Homewood-Flossmoor point guard Darrius Hawkins Jr. was thrown into the fire last season, running the show for a talented group and facing challenge after challenge as a freshman leading a ranked team.
Hawkins passed the test. And Mount Carmel’s Ron Johnson is doing the same this year, but some games are learning experiences. That was the case on Monday as Hawkins and the Vikings attacked Johnson and Mount Carmel’s inexperienced backcourt with pace and pressure on the way to an 80-63 win in the final game of MLK “The Dream Continues” Classic in Flossmoor.
“We just had to take advantage of the matchup,” Hawkins said. “We have a lot of small scrappy guards and we wanted to get on them and cause a lot of ruckus, a lot of havoc. Pressure and pace is our identity.”
Hawkins scored 20 points. Junior Danny Ruffin led the defensive charge and finished with 10 points, seven rebounds, four assists and three steals. Senior Ethan Jackson led the No. 12 Vikings (17-2) with 23 points.
“Any time you play a team that is well coached and disciplined, you have to attack where they are uncomfortable,” H-F coach Brandin Brown said. “We really tried to do that early on. We didn’t know what to expect. They are so well coached, even if we pressured them, we expected them to do well, but it worked out for us tonight.”
No. 14 Mount Carmel (15-6) had 14 turnovers. Johnson is one of the area’s elite freshmen and he didn’t wilt under the pressure. He battled through, found his footing in the second quarter and finished with 18 points.
“You should see Johnson in the huddle,” Caravan coach Phil Segroves said. “He has great insight. To see that from a 15-year-old freshman is incredible. I’m proud of the way he played. But [H-F’s] speed is something we haven’t seen before and it showed.”
The Vikings jumped out to a 25-8 lead in the second quarter and led by 32 late in the third quarter. But Mount Carmel kept coming and Johnson’s three-point play with 3:20 left cut the deficit to 65-51.
“We are never going to quit,” Segroves said. “But we haven’t seen speed like that all year and it showed. Kudos to them. You can see it on film but you can’t simulate that in practice.”
Junior Logan Wessel had 16 points and six rebounds for the Caravan and freshman Da’Kylen Heard added nine points, six rebounds and four blocks.
Homewood-Flossmoor started the season strong and is still improving. Marvin Douglas, a 6-4 senior, is becoming a factor in the post. He had 12 points and eight rebounds. Samuel Carter (four points, four rebounds) and Jayden McDonald (three points, four rebounds) made significant contributions off the bench. Carter and McDonald played key roles when Ruffin and Hawkins recently missed a couple of games with injuries.
“It was terrible sitting out and watching us lose Thornton,” Ruffin said. “But it was good to see some guys step in and play well and that will help us.”