This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Sports

Boys Basketball: H-F Survives Scare, Wins Eighth Straight Regional Crown

Homewood-Flossmoor 58, Plainfield Central 51. Vikings' Tyrone Sherman sinks 9-of-10 free throws in final quarter to help seal win.

The Hot Read: While Homewood-Flossmoor led almost the entire game, the Vikings’ eighth consecutive regional championship certainly didn’t come easy in a 58-51 boys basketball victory over Plainfield Central on Friday night. Plainfield Central, seeded No. 7 in the Class 4A Thornwood Sectional, stayed within striking distance throughout, trailing just 55-51 with 18.6 seconds left, but wasn’t able to pull off the upset against No. 3 H-F. The Vikings, who have now won 12 in a row, scored the final 12 points of the second quarter to take their biggest lead of the game (31-21) at halftime. The Wildcats got as close as 40-38 early in the fourth quarter and had the gymnasium buzzing with excitement from the home crowd, but never got closer thanks to impressive free-throw shooting by the Vikings.

Patch’s MVP: H-F junior Delvon Rencher turned in an inspired performance to lead the Vikings. The 6-foot-5 forward had 20 points and 11 rebounds in the victory.

Key Stats: Homewood-Flossmoor sank 14-of-17 free throws to end any thoughts of Plainfield Central pulling off the upset. H-F junior Tyrone Sherman sank 9-of-10 free throws in the fourth quarter to help seal the victory.

Find out what's happening in Homewood-Flossmoorwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

H-F Leaders:  Tyrone Sherman (21 points, 5 steals), Delvon Rencher (20 points, 11 rebounds), Julian Lewis (7 points, 6 rebounds), David Fatoki (4 points, 4 rebounds), Tim Williams (4 points, 3 rebounds, 3 blocks).

Plainfield Central Leaders: Justin Scanlan (10 points, 9 rebounds), Derrick Marks (10 points, 9 rebounds), Andre Norris (10 points, 5 rebounds), Shaun Sowell (7 points, 3 rebounds), Matt Hund (6 points, 4 rebounds), Curtis Harrington (5 points, 2 rebounds)

Find out what's happening in Homewood-Flossmoorwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Quotable I: H-F coach Jim McLaughlin: “We survived, we advance and it’s nice to get a regional trophy. We look forward to playing next week at Thornwood (against Crete-Monee). We have five losses this year because we weren’t able to finish the game, but this one, with the environment playing in Plainfield and their great fans, we were able to finish. We’re happy to come out of here alive.”

Quotable II: H-F junior Tyrone Sherman on the regional title: “It really means a lot to us because it’s the first regional with this group that will mostly be returning next year. It feels really good.”

Team Records: Homewood-Flossmoor (23-5); Plainfield Central finishes the season with a 19-9 mark.

What’s Next: H-F will take on No. 2 Crete-Monee at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday in the Class 4A Thornwood Sectional semifinal. The Vikings lost to Crete-Monee 67-62 Jan. 18.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?