Boys Basketball: Hillcrest takes out Providence
By Logan Malloy For Sun-Times Media March 7, 2013 11:00PM
Jovan Mooring, of Hillcrest, gets a shot off around Providence's Nick Dinardi. | Gary Middendorf~For Sun-Times Media
Boys Basketball
FRIDAY’S GAMES
CLASS 3A RICH SOUTH SECTIONAL
Rich East vs. Hillcrest, 7:30 p.m.
CLASS 3A ST. LAURENCE
SECTIONAL
Morgan Park vs.
Perspectives Charter, 7:30 p.m.
CLASS 4A THORNTON SECTIONAL
Marian Catholic vs.
Bloom, 7:30 p.m.
CLASS 2A STATE SEMIFINALS
(at Peoria Civic Center)
Winnebago vs. Seton, 6:30 p.m.
Harrisburg vs.
St. Joseph-Ogden, 8:15 p.m.
Article Extras
Updated: April 9, 2013 11:34AM
Providence had Hillcrest on the ropes Thursday night, but it was Hawks point guard Kyle Oden who delivered the knockout blows.
With less than five minutes remaining and the score tied at 46 in their Class 3A Rich East Sectional semifinal, Oden showed his poise, dishing consecutive assists to stave off the Celtics’ upset bid.
Oden first found Devin Harrison for a three-pointer, then drove the lane and dished to Taylor Adway for a dunk.
Oden had a hand in 10 of the Hawks’ final 13 points and finished with 15 points, five assists and five steals as Hillcrest outlasted Providence 59-51 in a wild game featuring 18 lead changes.
“Kyle wasn’t going to let us down,” Hillcrest coach Don Houston said. “His intensity is one of the reason’s we’re going to be able to play (Friday night).”
The win pushes Hillcrest to its third sectional title game in four years. The Hawks (23-6) will face Rich East at 7:30 p.m. Friday for the sectional title.
“The game was going to come down to execution,” Oden said. “So I knew we had to run our plays and get our sets in. We knew they had some good guards, but we didn’t think they could stop us getting to the basket.”
Jovan Mooring added 15 points for Hillcrest, Harrison scored 12 and Devonta Archer added eight off the bench.
Providence (15-14) led by as many as seven points in the second quarter, and was up 44-40 in the fourth after a jumper by guard Kevin Kozan (8 points).
“They put a lot more pressure on us in the fourth quarter. I started getting trapped at halfcourt,” Kozan said. “They hit the big shots and we didn’t.”
Jay Ramadurai led the Celtics with 19 points. Ramadurai finished 11-of-12 from the free-throw line and 4-of-6 from the field.
Miles Boykin netted 10 points and eight rebounds and Nick Dinardi added nine points for the Celtics.
It was rough shooting night Kozan, who finished 3-of-21 from the floor but added nine rebounds and two assists.
“When I saw us down in the fourth quarter, I thought I could help us back into the game,” he said. “My shots just weren’t falling.”
