Girls Basketball: Linnae Harper sparks Young romp

Updated: December 10, 2011 8:52PM

Young feels like it has something to prove every time it takes the court.

“This weekend we came to make a statement,” junior guard Linnae Harper said. “There are a lot of teams out there that don’t think we’re as good as last year. So every time we play a game, we try to do or best and accomplish as many things as we can.”

You can count St. John the Baptist from West Islip, N.Y., among the believers.

Harper had 16 points and 10 rebounds, Janee Thompson had 15 points and 6-foot-5 sophomore Khaalia Hillsman added 11 points and 10 rebounds as No. 1 Young crushed the Cougars 64-27 Saturday at the Chitown Showdown hosted by Young.

St. John the Baptist coach Ted Oberg, who grew up on the west side of Chicago and attended Farragut, gave his vote to Young.

“I talked to a coach in New York who has had lots of great teams,” Oberg said. “He saw Whitney Young in our tournament. He said that’s the best high school team he’s seen. They have size, speed, everything.

“I love the way their guards pull up off the dribble and knock down shots,” Oberg added. “You don’t see that in girls basketball much.”

Harper scored eight of her points in the third quarter driving the lane and pulling up for short jumpers. She also tied Hillsman for team honors with her 10 rebounds as the towering sophomore turned in her best performance of the young season.

“We’re trying to get our posts ready,” Harper said. “We’re going to play some good teams that have some good posts. We’re just getting them a feel for the paint, rebounding and outletting right, and different situations if we’re up or we’re down.”

Harper isn’t above mixing it up inside and pulling down a few errant shots, either.

“Sometimes I feel even though I’m short, I should still go in there trying to grab them for myself,” she said.

Brianna Thomas led St. John the Baptist with 10 points and Lauren Williams and Veronica Peck each had six.

Alexis Lloyd added 13 points for Young (7-0), which will face its biggest test to date next Saturday at Trinity with another opportunity to quiet the naysayers.

“We (the Young payers) are really close off the court and on the court,” Harper said. “We stick together. Even if we have bad times on the court, we just stick together and let everything go. Our main goal is to win state. We just play hard every time.”

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