Morgan Park Academy steps closer

Morgan Park Academy's Yazin Akkawi (left) tries to roll in a shot against Illinois Lutheran's David McNeil.
(Brett Roseman/SouthtownStar)

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Yazin Akkawi and his Morgan Park Academy teammates have had a simple, clear-cut mission this season: Make a little history by winning their school its first-ever regional championship in boys basketball.

The Warriors, who fell to Immaculate Conception 70-44 in a regional final a year ago, will get another shot to fulfill their dream after delivering a 71-44 knockout blow to Illinois Lutheran on Wednesday in a Class 1A Luther South Regional semifinal.

Morgan Park Academy (13-16) will meet either Luther South or Bridgeview Universal in the title game at 7:30 p.m. Friday.

Illinois Lutheran closed at 8-14.

"We've been talking all year long about making some history this year," Morgan Park Academy coach Erin Johnson said. "Our boys have never won a regional championship, so to get to this point two years in a row is great."

Akkawi, a four-year varsity player, made sure the Warriors were in a position to succeed Wednesday. The 6-foot-2 guard dropped in a game-high 26-points on 9-of-12 shooting from the floor. He also went 6-of-8 from the free-throw line.

"All year we've been thinking about that Immaculate Conception game and what it's going to take to get back to the regional championship," Akkawi said. "They (Immaculate Conception) really kind of whooped us last year, so that has been a huge motivator for us.

"I've played on the varsity all four years here and a lot of it has really been a struggle, but the last two years have been pretty good for us. I know myself and all our seniors want to leave something behind for other teams to build off.

"We really just want to set an example and take this season as far as we possibly can."

Akkawi wasn't the only Warrior to come up big. Point guard Damon Williams dropped in 19 points on a 6-of-11 showing from the field. Tony Core (10 points) and Brian Skarlat (7) also contributed strong offensive efforts.

"Offensively, we had a lot of guys do their jobs tonight, and that's good to see," Johnson said.

Akkawi made his presence felt early, erupting for a 10-point opening quarter as Morgan Park Academy raced to a 22-5 advantage after one. The Warriors opened the contest on a 17-0 spurt.

Thanks to second-quarter runs of eight and seven points, Morgan Park Academy led 42-15 at halftime.

"Tonight we came out and played them man-to-man," Johnson said. "We put pressure on the ball early, and it led to a big lead for us tonight."

A 14-3 run, highlighted by six points from Williams, gave the Warriors a commanding 56-22 advantage after three quarters.

Illinois Lutheran outscored Morgan Park Academy 10-4--over the final four minutes, but it wasn't enough.

Illinois Lutheran was led on offense by Ben Wallace's 12 points. Jason Kotecki (10 points) also scored in double figures. Jon Boersema (5), Kevin Crittender (4) and Trevor Woldhuis (4) also made contributions.