Chris Chana was loading up for his Michael Jordan moment.
The 6-foot-3-inch Hinsdale Central guard had just hit six consecutive clutch free throws to close out a game, just like No. 23 used to do at the United Center.
In the waning moments of the Red Devils’ 51-44 victory over West Suburban Silver rival Lyons Township, Chana stole the ball and glanced back to see the absence of any pursuit.
Up he went, heading toward the rim and — wham, Chana smashed the ball off the rim.
“Aw, man, I took off too soon,” Chana said with a sheepish expression on his face. “I wanted to put an exclamation point on this one.”
“Don’t worry,” said 6-5 center Clay Foster, looking over at his teammate with a smile. “He’s going to get a lot of [teasing] from us.”
Foster (15 points, six rebounds) and sophomore point guard and football quarterback John Whitelaw (11 points, three steals) had staked Hinsdale Central (12-6, 3-3) to a 38-26 lead after three quarters in Hinsdale.
Lyons (15-3, 5-2) came roaring back behind 6-8, 270-pound Jeff Adams (11 points, 17 rebounds), Tim Cosentino (11 points, five assists) and Ed Viliunas (nine points) to trail 44-40 with 52 seconds left.
That’s when Chana took over from the line.
“I knew I had to hit those,” Chana said. “It really feels good to beat our archrival.
“We come out with extra vigor when we face them.
“Our [student section] was awesome tonight. They were like our sixth man and a big reason why we won.”
Whitelaw’s 10 points in the first quarter propelled the Red Devils to a 16-6 lead.
Foster had 13 of his game-high 15 points by the end of the third quarter while battling Adams, 6-6 Matt Hirt, 6-6 Alex Burt and the 6-5 Viliunas.
Red Devils sophomore Jason Rafferty contributed nine points, seven rebounds and four blocks.
“They’re a big team, rebound the ball pretty well, and Adams is a great player,” Foster said. “I knew that as our big guy, I’d have to play well against all of them.”
Chana had missed the first matchup with a sprained ankle when Lyons beat Hinsdale Central in early December.
“That’s another reason I wanted to win this time,” Chana said.
———-
bsakamoto@tribune.com
