Boys Basketball: Bloom storms past Joliet Central
By Dick Goss dgoss@stmedianetwork.com January 10, 2012 10:36PM
Bloom's Henry Hicks drives to the basket in front of Joliet Central's Curtis Parker. | Larry Kane~For Sun-Times Media
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Updated: February 12, 2012 8:09AM
It isn’t every day a team gets off to a 19-0 lead.
It isn’t every day that practice makes perfect, either.
After a 13-0 start, Bloom entered Tuesday night’s game at Joliet Central having lost its previous two, to Rich South and Bogan.
Coach Jasper Williams delivered a message at practice Monday, and senior forward Henry Hicks and his teammates heard it loudly and clearly.
Hicks became the finisher supreme as Blazing Trojans forced 26 Central turnovers en route to a 55-35 victory, and that was after the Steelmen finished the game on a 10-0 run.
“It all started at practice (Monday),” said Hicks, who scored a season-high 17 points on 8-of-10 shooting and was the only Trojan in double figures. “It was very intense, hard. That’s what made us get off to that start.”
“We were 13-0 and maybe we had a little bit of the big head, got a little complacent,” Williams said. “That was the hardest practice we had since before the season. We felt we had to get the guys ready, and they responded.”
No. 6 Bloom shot 23-of-42 for 54.8 percent, with 19 of the baskets on layups and rebounds.
For his part, Hicks said, “I just got in the lanes where I was supposed to go and called for the ball, and the guys got it to me.
“Mostly, I’m out there to play hard defensively, but when I’m given the opportunity to score, I like to take it.”
“Our guards got Henry the ball,” Williams said. “He’s been pressing the last two or three games, maybe trying to expand his game. He’s one of our best guys running and filling the lanes, and I hope he keeps this mind-set.”
Central coach Jeff Corcoran called Bloom “the best we’ve seen. People in our sectional are going to have to go through them.”
He cited senior guards Donald Moore and Lejavius Johnson. “They’re ridiculously good and talented,” he said.
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