Young crashes title celebration

Updated: March 23, 2011 9:30AM

Whitney Young was running a fast break during the first quarter of its nonconference game with Bowman Academy when 6-9 Thomas Hamilton tried to finish off an alley-oop dunk. It was impressive except for one problem. Hamilton missed the dunk.

Young got another breakout opportunity seconds later, and this time, 6-7 Sam Thompson caught the alley-oop pass with two hands and in one motion, slammed it home.

"That's what they came to see!" said a fan sitting a few rows behind the Young bench.

That, of course is not neccesarily so.

While fans in the 312 area code might have gotten a kick out of it, those who reside around these parts, while impressed with the dunk, were more interested in the halftime festivities during which Bowman received its championship rings after winning the 1A title last season.

It was the top highlight of the night for the Eagles as they lost 68-64, their second straight loss after winning four straight games.

"I feel great. All that hard work payed off," said graduated guard Tyrae Robinson who is now playing college ball at Ball State. "It was good to see my teammates again. I'm really proud of what we did and now it feels as if our mission is accomplished."

The team Robinson left behind is having problems accomplishing the mission of a repeat, which is something coach Marvin Rea saw coming before the first shot was taken this season.

With the Eagles' (6-10) tough schedule and the number of players lost to graduation, Rea said he knew it would be tough matching last season's 24-1 record.

The Whitney Young flying circus went out of its way to put the game away early, jumping out to a quick 8-2 lead,

thanks to nine second-quarter points by Carlos McCormick and eight more by DeJuan Marrero, the game was tied at 38-38 heading into the ring ceremony. But the Eagles ran out of gas. This time Bowman only trailed by four after three before Young held on for the win.

It's the second time Young, one of the top teams in Illinois has come to Gary and conquered. In the Lakeshore Classic, they upended Wallace 53-38.

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