Boys Basketball: H-F mixes up recipe for victory

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Updated: March 1, 2012 8:21AM

A tough loss to Bloom still fresh in the minds of Homewood-Flossmoor players, the Vikings have done their best to purge the sting of defeat by dominating two SouthWest Suburban Blue foes in the past week.

Joliet Central was the victim Friday night, falling to No. 4 H-F 56-42 in Flossmoor.

The Vikings (14-5, 7-0) received another balanced attack offensively as they implemented a different starting lineup and rotation.

“We’ve got to mix things up,” H-F coach Jim McLaughlin said, “especially when the plan in place that we thought was going to work wasn’t working. So we have to give some other guys a shot.”

Guards Tyrone Sherman and Willie Lipsey led H-F with 11 points and three steals each. Thad Little scored eight points off the bench, electrifying the crowd with a breakaway dunk in the fourth quarter.

“I thought Thad Little stepped into the game and played with a lot of energy,” McLaughlin said. “Tyrone Sherman did the job again for us (at point guard). Right now it’s about polishing our game and gearing up for the playoffs.”

Joliet Central (7-11, 2-5) struggled to take care of the ball against the H-F fullcourt press, and when the Steelmen did manage to attack in the halfcourt, they were at a huge size disadvantage down low.

The Steelmen were in danger of a serious blowout after falling behind 26-10 heading into the break, but sophomore Jonah Coble led a scrappy unit that never showed quit.

Coble scored 16 of his game-high 20 points in the second half and buried four three-pointers. H-F was never in danger of losing, but Coble was there to keep the score respectable.

Kenneth Carpenter added seven points for Joliet Central.