Boys Basketball: Bloom blows by Thornton

Updated: February 18, 2012 8:54PM

Bloom and Thornton have been playing against each since before electricity and cars were commonly available. One of the oldest continuing rivalry in the state of Illinois registered another one for the record books.

This time, it was a one-sided affair as No. 7 Bloom controlled the game from the outset and easily handled the Wildcats with a 58-47 win in Harvey.

“(Assistant) coach (Pete) McGuire told us how big and important this rivalry is,” Bloom guard Lejavius Johnson said. “We just wanted to come out and put our foots on their throat right away.”

The Blazing Trojans (23-3) established itself immediately. Scoring on its first four possessions and forcing three turnovers in that same time frame produced an 8-1 lead that eventually grew to double digits and stayed there.

It was the usual suspects doing the damage for Bloom. Donald Moore started the scoring with a three that never touched the rim. From there, Johnson and Henry Hicks joined the scoring parade while Johnny Griffin dominated the boards.

Johnson scored 16. Moore rung up 14. Hicks scored all five of his points in the first quarter and Griffin pulled down 12 rebounds.

At halftime, Thornton honored Sam Cameli who coached the Wildcats from 1982-1994 while accumulating a 248-89 record that included two trips to the state tournament.

Cameli was a graduate of Bloom in 1952 and received a plaque honoring his time as the coach and a proclamation from the city of Harvey.

“It was a great honor to be recognized like this,” Cameli said. “I’ve always said there are no great coaches but only good coaches with great ballplayers. Thornton has a tremendous feeder system for anyone who coaches here.”

Joshua Russell chalked up 11 points for the Wildcats.

Bloom coach Jasper Williams has witnessed many of these rivalry games both at Bloom and as an assistant coach at Thornridge when all three teams were SICA East rivals.

“I think the SICA East was the best conference in the state when Sam was coaching here,” Williams said. “Thornton is down a little this year but they always play hard. This will always be a great rivalry game.”

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