Thornwood secures SWSC Red title share

TINLEY PARK | Johnte Shannon needed just one shot to turn frustration into elation Tuesday night.

Thornwood's senior guard had been a nonfactor through the first 31-plus minutes of the Times No. 5 Thunderbirds' SouthWest Suburban Red showdown with Andrew. Shannon had missed his only three field-goal attempts up to that point, and without any contributions from him, Thornwood found itself down by one with less than a half-minute remaining.

But when 5-foot-8 David Fuller managed to collect an offensive rebound and maintain possession for the T'birds, Shannon got one more chance. After receiving a pass from Fuller, Shannon buried a 3-pointer from the left corner with 11.5 seconds left to give Thornwood its fifth lead of the night.

A steal at the other end of the floor then nailed down a 57-55 victory for the T'birds that broke a tie atop the SWSC Red and gave them sole possession of first place. Thornwood (19-6, 12-1) can capture its first conference championship in 10 years outright by beating Thornton on Friday.

"All season long, we're playing teams that are better and we're right there all the time, but we come up empty," T'birds coach Paul Slavich said. "This is huge, and it's very special for me. I remember the glory days (of Thornwood basketball) — everything was routine back then."

Having Shannon be an integral part of the T'birds' offense has become pretty standard these days, but Slavich didn't want his player dwelling too much on his struggles.

"He's been great for us all year, (but) he was frustrated tonight," Slavich said. "He was down, but I told him, 'Stay confident. You're going to get your opportunity.'"

"Everybody keeps telling me to keep my head up when I have a bad game," Shannon said. He admitted he wasn't sure his final shot was on target "until I seen it go through the net. I knew that we needed to score."

Carrying most of Thornwood's load in that department was Loyola-bound guard Darell Combs, who finished with a team-best 24 points. Combs, whose baseline drive had put his team up 54-53 at the 1:05 mark, was noticeably moved by the outcome as he brushed aside a few tears of joy.

"I've never had an experience like this," he said. "I'm just so happy. We bond (as a team), and we click."

The T'birds needed every bit of Combs' production to counter that of Andrew junior forward Jubril Adekoya, who posted 26 points and 10 rebounds. The Thunderbolts (21-2, 11-2) tried to work an alley-oop play to Adekoya on their last possession but were unsuccessful.

"It was like a heavyweight fight," Andrew coach Mike O'Halloran said. "The kids played their hearts out, but we could not get a little bit of breathing room. They staggered, but nobody was falling."