Thornton applies soph touch to defeat Stagg

HARVEY | Senior Night comes later. Tuesday was Sophomore Night at Thornton.

Both the Wildcats and visiting Stagg boasted a notable 10th-grader, and Justin Taylor and Max Strus each wound up as his respective team's top scorer. It was Taylor, though, who had the final say.

His rebound of a Chargers miss and drive down the court led to a dunk that gave Thornton a 54-49 lead late in overtime. The Wildcats had to survive one more Stagg 3-pointer, but finally emerged with a 55-52 SouthWest Suburban Red victory.

"We needed that win," Thornton coach Troy Jackson said. "It would have been disastrous to lose that game."

The Wildcats (9-11, 7-3) seemingly had the situation under control in regulation after going up by five with just over a minute to play. However, Strus nailed the last of his seven 3-pointers and then Sean Dwyer forced the extra period by burying a 27-footer off an inbounds pass.

"I didn't want to foul him," Taylor said of Dwyer. "I just wanted to put my arms up."

That was one of the few successes the Stagg junior had while Taylor guarded him. Dwyer hit only 4-of-19 shots overall.

Taylor went 11-of-19 from the floor himself while totaling a game-high 25 points. Eight of his baskets came after halftime.

"This was the best game I've had this season," said Taylor, who also pulled down nine rebounds.

Taylor has been building up to a breakout performance, Jackson said.

"He and Brian Nicholson have been splitting time, but Justin's been separating himself the last seven or eight games," Jackson said. "We wouldn't have won the game without him."

And Stagg (12-9, 5-5) wouldn't have been in the game without Strus, who missed just one 3-point attempt en route to tallying a team-best 21 points. His four 3s highlighted an 18-2 run the Chargers used to construct a 20-11 edge in the second quarter.

Taylor called Strus' long-range exhibition "crazy," but Stagg needed every bit of it to stay close. The Chargers were unable to do anything inside, thanks to 6-foot-9 Thornton center Marvin Jones, who blocked seven shots and altered a few others.

"We were 1-for-15 inside the arc," Stagg coach John Daniels said. "We missed some bunnies, too. It's very frustrating as a coach (because) it was right there for us."

Jackson hoped the Wildcats' second victory over the Chargers would jump-start his club for the remainder of the regular season and playoffs.

"We'll try to keep going up," said Jackson, whose team recently handed Andrew its first setback. "We go up and we come down. We need to get on a high and stay there."