Boys Basketball: Bloom Overcomes T.F. North's Best Effort

The Skinny: Bloom Township’s Donald Moore made like a prizefighter in the Blazing Trojans’ 41-37 victory over Thornton Fractional North Tuesday in a semifinal game at the Class 4A Joliet Central Regional. Moore was knocked down—in a figurative sense. He drew a technical foul after reacting to the T.F. North crowd. The uncharacteristic gaffe led to a four-point swing for the Meteors. Moore picked himself up and battled back to lead all scorers with 15 points. He made 11-of-13 free throws and had the ball in his hands when the game was on the line. His perseverance enabled top seed Bloom to survive on a night when T.F. North played well above the expectations of a No. 16 seed.

Patch’s MVP: Donald Moore, 6-0 senior guard, Bloom Township. Moore led all scorers with 15 points. He made 11-of-13 free throws. He also showed his quickness and tenacity on a dribble-drive in the third quarter. Moore avoided a double-team near the mid-court line and turned on the jets. He went to the basket for a layup, was fouled and hit the free throw.

Key Moments: Thornton Fractional North had as many fouls (8) as points in the first quarter (8). The Meteors trailed 6-0, 10-2 and 17-8 but never folded despite losing two players to fouls—Ashanti Randolph and Nicholas Wood. Randolph fouled out in the third quarter. T.F. North closed within 36-31 on a 3-pointer by McKinley Elem with 1:35 remaining. The Blazing Trojans controlled the tempo but were unable to deliver a knockout punch. One reason: Cold shooting. Bloom made 10 of 31 shots (32.2 percent).

Bloom Leaders: Donald Moore (15 points, 11-of-13 free throws), Lejavius Johnson (8 points), Jataryan Dejaraux (6 points, 5 rebounds), Johnny Griffin (5 points, 11 rebounds), Henry Hicks (4 points).

Thornton Fractional North Leaders: Greg McClain (14 points, 6-of-8 free throws), Torin Washington (8 points, 4 rebounds), Nicholas Wood (6 points).

Quotable I: “Yeah, we knew they were going to come out with their best effort,” Bloom’s Donald Moore said. “It’s win or go home now. So, we just wanted to try to survive so we could advance and play Friday.  We didn’t play our best at all. We weren’t giving 100 percent on the defensive end. We weren’t really running on sets all the way through. We can play better.”

Quotable II: “That’s been our story all year,” T.F. North coach Tim Bankston said. “We’re not your typical 16 seed. We played a lot of ranked teams this year and lost by one or two points. And this was a young nucleus of kids who haven’t played together. So, it’s a little deceptive with our record. I feel bad for the seniors that they had to go through this—this learning experience for the younger kids. But I think in the end our younger kids learned something from this game. We took Bloom to the wire. A couple of possessions here or there and we come up with the win.”

Team Records: Bloom is 24-3. Thornton Fractional North finishes 11-17.

What’s Next: Bloom faces Sandburg at 7:30 p.m. Friday in the Class 4A Joliet Central Regional championship game. Sandburg knocked off Minooka 43-36.