Boys Basketball: H-F Survives Lincoln-Way East's Comeback Bid

The Hot Read: The Vikings had an electric start and went on a 7-0 run to end the first quarter. But the Griffins started the second quarter with a 7-1 run to answer right back. A highlight-reel dunk by Julian Lewis to end the first half put H-F up 25-22. The Vikings built on that momentum in the third and fourth quarters to build a 10-point lead. The Griffins chipped away, but it was too little too late.

Patch’s MVP: Lincoln-Way East's Jelani Yancy posted 16 points to lead all scorers and had five steals and six rebounds.

Key Stats: The Vikings shot 18-of-24 from the free-throw line compared to Lincoln-Way East's 5-of-12. H-F pulled down nine offensive rebounds. The Vikings hauled down 18 defensive rebounds.

H-F’s Leaders: Julian Lewis (12 points, 4 rebounds), Delvon Rencher (12 points, 5 rebounds) and Tyrone Sherman (11 points).

L-W East’s Leaders: Jelani Yancy (16 points, 6 rebounds, 5 steals), Jaelan Jones (12 points, 4 rebounds, 3 steals) and Zoran Aresenovic (6 points).

Quotable: L-W East coach Rich Kolimas on his team's free-throw shooting and comeback bid: "Our free-throw shooting came back to bite us. We need to improve there. In the third quarter, we couldn't shoot the ball well. We showed a lot of character and played tough. We made it an interesting game in the end."

H-F coach Jim McLaughlin on the improvements his team needs to make for the playoffs: "Hopefully they learned a lesson about how to be a good team with the ball and the lead. We have to learn these lessons to get though the playoffs."

Team records: Homewood-Flossmoor improved to 16-5 overall and 10-0 in the South Suburban Blue. Lincoln-Way East fell to 13-9 and 6-5 in the SSB.

What’s Next: H-F hits the road for a non-conference test against Rockford Boylan on Saturday. The Griffins will host Providence on Tuesday to kick off a four-game home stretch.