Boys Basketball: Josh Cunningham fuels Morgan Park to upset of North Chicago

Updated: February 19, 2012 6:00PM

Sophomore guard Josh Cunningham scored 22 of his game-high 23 points in the middle two quarters to spark Morgan Park past No. 8 North Chicago 76-71 on Sunday in Game 1 of the Conference Challenge Classic at Gordon Tech.

The Mustangs (14-8) trailed by six in the second quarter before Cunningham took over.

The game was close throughout the second half, with Morgan Park taking the lead for good at 69-67 with four minutes to play on a bucket by Lamont Walker (10 points).

The lead was still two — 73-71 — with 30 seconds left after North Chicago sophomore Kurt Hall hit the second of two free throws.

Walker then missed two free throws, but North Chicago’s Aaron Simpson (19 points on 5-for-18 shooting) lost the ball in the paint in the closing seconds.

Walker scooped up the ball, went coast-to-coast and wound up a three-point play.

Morgan Park coach Nick Irvin was happy with the way his team bounced back from a loss to Curie in the Public League Playoffs .

“The way we played against Curie was inexcusable,” Irvin said. “Coming into this game, we talked about playing a complete game. We havn’t put two halves together all year.

“I think we showed some improvement with that today.”

For the game, Morgan Park was 28-of-68 from the field, though 14-of-30 from the foul line.

North Chicago (19-4) was 24-of-60 from the field. Javairius Amos-Mays had 17 points, but fouled out with 3:14 to play.

“We had a bad week of practice and it showed today,” North Chicago coach Gerald Coleman said. “I had to question the commitment and work ethic of some of our players.

“I told them good teams don’t have these problems at this time of year. This is not the right time to come out and play with a lack of focus and intensity.”

Kevonte Curry had 14 points and 12 rebounds, and Marzhon Bryant had nine points and nine boards for the Warhawks.

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