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Boys Basketball: Free throws key as Homewood-Flossmoor tops Sandburg
Updated: January 13, 2012 9:51PM
Homewood-Flossmoor has had some problems from the free-throw line, primarily during close ballgames.
That wasn’t the case Friday night against a relentless Sandburg squad.
H-F converted 18-of-22 free throws, including 8-of-10 during a pivotal fourth quarter, and held on to dump Sandburg 45-36 in a SouthWest Suburban Blue contest in Orland Park.
“We were good from the free-throw line tonight,” H-F coach Jim McLaughlin said. “We lost four games because we couldn’t make our free throws.”
Brian Dace (13 points) nailed a three-pointer to bring Sandburg (7-7, 3-2) to within 33-31 with 2:18 left in the fourth quarter. But the No. 8 Vikings (11-4, 5-0) converted 8-of-10 free throws down the stretch to secure the victory. Rashaan Surles connected on 5-of-6 from the stripe and Delvon Rencher 3-of-4 in the fourth.
During a triple-overtime loss to Bloom in November, Surles had a chance to win the game from the line game in the first overtime, but missed both charity attempts with eight seconds remaining in a tie game.
“It’s a concentration thing,” said Surles, who scored all nine of his points Friday in the second half. “I wasn’t thinking about missing them tonight. I was just relaxing, taking deep breathes and concentrating.”
Tim Williams had a big first half, scoring 13 of his game-high 15 points in the opening 16 minutes. Williams, a 6-foot-7 senior, was playing with a heavy heart. He attended his Aunt Ella Mae Robinson’s funeral Thursday in Michigan.
“She was on my mind a little bit,” Williams said. “I wanted to have a good game for her.”
Sandburg’s Nick Lehnerer scored a career-high 27 points Jan. 6. H-F held the Eagles’ sharpshooter to three points on a lone trey in the fourth.
Joe Kuligoski and Malek Harris scored seven points each for the Eagles, who shot 10-of-37 from the field and 13-of-15 from the line.
Tyrone Sherman added eight points and Delvon Rencher five for H-F, which was 13-of-30 from the field.
“With the group we have, we came in expecting to win,” Sandburg coach Todd Allen said. “Defensively, we did a good job. We just didn’t make enough shots.”
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