Hyde Park storms into city title game

Hyde Park's Fabyon Harris moves around Foreman's Dontae Jones to get to the hoop.
(Patrick Gleason/For the Sun-Times News Group)

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It’s been over 50 years since Hyde Park has played for the Public League championship but that drought is over as it routed Foreman 64-44 in a semifinal Wednesday at DePaul.

Foreman (19-6) came into the game with a trio of highly touted guards -- Lavonte Dority, Mike McCall, and Tommy Woolridge -- who have reeked havoc on opposing guards all season long.

But they met their match in the Thunderbirds' Martell Jackson, Fabyon Harris, and Malcolm Griffin, who held them in check defensively and took it to them offensively.

Harris scored eight points of a 10-2 run that gave Hyde Park a 28-16 lead with 5:05 remaining in the second quarter. A three-point shot from the top of the key by Griffin pushed the lead to 48-25 with 3:25 left in the third.

Jackson led a well-balanced scoring attack with 15 points. Griffin and Harris each scored 13.

“I’ll take my three guards against any guard in this city," Hyde Park coach Donnie Kirksey said. "Griffin showed the leader that he is. We call Jackson the 'Glove' because of the way he will lock you down on defense, and Harris is relentless.”

But the X-factor, Kirksey said, was the inside play of 6-5 forward Jerome Moore and Anthony Dixon. Moore narrowly missed a triple-double with 12 points, 12 rebounds and nine blocks. Dixon finished with 11 points, five rebounds and four blocks for Hyde Park (23-3).

“Coach told us we had to board like crazy and go after every shot," Moore said.

Dority was the lone Hornet in double figures with 13 points.

“That was the best team we faced all year," Foreman coach Terry Head said. “They are really good and well coached. They execute. They are aggressive, and they play with a chip on their shoulder.”

Hyde Park lost to Dunbar 79-68 in the Public League title game in 1956, and also lost to Von Steuben 27-24 in 1938. Hyde Park won city titles in 1929, a 17-11 victory over Lake View, and in 1916, a 24-20 win over Marshall.