Thornton upsets Bloom in OT thriller

All Reggie Smith was looking for was a slight hole. That's all he needed. Nothing more.

With the game tied and the final seconds of overtime ticking down, Smith found it. Using his lightning quickness, he drove up the middle, zoomed past Bloom's defenders and elevated for a hanging layup with 10 seconds remaining to lift the No. 22 Wildcats to a 60-58 win over the visiting No. 8 Blazing Trojans (17-6) in Harvey.

"He's so quick and explosive," said Thornton coach Troy Jackson, whose team improved to 17-5. "We know Reggie can get to the basket."

Reggie knows it, too.

"My team was depending on me to win the game," said Smith, who scored 12 of his 14 points in the second half. "I just saw an opening and took it. I knew it was going to be good; I rarely miss layups."

Trevell Rivers can't get to the rim like his teammate Smith, but he knows just as well how to finish around it.

Rivers, a 6-foot-3 junior with a 40-plus inch vertical, set up Smith's heroics with two huge putbacks earlier in overtime. On back-to-back possessions, Rivers out-jumped everyone around the rim and finished for Thornton. The first time he put down a two-handed dunk; the second he tipped the ball in with two hands.

"They didn't box out," Rivers said. "If they don't box out, I go up and get it."

He had four points and three rebounds in overtime and finished with 16 points and a game-high 11 rebounds for the game.

As Rivers walked to the locker room afterward, Jackson stopped him and gave him a kiss on the cheek for his performance.

It was that type of emotional game for Jackson. While he wasn't the Jackson who was hugging everyone and running into the United Center stands like he did when he won a super-sectional a few year back, he was close to that.

Every big call, stop and basket, Jackson reacted. When he disagreed with one call late in the game, he sprinted down the sideline past the bench and away from the action as he yelled in disbelief.

For Jackson and the Wildcats, they believed there was a lot riding on the game.

"Thornton-Bloom, Thornton-H-F, Thornton-Thornridge, those are emotional, high-intense games," Jackson said. "But this one was even more. This was for seedings. After winning this, with our record and our schedule, I don't see how we aren't a No. 2 seed."

Jackson predicted Homewood-Flossmoor would be the No. 1 seed followed by Thornton then either Bloom or Lockport in the Bloom sectional.

The Blazing Trojans did have their opportunities to win Monday's game. They led throughout the fourth quarter and were ahead 52-51 with 1:11 remaining. The Wildcats tied the game at 52-52 and Bloom turned the ball over on the following possession. After a Thornton miss, Bloom regained possession with 1.8 seconds left, but turned it over again.

All together, Bloom finished with 23 turnovers.

Freshman Jay Parker contributed 14 points for Thornton.

Bloom point guard Jamal Daniels scored all 13 points in his points in the fourth quarter and overtime. Jawan Nelson had a team-high 18 points. Brian Conway added 15 points and nine rebounds.