The Hot Read: Vikings won this game early, using a 13-1 run to start the game and taking a commanding 31-15 lead at the half against the injury-riddled Tigers. Speedy H-F guard Tyrone Sherman hit a 3-pointer to start things off and he tallied eight points while his team built a 20-7 lead after one quarter. At the half, Sherman had as many field goals (5) as did Joliet West, which was playing without injured leading scorer Remy Roberts-Burnett. The Tigers did win the third quarter 11-6 to stay somewhat close before the Vikings pulled away late and limited Joliet West to just four points in the fourth quarter of a 52-30 victory.

Patch’s MVP: Homewood-Flossmoor’s Tyrone Sherman (game-high 16 points, 3 steals, 2 assists). Sherman's 3-pointer one minute into the game put H-F ahead 3-1 and his solid play on both ends of the floor saw to it that Joliet West led again.

Key stats: The game was won in the first half as the Vikings shot 13-for-24 from the floor compared to just 5-for-18 for the Tigers. Joliet West’s 6-foot-8 center Marlon Johnson led all rebounders with eight, yet the Vikings still won the rebounding battle 30-25.  H-F’s quick start was fueled by defense as the Tigers turned the ball over six times in the opening quarter.

H-F Leaders: Tyrone Sherman (16 points, 3 steals, 2 assists). Julian Lewis (14 points, 4 rebounds). Delvon Rencher (8 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists). Antonio Bishop (2 points, 7 rebounds, 3 blocks).

Joliet West Leaders: Brandon Tyson (10 points, 7 rebounds, 1 steal). Marlon Johnson (9 points, 8 rebounds, 1 assist). Brandon McCullom (6 points, 2 rebounds, 1 steal).

Quotable I: Vikings’ senior Julian Lewis on a couple of things that had his team motivated to get off to a quick start on Friday: “We played them at home last time and they came out harder than us. Coach told us we had to come out strong. And they (Joliet Township at the time) beat us last year in the sectional final so we wanted to get revenge.”

Quotable II: Tigers coach Luke Yaklich on his team’s tough start: “Any time you give a team like H-F a 10-, 12-point lead you’ve got to basically play perfect basketball the rest of the way. The second and third quarters I was happy with our effort and our execution. But the first and fourth quarters we gave up 35 points. You have to play 32 minutes of consistent basketball. We’re learning how to do that.”

Team records: Homewood-Flossmoor, 14-5 and 8-0 in the Southwest Suburban Blue. Joliet West 6-11 and 2-6.

What’s next: H-F plays at Lockport Tuesday night in a game that will most likely determine the Southwest Suburban Blue champion. Joliet West, meanwhile, is home again Saturday night against Lockport, a team whose only league loss so far came earlier this year at H-F.