By David Gross ’22
The Leo Lions are steaming hot in the IHSA state tournament, extending their streak of blowouts to three with a 68-38 demolition of Morgan Park in a semifinal of the Class 3-A Hillcrest Sectional Tuesday night in Country Club Hills.
They’ll face host Hillcrest for the sectional title and a berth in the UIC Supersectional Friday at 6 p.m. Behind Jamir Ratliff’s 33 points, the Hawks (22-8) took care of Thornton 62-49 in Tuesday’s other semifinal.
Leo (26-6) is the sectional’s top seed and Hillcrest is No. 2, but the Hawks will enjoy homecourt advantage. Tuesday’s games drew a raucous, near-capacity crowd to the Hillcrest gym.
Once again a rocket-like liftoff made the difference for the Lions. Combining suffocating defense with opportunistic offense, they jumped out to a 15-0 lead and took the Mustangs out of their game – Morgan Park managed just two points in the first quarter in falling behind 17-2.
Daniel Wallace’s two buckets got the Mustangs within 10 early in the second period, but back-to-back three-pointers by Jeremiah Echols and a Brian Kizer layup fueled an 8-0 burst as the Lions regained control. The lead grew to 20 before the half, but there was concern on the Leo bench after freshman big man Elon Henderson suffered a hyperextended knee and did not return to the floor.
Junior Nate Stephens more than made up for Henderson’s absence, dominating the play inside with a game-high 16 rebounds, along with two blocks and two steals as Leo stretched its lead to 30 points. There are no running clocks in state-tournament competition, but the entire fourth quarter would have been played with one had this been a regular season game.
Morgan Park (19-8) is not that far removed from Public League elite status – alum Ayo Dosunmu is an NBA guard and well-traveled former teammate Adam Miller is a rotation player at nationally ranked Gonzaga. But the Mustangs were never in it against a Leo team that’s clearly playing its best basketball of the season.
Echols, recovered from the ankle injury he sustained in the Lions’ regional title-game win over Southland, finished with a game-high 23 points.
“I just wanted to be a great overall player and prove that it was my time, and the scoring just happened to come along with it,” Echols said.
Kizer added 18 points, while fellow junior guard Karon Shavers was the catalyst in a defensive effort that held the Mustangs to a season-low point total. Guards Wallace and Jacque Lewis put up 26 of Morgan Park’s 38 points.
A supersectional appearance at UIC on Monday would be Leo’s first since 2022, when the Lions lost to eventual 2-A state champion DePaul Prep in Joliet. But Hillcrest will be a handful – the Hawks shared the tough South Suburban Conference title with Oak Forest and have won nine of their last 10 games. But for these Leo Lions, anything seems possible.