Brown big for Hillcrest during late stretch

Updated: March 22, 2011 4:56PM

Julius Brown came up big when Hillcrest needed him most.

Brown scored nine of his game-high 25 points in the final 3:10, including the go-ahead three-pointer, as the No. 9 Hawks rallied past No. 8 Homewood-Flossmoor 63-55 Friday evening in the championship game of the Aurelio's Pizza Chicago Heights Classic at Bloom.

It was the second straight tournament title for Hillcrest (4-0) which also beat H-F 75-65 in the championship game last season.

"We knew we were down," Brown said. "We had to go for one more push to get the victory."

The Hawks certainly did that. Trailing 52-47 Brown came up with a steal and layup with 3:10 to play. Senior forward Kadeem Thornton followed with a three-pointer from the left win to tie the game at 52. Brown then came up with another steal and layup to give Hillcrest its first lead of the the fourth quarter with 2:18 remaining.

H-F (3-1) tied the game at 54-54 on a pair of free throws by junior forward Antonio Bishop with 2:03 left. But the Hawks worked the ball around on their next possession and Brown buried a three-pointer from the right wing with 1:15 to play to give them the lead for good at 57-54.

It was the only three-pointer for the senior guard in the game.

"We were tied and I just had confidence in my shot," Brown said. "I knew I could make it.

"This win makes us a lot tougher. We can be ready for the obstacles this season and be a tough team now."

Thornton, who had eight of his 16 points in the fourth quarter and added seven rebounds in the game, hit a pair of free throws with 49 seconds left for 59-54 advantage.

"That's what Juice does, knocks down big shots," said Thornton of Brown. "This feels great. They (H-F) were ahead of us in the rankings and that was a lot of motivation.

"We're good, but we know we can get better."

Brown, who scored 40 points in a 75-51 victory over Thornwood on Monday, added a layup with 24 seconds left to give Hillcrest a 61-55 lead. Junior guard Ryan Royall came off the bench to add nine points before fouling out with 3:53 to play, and senior guard Terez Haskins scored eight points for the defending Class 3A champion Hawks - who won their 15th game in a row dating back to last season.

H-F didn't help its cause by committing six of its seven fourth quarter turnovers in the final 3:10. Junior guard Tyrone Sherman and junior forward Delvon Rencher (eight rebounds) each scored 15 points for the Vikings, who had 18 turnovers in the game compared to eight for Hillcrest.

Rencher hit a pair of free throws to give H-F the 52-47 lead with 3:53 to play. H-F senior guard Julian Lewis added 10 points and 10 rebounds, but didn't score in the fourth quarter. The Vikings, who are without 6-foot-7 junior Tim Williams till at least February with a fractured ankle, were 12-of-19 from the free throw line in the second half.

H-F never trailed in the first half, leading by as many as seven in the opening minute of the second quarter and 23-21 at halftime. The third quarter featured five ties and four lead changes. Lewis made a pair of free throws with five seconds left in the third quarter to give the Vikings a 40-38 lead after three.

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