Boys Basketball: Hornets ‘earn respect’ in win

Updated: May 9, 2012 10:08AM

GARY — We have a long way to go before we hit the high school basketball playoff draw, let alone the tournament itself. But Wallace picked up what their coach considered a signature win Tuesday with its 73-72 overtime classic over West Side in the Gary Holiday Tournament semifinal.

“I saw a different mindset out there. It seems our kids have their priorities together,” said Hornets’ coach Melvin Yancey. “I saw a lot of good things out there.”

One of those things had to be coming back from a double-digit deficit in the second quarter before the Cougars took a 46-42 lead at the half.

The second half was back and forth until the final seconds of regulation with the Hornets holding a 60-59 lead. West Side’s Denzel Casson’s free throw with 1.6 seconds left tied it.

The game theme didn’t change in the extra four minute session: Atkins 3-point play made it 65-64 West Side (3-4) with 2:45 left, but May countered with a trey to give the Hornets a two-point lead on the next possession.

The Cougars wound up being the first one to blink after Jere Glover’s drive to the hoop bucket made it 70-69 with a minute left. But two free throws by Charles Cooper with 55 seconds left gave the Hornets a lead they would never relinquish.

“I’ve been waiting for this game for a long time,” Williams said, referring to last year’s 65-64 loss to West Side.

“It was a last second shot that beat us so we wanted to come out and win this one.”

Williams’ play off the bench was key for the Hornets (3-3) with 18 points while May added a team-high 22 points.

‘We went out and earned our respect,” May said.

“At the beginning of the season we weren’t even ranked in the area top 10 and we had to take back what was not given to us. I feel we earned a lot of respect.”

Respect for Wallace? Definitely worth considering. Offering the same for West Side? Not so much if you ask their coach Winston Garland.

“We made it tough for ourselves — 60-40 (loose) balls they got, 50-50 balls they got ... that was the ball game,” said Garland, who added this was the most frustrated he has been after a game. “It’s like someone coming into my house and slapping my kids around. No pride, absolutely none. Basketball is a contact sport, no softies. We were just terrible.”

Rashaad Arnstrong had 22 points for the Cougars.

© 2012 Sun-Times Media, LLC. All rights reserved. This material may not be copied or distributed without permission. For more information about reprints and permissions, visit www.suntimesreprints.com. To order a reprint of this article, click here.