<!-- wp:paragraph -->
<p>I was lucky to get into a packed Thornton High School gym on Friday night. The line was almost half a mile long. Which meant it would be a sold-out standing-room-only crowd. Both fan bases were intense and ready for an action-packed game. Thornton would eventually get the win 61-54 on its home floor but Brother Rice didn't go down easy. Here were the top performers from the game. </p>
<!-- /wp:paragraph -->
<!-- wp:paragraph -->
<p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1157230' first='Morez' last='Johnson'] Thornton 2024 – Illini Commit</strong></p>
<!-- /wp:paragraph -->
<!-- wp:paragraph -->
<p>The newly crowned Sun-Times Player of the Year had a slow start to the game as he only had 3 points at halftime. In the third he woke up and punished Brother Rice inside scoring through double teams and getting fouled in the process. In the 4th he began knocking in elbow extended jump shots with players draped in his face. On defense he commanded the boards as he always does while swatting away 4 blocks. He finished with 17 points, 8 rebounds, and 4 blocks. Now set to play fellow Big Ten commit [player_tooltip player_id='1157232' first='Lathan' last='Sommerville'] on Monday night. </p>
<!-- /wp:paragraph -->
<!-- wp:paragraph -->
<p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1545120' first='Marcos' last='Gonzales'] Brother Rice 2025</strong></p>
<!-- /wp:paragraph -->
<!-- wp:paragraph -->
<p>Gonzales was a thorn in the Wildcats side. He is so smooth and fluid on offense that he made scoring look easy at times. Marcos did a good job at changing pace on his drives to the rim throwing off Thornton's footwork while guarding him. He kept them off balance and made tough layups and runners in the lane. In addition he was strong on the boards for the Crusaders. Gonzales finished with 16 points and 6 boards in the loss. </p>
<!-- /wp:paragraph -->
<!-- wp:paragraph -->
<p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2083269' first='Chase' last='Abraham'] Thornton 2024</strong></p>
<!-- /wp:paragraph -->
<!-- wp:paragraph -->
<p>Chase started the game hot while his star teammate was being doubled and tripled most of the first half. He was able to connect on 3 threes and cleaned up a missed shot in the second quarter. At half he was the leading scorer. In the second Brother Rice adjusted on Abraham and he wouldn't see touches again until the 4th quarter when he was able to get a key steal and hit a big three to put his team on top for good. He had 17 points including 4 threes. </p>
<!-- /wp:paragraph -->
<!-- wp:paragraph -->
<p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1436161' first='Cale' last='Cosme'] Brother Rice 2024 - Lewis Commit</strong></p>
<!-- /wp:paragraph -->
<!-- wp:paragraph -->
<p>Cosme is another player who didn't catch his footing until the second half. Going on a scoring run in the third quarter. Cale beat guys off the dribble taking tight angles to score in the paint. As Thornton cut those drives off. Cale made some big corner threes to keep his team within single digits. Cosme's biggest play of the game was a missed three that he chased down, dribbled to the other side, and drained a three in the opposite corner. His late-game heroics were not enough as he finished with 14 points and 4 assists. </p>
<!-- /wp:paragraph -->
<!-- wp:paragraph -->
<p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1285479' first='Isaiah' last='Green'] Thornton 2024</strong></p>
<!-- /wp:paragraph -->
<!-- wp:paragraph -->
<p>The hard-nosed defender knew what he was getting into for this game. He did a good job at times guarding both Cosme and Gonzales on the perimeter. Offensively he had his moments attacking the rim and scoring off catch and shoot opportunities. His biggest impact was a series where he scored off the dribble, raced down got a steal, and then made an assist to Johnson for the bucket. He had a 9 points with 3 steals. </p>
<!-- /wp:paragraph -->
<!-- wp:paragraph -->
<p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1373444' first='Zavier' last='Fitch'] - Brother Rice 2024</strong></p>
<!-- /wp:paragraph -->
<!-- wp:paragraph -->
<p>Fitch had the toughest job of anybody and that was to cover [player_tooltip player_id='1157230' first='Morez' last='Johnson']. He did a good job keeping the whole Wildcats team off the glass. As they had several moments of great boxing out being displayed. Zavier surprised some fans because he went right at Johnson taking him off the dribble and making two lefty finishes. As the game went on he was able to get a much-needed tip in that kept Brother Rice down just two possessions. He finished with a double-double of 10 points and 10 boards. </p>
<!-- /wp:paragraph -->
<!-- wp:paragraph -->
<p><strong><u>Key Contributors</u></strong></p>
<!-- /wp:paragraph -->
<!-- wp:paragraph -->
<p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1158757' first='Meyoh' last='Swansey'] – Thornton</strong></p>
<!-- /wp:paragraph -->
<!-- wp:paragraph -->
<p>Hit two big threes to push the Wildcats' lead to 9. </p>
<!-- /wp:paragraph -->
<!-- wp:paragraph -->
<p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2877501' first='Malik' last='Horton'] - Thornton</strong></p>
<!-- /wp:paragraph -->
<!-- wp:paragraph -->
<p>Came off the bench and scored 8 points in the first quarter to help pace Thornton. </p>
<!-- /wp:paragraph -->
<!-- wp:paragraph -->
<p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1766504' first='Caden' last='Workman'] - Brother Rice</strong></p>
<!-- /wp:paragraph -->
<!-- wp:paragraph -->
<p>Key hitting some big shots in important moments of their run to cut the lead to single digits. </p>
<!-- /wp:paragraph -->
I was lucky to get into a packed Thornton High School gym on Friday night. The line was almost half a mile long. Which meant it would be a sold-out standing-room-only crowd. Both fan bases were intense and ready for an action-packed game. Thornton would eventually get the win 61-54 on its home floor but Brother Rice didn't go down easy. Here were the top performers from the game.
Continue reading this article and more.
Continue Reading
Already a subscriber?
Log in