Tarver the carver
Junior forward comes through as Thornton tops Bloom for third win of the week
Three years ago, it was easy for Tamika Teat to measure her son, Kelsey Tarver, by using a pencil and a wall in the house. Now? Sometimes, she needs to stand on a chair to mark how much he has grown.
The 6-foot-9 Tarver, who said he grew from 5-5 to 6-3 between eighth grade and high school, did a little of everything Thursday for the Wildcats in a 61-42 Southland Conference victory over Bloom.
While senior guard Brandon Hall did the heavy lifting for Thornton (4-3, 3-2) with 20 points, Tarver finished with 14 points, including 10 in the third quarter.
He was also bothered Bloom (5-2, 5-2) with his rebounding and defensive play.
“He set the tone early by blocking a bunch of shots,” Thornton coach Tai Streets said of Tarver, a junior forward. “He came up big. He’s getting better and better. He’s long. He can shoot. He does a lot of good things for us.”
Tarver said he had no idea he was going to grow so quickly. He said he has a grandfather, Dwayne Williams, who is 7-1, but he did not think he was in for this much of a growth spurt.
“That summer, I really shot up,” Tarver said. “It came out of nowhere. I don’t know how it happened. It seemed like it happened every month. One month it was 5-9. Then 6-feet. Then 6-2 and 6-3.”
This summer, he also grew in recruiters’ eyes and picked up an offer from Division I North Dakota
State.
The victory capped a strange week for the Wildcats, who beat Thornwood 70-61 on Monday and Crete-Monee 58-42 on Tuesday.
But before Thursday’s game against Bloom, Streets received word that his team’s 50-45 win on Feb. 18 over Rich Township in the season opener has been turned into a forfeit loss.
The Illinois High School Association ruled a transfer player who competed in the game did not have his paperwork completed, according to Streets.
“I think they complained and I’m upset,” Streets said. “I was heated when I found out about it. That was a little ridiculous to me, especially during this COVID season. I didn’t like that at all.”
Thornton and Rich
Township will play again Monday in Harvey.
Bloom (5-2, 5-2), meanwhile, brought a four-game winning streak into Thursday’s matchup.
The Blazing Trojans jumped out to a 5-0 lead and led 9-7 before junior guard Darius Robinson, who ended up with 13 points, popped in a 3pointer with 1:39 remaining in the first quarter.
That was Thornton’s first lead of the game, and the Wildcats never trailed from there.
Sophomore guard Raeshom Harris and Jordan Brown each scored 11 points for the Blazing Trojans, whose roster features six juniors and five sophomores.
With practices reduced in this abbreviated season due to the coronavirus pandemic, young teams are having to learn on the fly.
“There were too many turnovers and a lack of execution,” Bloom coach Dante Maddox said. “It’s kind of hard when you don’t have practice. The players don’t know what they need to know.”
But the Blazing Trojans have beaten every team on their schedule except unbeaten Kankakee and Thornton.
“This team is going to be really good when we mature,” Maddox said. “We haven’t played together yet. I only have two people who played varsity ball before this season.
“If we had a full season, I think we definitely would be a team that would be respected more than we are now. Next year, we’re going to be very good, but I want it to start now.”