You might say that Elijah Allen is the ultimate transfer.
The 6-foot-7 senior forward came to Bloom three months ago — from Nicaragua.
“He’s getting adjusted to American basketball,” Blazing Trojans coach Dante Maddox said. “He doesn’t speak the language. I don’t speak Spanish and he doesn’t speak English.
“We have one person to translate, but in a game situation, it’s very hard to communicate. But he’s a very intelligent kid. He knows body language. And he knows basketball.”
He also knows how to win in pressure situations.
Allen scored 11 points and brought down 10 rebounds Friday night as Bloom knocked off host Thornton for a 65-54 Southland Athletic Conference victory in Harvey.
Junior guard Payton Edwards produced all of his 19 points in the first half and senior guard/forward Jaden Clark had 17 of his 19 points in the second half for Bloom (4-1, 1-0).
Illinois recruit Morez Johnson led Thornton (4-1, 0-1) with 17 points, nine rebounds and two blocked shots. Meyoh Swansey added 15 points, while Isaiah Green had 14 and hounded Edwards for most of the second half.
Allen, meanwhile, was a strong presence inside as the Blazing Trojans earned a 27-15 advantage on the boards.
Needless to say, Maddox was pumped up to have a tall player with some skills show up to practice.
“It was a surprise,” Maddox said. “He just showed up to school one day. I’m not sure how exactly he came to us, but I always said God sent him to us. Of all the schools in the country, he came here from oversees.”
Through an interpreter — Miguel Vilchis, who plays soccer for the Blazing Trojans — Allen said Bloom is close to where his mom lives.
He also said that even though he has played in pressure-packed gyms like he did Friday night, he’s enjoying his short time so far with Bloom.
His teammates are enjoying the experience even with the language barrier.
“It’s been interesting,” Edwards said. “We try to use our hands as much as possible to communicate.”
Allen said in Nicaragua, he averaged about 16 points a game and double figures in rebounds. He opened his high school career in America with 16 points and 16 rebounds against Hammond Central in the Chicago Heights Classic.
Bloom began the season with wins over Hammond Central, T.F. South and Hillcrest, but then had what looked like the double whammy of having back-to-back games against Homewood-Flossmoor and Thornton.
The Blazing Trojans lost 49-39 to H-F in the Chicago Heights Classic championship game, but tightened things up a week later.
“We made 20 turnovers against H-F,” Maddox said. “You can’t do that and beat a team like that.”
Having different players in Edwards and Clark who can take over a game was huge.
“I had to step up and be a good teammate,” Clark said.
Thornton, which has huge expectations this season, is playing a tough schedule that offers continual tests.
The Wildcats, who won the Rockford Boylan Thanksgiving Tournament, were ready to put on a show in their first game in front of the home crowd.
But they started the conference season with a loss.
“Bloom came to play,” Thornton coach Tai Streets said. “They did what they had to do. They wanted it more than us. They were more physical. They were better prepared than we were.”
That said, Maddox is prepared for his team to keep rolling and for Allen to progress.
“I think by the end of the year, this is going to be a player who is going to be really good,” Maddox said. “He’s someone the colleges are going to really, really want to know.”
Jeff Vorva is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
