History made in Rich East's win over Harlan

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Rich East captured its first regional championship in 44 years when it defeated Harlan 74-42 in Friday’s Class 3A Rich East Regional in Park Forest.

The Rockets (21-6) used a 17-0 run during the first and second quarters to help them jump out to a 29-5 advantage over the Falcons (17-9).

Stephen O’Neal scored 24 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to lead Rich East, whose last regional title came in 1965.

‘‘My parents weren’t even alive in 1965,’’ O’Neal said. ‘‘I’m glad we got to do this in my graduating year of 2009. We were hoping that this wouldn’t be our last game, so we wanted to come out with a bang.’’

Shea Sumpter also added 14 points and eight rebounds for the Rockets, who built up a 38-15 halftime advantage.

Rich East, which advances to Wednesday’s Richards Sectional, also received eight points apiece from Kashaune McKinney and Will Collins.

The Falcons were paced by Eric Mitchell with 19 points and Dondricas Kellum with nine points and seven rebounds. Toure Atwater added seven.