The intention was sound – schedule a nonconference game with a Public League opponent as a tuneup for state tournament play and a heavy dose of Public League competition in the early rounds.
The result was borderline disastrous. Not only did the Leo Lions take a 61-43 whipping from Hyde Park in their regular-season finale at Leo on Friday night, they lost senior guard Dontae Bell to an ankle injury in the final two minutes of a game that was competitive and entertaining for three quarters, and then turned ugly.
“That was not up to the standard we have set,” Coach Jamille Ridley fumed. “If we play that way next week our season is over.”
Next week being the IHSA Class 2-A Regional at Harlan, for which the Lions earned the top seed by going 20-10 against as tough a schedule as any 2-A team in the state has played.
But Hyde Park was not impressed. The Thunderbirds (16-15) were superior in every phase of the game, limiting the Lions to 31 percent shooting, including 11 straight feeble misfires in the final period when Hyde Park stretched a five-point lead after three into the final 18-point margin.
“What’s bad about this loss is the way we lost it,” Ridley said. “Forced shots, not using screens, not helping on defense … all the things we weren’t doing when we weren’t playing well.”
With Stephen Barze ill, Jamarion Upshaw in foul trouble and Nate Stephens not close to game shape after Achilles surgery over the summer, Leo had no semblance of an inside game and was forced to fire away from outside. Hyde Park’s defenders were quick enough to close out on what looked like open looks, which helps explain Leo’s dismal shooting – 15-for-48 for the game.
That said, Ridley could have picked an easier opponent for a tuneup game. Hyde Park came in 15-15 overall, with a 5-8 conference record that was achieved in the Public League’s Red South. If high school basketball were European soccer, CPS’ Red South would be the Premier League, featuring the likes of Kenwood, Simeon, Whitney Young, Lincoln Park and Curie. All of them were ranked in the Sun-Times top 25 at various times, with Kenwood holding down the No. 1 spot all season.
Hyde Park was patient, organized, tenacious and flat-out better on this night, not a bit fazed by playing on the road. Kye Ward-Owens drained three three-pointers while accumulating 17 points, and Lavontae Walls controlled the game flawlessly in finishing with 11 points and eight assists. C.J. Thomas had 10 for the winners.
Ethan Jackson scored 12 for the Lions and Bell and Brian Kizer added 11 apiece, but they felt like empty calories as the Thunderbirds simply made up their minds to dominate and did so.
Bell’s father said Dontae would ice the ankle overnight and go for x-rays in the morning if the swelling did not subside. The Lions are off until Wednesday, when they’ll face the winner of Monday night’s first-round regional matchup between U-High (5-14) and Hansberry (8-15) at Harlan.
“This was a wakeup call,” Ridley said. “We’d better learn from it.”
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