Washington might be the Minutemen, but on Wednesday night in Harvey, Josh Parker was the “Minute Man.”
His five free throws in the final minute enabled Thornton to slip past Washington 56-52 in the Class AA sectional semifinal on the Wildcats’ court.
Thornton (23-5) will face rival Thornwood (23-6) in Friday’s title game. Although they split their games this season, Thornton is unbeaten at home.
“I just kept thinking that if I don’t hit these free throws, our season is over,” said Parker, the Drake-bound point guard who finished with 12 points and eight assists. “I wasn’t ready to go home.”
With big games from 6-foot-6-inch junior DeAndre Liggins (14 points, 12 assists, nine rebounds), 6-6 sophomore Michael Haynes (13 points, 12 rebounds) and Keyon Smothers (15 points), Washington (23-6) led 47-42 early in the fourth quarter.
That’s when 6-6 Thornton reserve DuShawn Brooks scored four points to ignite an 11-3 run. With 27 seconds left, Liggins swished an apparent three-pointer that would have tied the game 53-53.
But after an officials’ conference, it was ruled Liggins had a toe on the three-point line.
With Smothers all over Thornton standout Mustapha Farrakhan (nine points), it was up to Parker, 6-4 Anthony Morris (12 points, 11 rebounds) and 6-5 Dwayne Mays (10 points, eight rebounds) to pick up the scoring slack.
“People forget that I can play basketball,” said Morris, the highly touted wide receiver who signed a football letter of intent with Illinois. “We had to battle them on the boards because that’s what gets them going.”
The Wildcats also surprised Washington by abandoning their patented man-to-man defense in favor of a 1-2-2 zone.
“We had to slow them down, and the zone left them a little discombobulated,” Parker said. “They like to drive to the basket against a man-to-man and score their points that way.
“With their defense focusing on Mustapha, we got the ball into the big guys like Anthony and Dwayne.”
And in the end, it was Parker who closed it out.
“It was a pretty big minute for me,” he said with a smile.
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bsakamoto@tribune.com
