Boys Basketball: Bloom denies Homewood-Flossmoor

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Updated: February 26, 2012 8:09AM

With five lead changes and three ties in the fourth quarter, south suburban heavyweights Bloom and Homewood-Flossmoor took turns delivering blows in a rugged contest Tuesday night in Flossmoor.

Bloom eventually prevailed 63-56 behind Donald Moore’s 11 fourth-quarter points. The senior struggled with his shot from the floor, going 3-of-11, but was a stellar 17-of-18 from the free-throw line to finish with a game-high 23 points.

“Donald is tough to stick to for anyone,” Bloom coach Jasper Williams said. “He’s playing lights-out, and he’s one of the best guards around.”

The game pitted Bloom’s tenacious perimeter against H-F’s size down low.

The Bloom pressure forced 11 first-half turnovers as the seventh-ranked Blazing Trojans (16-3) went on a 12-0 run that ended midway through the second quarter. Dejahown Freeman sparked the run, scoring 12 points off the bench. Freeman converted a three-point-play off a dunk, and followed with a three-pointer from the top of the key.

Down by six at the break, No. 4 H-F (12-5) came out of halftime looking for 6-foot-7 forward Tim Williams on the block. The senior produced with nine of his 14 points in the quarter, as the Vikings knotted the game at 37 after three.

“It’s hard for us to match up with them down low, and its hard for them to match us on the perimeter,” Williams said.

H-F took a 41-39 lead early in the fourth quarter off a baseline drive from Maurius Hill (11 points), but the Vikings just couldn’t stop Moore in the final quarter.

The senior hit his toughest shot of the night, contorting himself in the air and banking the ball, for a 47-46 Bloom lead. From there the Blazing Trojans never looked back.