Free-throw woes don't cost Hawks

Updated: March 23, 2011 9:42AM

Hillcrest coach Don Houston realizes if his team doesn't improve its free-throw shooting soon, it may cost the Hawks.

Up until now, it hasn't.

Case in point, Friday night's South Suburban Blue game against T.F. North.

Hillcrest missed 20 free throws, finishing just 22-of-42 from the stripe, but still managed to record the "W" by a 52-40 count in Calumet City.

The victory kept the No. 10 Hawks (14-4, 8-0) in position to record their 24th consecutive conference championship.

"Wow," said Houston, after hearing his team's performance from the line. "We make them in practice, but in the games we're not making them. It's kind of been hit-or-miss with them."

In fairness to the Hawks, the Meteors weren't exactly lighting it up from the free-throw line, finishing 12-of-21. But Hillcrest's poor free-throw shooting allowed T.F. North (10-4, 7-1) to stay within striking distance most of the evening.

The Hawks' largest lead was 14 points. That came after Julius Brown (19 points), Jemel Kent (11) and Jayon'e Troutman converted consecutive baskets for a 29-15 spread with 3:21 remaining in the third. At that point, North had recorded one field goal since the end of the first quarter.

The Meteors did cut the lead to six prior to the end of the third.

But when North starters Montero Rice, DeAndre Lowery and reserve Romero Gordon (nine points) all fouled out by the midway point of the fourth, the Meteors had no chance at mounting a serious comeback.

Sylvester Tolliver scored a team-high 11 points for North, which was whistled for 32 fouls on the night. Hillcrest was called for 18.

"What a horrible game to watch," Meteors coach Tim Bankston said. "The referees decided how the game was going to be played and because of it, we never got into a flow. Nobody came to see them, they came to see the kids. I hate that people had to pay to see this. They deserve a refund."

Neither team registered a three-point basket as each was 0-of-3.

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