Phoenix showcases depth vs. Hyde Park

North Lawndale's Miles Mayfield attempts to go by a Hyde Park defender.
(Patrick Gleason/For the Sun-Times News Group)

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Paul Bunch and John Taylor may be Division I talents, but when they return to North Lawndale’s lineup this week they’ll likely find themselves starting off on the bench.

With the rest of the Phoenix playing so well in their absence, North Lawndale coach Lewis Thorpe just can’t see how it’d be fair otherwise.

“I don’t see it changing,” he said. “When you have two of your best players on the bench, it’s not a bad thing.”

On Saturday again without Taylor (injury) and Bunch (academics), No. 4 North Lawndale (9-2) cooled off one of the area’s hottest teams as it defeated No. 11 Hyde Park 70-57 in the quarterfinals of the Public League Holiday Classic at DePaul.

Terry Johnson especially upped his game with Taylor still nursing a hand injury from the team’s trip to Florida, and he did most of it late. With the game tied at halftime, Johnson went on a tear in the second half and scored 14 of his game-high 21 points in the final two quarters.

“I tried to be more aggressive,” said Johnson, an Illinois State recruit. “I tried to let the game come to me. I didn’t want to force the issue.”

The Phoenix pulled away from Hyde Park (11-2) after the Thunderbirds got within 57-55 with 3:40 to go. From there, North Lawndale went on an 8-0 run, which included the Phoenix taking two offensive charges.

Jonathan Mills had his usual game inside for the Phoenix as he scored 15 points and grabbed a game-high 16 rebounds. Jermaine Winfield, Mills’ partner in the paint, had 14 points and five rebounds.

“That was a real fun game, up and down,” Johnson said. “It was probably really good to see.”

Malcolm Griffin (12 points, three steals), Martel Jackson (16 points) and Jerome Moore (11 points, five rebounds, two steals) led the Thunderbirds.

* Griffin, Moore and Anthony Dixon were named to the Centralia all-tournament team.