Mustang derby
Illinois-bound Johnson, St. Rita roll past H-F for regional championship
St. Rita’s Morez Johnson spent a part of his Thursday night watching Illinois, his future team, play Northwestern.
The junior forward decided to crack the books open after the Illini sputtered in the first half and scored just 19 points. He wasn’t giving up — he just had to get his homework done.
Illinois then made a huge comeback. And Johnson did get to watch the ending.
“I thought they would come back,” he said. “I have faith in my boys.”
He also has faith in his Mustangs. Behind Johnson’s double-double, St. Rita won its ninth straight with a 71-41 victory Friday night over Homewood-Flossmoor in the Class 4A Stagg Regional championship game.
It was the ninth regional title for St. Rita (23-10). The third-seeded Mustangs will face second-seeded Brother Rice (29-4), a Catholic League Blue rival, at 7 p.m. Wednesday in a sectional hosted by the Mustangs.
In a Dec. 9 road game, St. Rita beat Brother Rice 57-51.
“I love the way we have come together and we’re jelling right now,” Johnson said. “Our goal is to get to Champaign and win the state title.”
The 6-foot-9 Johnson had 23 points and 11 rebounds, plus five dunks, four blocked shots and two steals. James Brown added 13 points. Iowa State commit Nojus Industraitis contributed 10 points and five steals.
Nashawn Holmes, who transferred from H-F in the offseason, scored nine points against his former team. Sophomore guard Jayden Tyler led the Vikings (18-14) with 10 points.
One of the things Johnson has been proud of during the Mustangs’ winning streak? The way the team has been playing defense.
“Our defense is playing better than our offense right now,” Johnson said. “Everybody is talking and everyone is feeding off each other.”
Since a 90-70 loss to Florida powerhouse Montverde, which was ranked third in the nation at the time, the Mustangs have allowed less than 50 points in seven of 10 games.
“We just want to speed the game up,” St. Rita coach Roshawn Russell said. “We know our advantage is getting into transition. We have a lot of athletes that are great in the open court, so our goal is to create a lot of our offense off our defense.”
The Mustangs, indeed,
had a couple of strong bursts from Brown, a North Carolina recruit, and Holmes.
Brown ended the first quarter with two dunks, a blocked shot and a steal in the final 24 seconds to help put the Mustangs ahead 25-10.
Holmes shot just 1 of 7 in the first half but was able to turn a steal into a dunk and also added a 3-pointer in the third quarter.
“It was fun,” Holmes said of facing the Vikings. “They were talking a lot. Once I saw they were in the same regional with us, I knew we were going to play them.
“In the second half, I was trusting my teammates and letting the game come to me.”
Johnson said that earlier in the season, when the Mustangs were playing
tough, national competition and the losses were mounting, the team stayed positive.
“We never put our heads down,” Johnson said. “We knew what the goal was. Those games were helping get ready for what we’re doing right now.
“We needed to get our legs under us and learn from each other and learn to play as a team.”
In the way, Johnson continues to be a force in several areas.
“He’s elevated his game the entire season,” Russell said. “He’s been consistent night in and night out. I can’t ask for anything more from him.
“He’s been awesome.”