By Michael Wojtichiw
Kenwood and Whitney Young, along with Simeon, have arguably been the best three teams in the city all year long. So it wasn’t a shock to see both the Broncos and the Dolphins in Game 2 of the UIC Supersectional, this time a Class 4A contest.
Simeon had won the Class 3A supersectional earlier in the evening, but the nightcap was one that got a lot of buzz. Both schools’ student sections were packed for the third matchup between the two schools and the roars from the crowd with every big moment seemed to get louder and louder as the game went along.
The game was the third between the two squads, but with all due respect to the Proviso West Holiday Tournament final and city championship semifinal, the supersectional was the biggest one of the three and would break the deadlock between the two, as each had won one previously. The Dolphins beat the Broncos in the city playoffs, while Kenwood won at Proviso.
It was Young, however, who took the rubber match, using its experience to pull out a 75-62 win and earn a trip downstate.
“We watched a lot of film on them but it wasn’t about what they were going to do to us,’’ Young’s Xavier Amos said. ‘‘It was about what we were going to do. So we locked in and we’re going to Champaign.’’
Some may think that there is a budding rivalry between the two schools, but both coaches see that a bit differently.
“Let me dispel that myth,’’ Young coach Tyrone Slaughter said. ‘‘There is no rivalry. They have no state championships, and we have five. They have never really beaten us in anything substantive. They have created a rivalry. We don’t see it as a rivalry.
‘‘As of today, we have shown that we have a superior program with a superior team. Our girls beat their girls in the state playoffs and sent them home. Our boys have done likewise. We are the city champs. There is no rivalry. That myth is over. You have to beat someone to have a rivalry.”
Mike Irvin, Kenwood’s coach, had a bit of a different perspective on the matter.
‘‘I’m just getting started,’’ Irvin said. ‘‘He’s 2-1 against me, but . . . I have the best player in the state, Dai Dai Ames. He electrified that crowd tonight. I don’t think it is going to be a rivalry next year because I have Ames and [Loury] coming back. He’s right. There isn’t going to be a rivalry because I’m going to beat him every time after this.’’
The Dolphins got into foul trouble early, with Xavier Amos and Matthew Somerville both picking up two fouls in the first quarter, leaving an already thin backcourt rotation, with Marcus Pigram being out due to an injured ankle suffered against Lyons, even thinner.
That meant that junior Dalen Davis would have to step up and he did just that. Davis scored eight of his 18 points in the first half to help make up for his teammates’ absences.
“The schedule we played this year prepared us, prepared me,” Davis said. “We just wanted to leave a mark. Our goal from the start was to win state and we’ve got two more so don’t get too comfortable.”
Young would get the lead up to 31-19 with three-and-a-half minutes to go until the half, but the Broncos slowly started to mount a comeback.
Thanks to four turnovers in the final three minutes and some clutch shooting by Darrin Ames, the Broncos were able to cut the lead down to 33-29 at the half. Ames scored seven points in that closing run.
“We can’t come into these games like this and get down to a team like Whitney Young,” Irvin said. “They’re a veteran team, they’ve been there and we started from behind and never could get over the hump.
“We felt if we got them down, that’s when they start to crumble, but we never got them in that position.”
The Dolphins would continue to try to stretch the lead more and more, but the Broncos would claw back each time.
With around six minutes left, Kenwood’s Niel Davis tied the game at 53, the only time all night that Young hadn’t led. It didn’t end up mattering, however, as A.J. Casey put the Dolphins up with a basket on the next trip down the floor and ignited a 22-9 run to end the game.
“We’ve got to have high energy from the start and play from the start to the end,” Ames said. “We’ve got to leave it all out on the court, take no plays off, keep fighting.”
Amos led the way with 19 points and five rebounds, while Davis added 18 points and seven assists, Daniel Johnson 15 points and nine rebounds and Casey 14 points, five rebounds and six assists, while Ames had 21 to lead Kenwood and Loury had a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds.
The Dolphins will be looking for their fourth state title under Slaughter’s watch and take on Barrington in the state semifinals Friday afternoon.
