Reed redeems himself in clutch
Corliss senior Jaquan Reed was sitting on the bench late in the fourth quarter, trying to get his head right.
“I was on the bench because I made a bad play,” Reed said. “I just really didn’t want us to lose. I knew if I got back in I was going to change the game.”
Reed got the opportunity and took advantage of it. He got a shot off while falling to the ground with six seconds left and the game tied. The shot made it over the outstretched hand of a Hyde Park defender and into the net.
The Trojans held on defensively on the next possession and beat the visiting Thunderbirds 60-58.
“Their home crowd got behind them and helped them to pull it out,” Hyde Park coach Reggie Bates said.
Thunderbirds sophomore Lamont Williams scored 15 points on five three-pointers. He had a chance to win it at the buzzer.
“The game plan was to stop him,” Corliss junior Nashawn Townsen said. “We watched film and knew he was a shooter. He got hot, so we had to make adjustments. When I saw him get it on that last play, my heart dropped a little bit. But we closed out on him.”
Senior Jayden Williams led the Trojans (2-0, 2-0 Red-South/Central) with 12 points and six rebounds. Reed scored 11, and Eddie Niles added 10 points and four rebounds.
Corliss moved the ball remarkably well for a team playing its second game of the season. The Trojans always made the extra pass.
“[Corliss coach Harvey Jones] makes us pass the ball a lot in practice,” Townsen said. “He says 30 passes before we can even shoot. I guess it has just flipped over into the game, and we’re getting used to it now.”
Hyde Park led by five at halftime. Corliss built a six-point lead early in the fourth quarter, but the Thunderbirds responded with an 8-0 run to lead by three with two minutes left.
“Coach told us they would go on runs like that,” Reed said. “He said that we needed to fight through that. It is part of the jungle, part of the Red. That is what it’s about. The winner makes the big play at the end.”
Junior Jalen Houston led Hyde Park (2-1, 1-1) with 22 points and five rebounds. Sophomore
Julian Price added eight points and seven rebounds. He also made a game-tying free throw with 17 seconds left.
“It was a nip-and-tuck game,” Bates said. “Every time we step on the court, we expect to win. We are young, but we are talented. We just have to go back to the drawing board and take this as a learning experience.”
Both teams turned the ball over regularly. Hyde Park had 32 turnovers, Corliss 25.
“I told our guys to keep applying pressure,” Jones said. “That is the heart and soul of Corliss, our pressure. Bad game, a lot of turnovers, but we will take a win.”
Corliss was 20-10 last season and finished fourth in the state in Class 2A.
“Last year we fell short to Orr twice,” Townsen said. “We just want to get back downstate and win it this time. We want this. Everyone keeps sleeping on us, and they don’t expect us to win anything.”