Crane’s Public League playoff hopes rested on the last possession of the game on Thursday. The host Cougars had the ball with 15 seconds left, trailing Hyde Park by one point.
Crane got the ball to junior big man Brad Blackman, who had his back to the basket at the free-throw line. Hyde Park senior Kye Ward-Owens guarded Blackman.
“I knew I had to stop him,” Ward-Owens said. “I wasn’t really worried about it at all. I knew I would stop him. I wasn’t going to let him put the ball in the basket.”
Blackman managed to get a difficult shot off but missed everything. He got his rebound, but this time Ward-Owens and Jacobi Walls guarded him. Blackman’s last attempt rimmed out and Hyde Park secured a 53-52 victory against Crane in the second round of the Public League playoffs.
“We’ve played some of the top teams,” Ward-Owens said. “So in a close game, we know what to do. We stayed together through all the losses. We can fix what went wrong during the regular season and keep winning.’’
The Thunderbirds (12-14) went 1-8 against Super 25-ranked teams this season. But over the last month, the games have been much closer. Hyde Park stayed within 10 points of Curie, Lincoln Park, and Homewood-Flossmoor.
“It was a tough schedule,” Thunderbirds coach Jerrel Oliver said. “We’ve just been fighting. There are a lot of juniors and underclassmen playing. So when the playoffs started we talked about new beginnings.”
Senior guard CJ Thomas had nine points in the fourth quarter to help Hyde Park overcome a five-point deficit.
“I knew my team needed me,” Thomas said. “I had to be available and go get the ball.”
Thomas finished with 16 points and Ward-Owens had 17.
“[Thomas] has been carrying us all year,” Oliver said. “He puts us on his back, playing 32 minutes a game for the past two years. He’s the best guard in the Public League.”
Jamier Montgomery, one of the city’s most promising sophomores, had 13 points for the Cougars (19-7). Blackman, a 6-6 forward, finished with four points, 10 rebounds and six blocks.
“We knew everything [Blackman] did was going left so we wanted to force him to go right,” Oliver said. “He’s a really good finisher and probably the best shot block[er] I’ve seen since Cliff Alexander. He’s a great player.”
Oliver and Crane coach Mekiel Posey were longtime assistants to Mike Oliver at Curie and are part of a promising group of young coaches in the city. For Hyde Park, this has been a down year for an established program. Posey has been building Crane back up from the bottom.
“[Thomas] has been playing varsity for three years,” Posey said. “He wants the ball in those fourth-quarter situations. Our team is him and sophomores and juniors. These are growing pains. This will make us better. It just sucks that we have to go through this now.”
Hyde Park will face Lincoln Park in the quarterfinals on Saturday.
PUBLIC LEAGUE RED PLAYOFFS
Saturday’s quarterfinals
At Corliss
Simeon vs. Curie, noon
Lincoln Park vs. Hyde Park, 1:45 p.m.
At Curie
Kenwood vs. Lane, 4 p.m.
Young vs. Dyett, 5:45 p.m.
Second round scores
Kenwood 76, Payton 49
Lane 63, Ag. Science 45
Young 75, Lindblom 40
Dyett 44, Clark 39
Simeon 57, North Lawndale 37
Curie 79, Perspectives-LT 69
Lincoln Park 72, Phillips 43
Hyde Park 53, Crane 52