condotti] always stresses with us to follow our shots,” Wright said. “I knew by the way the first shot left my hand, I short-armed it, and it is much easier to go after a short miss than a long three-pointer.”
The 6-foot-8-inch senior forward converted a personal-best four three-pointers. H-F (17-4, 5-2), which got 11 points from Freddie Barnes, led 33-22 early in the third quarter before Thornwood (10-10, 2-5) narrowed the margin by making five second-half three-pointers.
“Our styles clash, and whenever we play them, it’s never a high-scoring game,” Condotti said.
