Scores from TFS, TFN, Marian Catholic, Illiana, and South Suburban College
By Mike Clark
LANSING, Ill. (February 6, 2023) – Sam Townsend and his TF South teammates didn’t have any trouble getting up for Friday night’s basketball game.
The Red Wolves made the short trip up Burnham Avenue for their District 215 rivalry game against a surging TF North team and held off a fourth-quarter rally by the Meteors to win 67-60 in the South Suburban Blue.
“It feels good,” said Townsend, a junior guard who led South with 15 points and also added four rebounds, three steals, and two assists. “The energy in the gym — it was loud. We came out, we did what we had to do. We knocked down shots, we just had a good team win.”
The first quarter, which ended with South up 25-16 against the defensively-minded Meteors, might have been one of their best of the season.
“We got good pressure and handled their pressure,” South coach Todd Gillespie said. “We knew they were going to trap us. We were ready for that trap and we were ready to have the second-line guys ready to dish it to.”
The Red Wolves maintained the lead the rest of the way and were up 57-44 early in the fourth quarter. North ran off 11 straight points to pull within two, 57-55, with 3:03 left. But the Red Wolves closed the game on a 10-5 run.
“We knew if we started off slow that would lead to problems,” Townsend said.
But South did come out with energy and North was playing catch-up all night.
“We didn’t play very well,” Meteors coach Tim Bankston said. “I’ll give that to South. South kept us on our heels. Their guard play was just exceptional tonight. They deserved to win, they wanted to win more than we did.”
Townsend was one of four Red Wolves who scored in double figures. The others were seniors Romello Ali (14 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals), Marqell Wilson (14 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals) and Caleb Newman (10 points, 2 steals).
Photos in the album below were taken by Josh Bootsma:
The Red Wolves (13-13, 7-4 SSC Blue) weren’t able to sustain their momentum on Saturday, scoring only 13 points in the middle two quarters and losing 67-40 at Lincoln-Way Central. The Knights (9-16), who forced a slower tempo than South usually prefers, won at home for the first time all season. Townsend (12 points), Newman (12) and Ali (11) accounted for all but seven of the Red Wolves’ points.
TF North (17-5, 9-2 SSC Blue) opened the week by beating Tinley Park 64-52 on Monday.
TF South
Girls basketball
The Red Wolves (26-4, 11-1 SSC Blue) have won 11 in a row after beating Eisenhower 91-26 on Tuesday and TF North 72-54 on Thursday.
Gigi Dillon (17 points, 17 rebounds) and Tariya Wright (16 points, 11 rebounds, 5 steals) had double-doubles against Eisehower. Katlynn Williams-Clark added 16 points, Rayvan Rush scored 13 and had five steals, Ahliyah Stepheny scored 10 and Jaiden Thompson had six assists.
Leading the way against North were Thompson (23 points, 7 rebounds, 3 steals), Rush (15 points, 14 rebounds, 4 assists), Wright (16 points) and Williams-Clark (6 assists).
Boys wrestling
South’s Cortez Jones won the 285-pound title at Saturday’s Class 3A Lockport Regional to advance to this weekend’s sectional at Normal.
Also qualifying for the sectional was 182-pounder Hiawatha Owens, who finished third.
The Red Wolves were fifth among eight teams with 48 points.
Girls wrestling
The Red Wolves had three individual champs and finished second among 12 teams with 77 points in the inaugural South Suburban Conference Meet on Tuesday at Shepard.
Taking first for South were Mia Moore (11-4) at 100 pounds, Quincy Onyiaorah (18-5) at 120 and Heavenlee Wilson (11-4) at 130.
Also winning medals were Taylor Poole (9-6, second) at 115, Akayla Coopwood (11-4, second) at 135, Shamauri McNabb (7-7, second) at 140, Jemia Moore (10-5, third) at 125, Britzy Guerra (3-4, third) at 145 and Nyella Bland (5-5, fourth) at 130.
Girls bowling
Abby Kleidon of the Red Wolves qualified for this weekend’s Oswego East Sectional by rolling a 956 (159.3 average) for six games at the Andrew Regional.
TF South took sixth in the 12-team field with a pinfall of 4,220.
Competitive cheerleading
TF South’s Shannon Sinde was named South Suburban Conference Coach of the Year.
TF North
Boys wrestling
Two Meteors qualified for the Class 2A Hinsdale South Sectional by finishing third at Saturday’s Richards Regional — Tamilore Ogundeyi at 120 and Joseph Merritt at 152.
North finished fifth among seven teams with 47 points.
Marian Catholic
Boys basketball
The Spartans’ eight-game winning streak was snapped with a 57-49 East Suburban Catholic loss to Benet on Friday. Marian (21-7, 9-5 ESCC) also beat St. Patrick 40-30 on Tuesday.
Quentin Jones scored a game-high 23 points, grabbed seven rebounds, and had two steals against Benet. Donovan Juzang had 11 points and Jonah Weathers added nine.
Jones scored 15 and Juzang added 11 points against St. Patrick.
Girls basketball
The Spartans (23-7) fell 34-22 to Nazareth in the East Suburban Catholic Conference Tournament semifinals on Wednesday and lost 50-40 to Benet in the third-place game on Saturday.
Madison Davis had seven points against Nazareth and 12 vs. Benet, while Ty Jackson scored 11 against Benet.
Boys wrestling
The Spartans advanced three athletes to the Class 2A Hinsdale South Sectional.
At Saturday’s Joliet Catholic Regional, Joey Baranski (27-9) was second at 138, while Lloyd Mills (29-12, 170), and Tanner Classen (19-16, 182) each finished third.
Marian was fifth among eight teams with 64 points.
Illiana Christian
Boys basketball
The Vikings (14-2, 5-0 Greater South Shore) extended their winning streak to 13 games by beating Lighthouse 63-37 on Monday and Calumet 79-50 on Thursday.
Luke Van Essen scored 13 points in the Lighthouse win.
Girls basketball
The Vikings finished 10-12 after losing 62-22 to host and eventual champ Andrean on Friday in a Class 2A sectional semifinal.
Illiana had advanced with a 56-22 quarterfinal win against Bowman. Abbie Ritzema scored 13 for the Vikings, while Kaitlin Dykstra and Faith Van Ryn each had 10 points.
South Suburban College
Men’s basketball
The NJCAA Division II No. 6 Bulldogs (21-4) went 2-1 for the week, beating Kankakee 79-73 on Wednesday, knocking off No. 3 Milwaukee Area Tech 102-68 and losing 79-74 to Parkland on Saturday.
Damontae Taylor (29 points, 13 rebounds, 4 assists) and Nakyel Shelton (24 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assists) had double-doubles in the Kankakee win. Julius Byrd added seven points, seven rebounds, and five assists.
Shelton had another double-double, his 16th of the season, against Milwaukee with 38 points and 11 rebounds. Also hitting double figures were Jalen Houston (20 points, 7 rebounds), Taylor (12 points), and Byrd (11 points).
Shelton missed the Parkland loss with an ankle injury, but Byrd scored a career-high 23.
Related
- Six TF South football players sign with NCAA schools (February 3, 2023)
- Jaiden Thompson helps lead strong season for TFS girls basketball (January 28, 2023)