TUESDAY'S ILLINOIS PREP ROUNDUP: Crete's Standifer to visit Pitt, Vanderbilt

Crete-Monee football player Anthony Standifer told The Times he will not sign with Notre Dame or any college today.

Standifer said Notre Dame was his choice, but he did not meet the foreign language requirement. He took one year of Spanish, and Notre Dame requires two years for an incoming freshman.

He was supposed to take an online course, but he said, "Things just didn't work out."

He said he did not wish to go into detail.

"This week is the 'dead week' where I can't visit anywhere," Standifer said, "but I plan to visit Pitt (Pittsburgh) and Vanderbilt in the next few weeks."

Standifer said Boise State is also on his list, and he already has visited there.

He is one of the top 40 defensive backs in the country, according to various scouting services. Standifer originally committed to Michigan but decommitted in December. — Mike Nieto

Boys Basketball

Thornton 47, Andrew 45: The Wildcats (8-10, 6-2) outscored the Thunderbolts 12-8 in the fourth quarter to pull off an upset in the SouthWest Suburban Red and hand Andrew (16-1, 7-1) its first loss of the season.

Ed Buie led Thornton with 18 points, five rebounds and two steals

Joshua Russell and Marcus Ford had 11 points each.

Andrew led 33-20 at halftime, but the Wildcats narrowed the gap to 37-35 after three quarters. They outscored the Thunderbolts 27-12 in the second half.

Illiana Christian 67, Fenton 60: Austin VanderSluis had a double-double and Jon Zandstra had 27 points to lead the Vikings (10-10, 2-6) past the Bison in the Metro Suburban Conference.

VanderSluis had 11 points and 11 rebounds. Brandon Martin had 11 points and 11 rebounds.

St. Rita 57, Mount Carmel 43: Before his team's home boys basketball game against St. Rita, Mount Carmel coach Mike Flaherty was honored for reaching his 700th victory the Friday before against St. Laurence.

But the Caravan came up short in getting him his 701st as St. Rita jumped out to a 30-15 halftime lead before winning 57-43.

Alex Austin scored 15 points and Billy Patterson added 11 for Mount Carmel (6-12).

Bloom Township 77, Kankakee 27: Henry Hicks had 17 points to lead the No. 1 Blazing Trojans (18-3, 5-1) to a Southland Athletic Conference win over the Kays.

Bloom Township took a commanding 40-10 lead at the half.

Illinois Lutheran 44, Peotone 37 (OT): Collin Burns' 17 points led the Chargers (11-6) to their sixth win in the last seven games.

Mack Newson added 11 points.

Homewood-Flossmoor 52, Joliet West 48: The Times No. 4 Vikings (15-5, 8-0) held on for the SouthWest Suburban Blue win.

Tim Williams' 15 points led H-F.

Girls Basketball

T.F. South 60, Bremen 31: The Times No. 5 Rebels (14-6, 10-0) rolled to a South Suburban Blue win over the Braves.

It sets up a showdown for first place Thursday with T.F. North. Both are 10-0 in conference play.

Ninah Bertrand had 12 points, eight rebounds and three steals. Kaitlin Togtman led South with 14 points. Ashley Bryant also had 12 points.

Bolingbrook 60, Homewood-Flossmoor 35: The Raiders showed why they're the top-ranked team in Class 4A with a convincing win over the Times No. 1 Vikings.

Charnelle Reed had 11 points for Homewood-Flossmoor (17-7, 8-3 SouthWest Suburban Blue).

Illinois Lutheran 44, Community Christian 14: Caroline Kuether had 10 points for Illinois Lutheran, which shut the door in the second half limiting Community Christian to just four points.

Football

Thornton players commit: Thornton coach Bill Mosel said five players have committed to play college football and will sign their letters of intent today.

Jeff Myles and Jamar Gary will sign with the University of Sioux Falls (S.D.). Davi McDonald will play at William Penn (Iowa) University.

Brandon Harris and Malcolm Majors will take their talents to MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) University.

Thornwood players to ink: In addition to Tyshon Waller (Indiana State), three other Thunderbirds will sign letters of intent this morning.

Matthew Evans and Raheem Gardner will sign with Robert Morris, according to coach Will Milhouse. Milhouse said Cedric Doxy will either sign with Robert Morris or Minnesota State.