Three-Pointer in Final Seconds Clinches Huge Victory for Plainfield Central

Curtis Harrington wasn’t the first option, but he was the right one in ’s 64-63 overtime win over No. 11 Thornwood (16-12) Wednesday.

The sophomore swished a three-pointer from the corner as the horn sounded, giving No. 7 Plainfield Central (19-8) a berth in its own Class 4A regional championship game against No. 3 Homewood-Flossmoor (19-4) at 7:30 p.m. Friday.

Harrington, who had three points through three quarters, took an inbound pass from 6-foot-6 senior Matthew Hund and nailed the game-winner, touching off a wild celebration under the scoreboard.

“The play was designed to go up top or to the first man that was open,” Harrington said. “I knew it was perfect when I shot it.”

“Honestly, we knew they were going to jump hard to Zach (Warner),” Plainfield Central coach Steve Lamberti said. “The idea was to go to Zach first. Curt was our second option. I’m not a genius. That’s a play everybody runs. You can call any play you want at that point. Curtis hit the shot and that’s what really matters.”

“Thornwood is a great, great team,” Plainfield Central senior Derrick Marks said. “This win is huge. It’s my senior year. We were down two. Curtis came off the screen and made the three. This is one of those games I will never forget.”

Marks witnessed the feat from the sideline as one of two seniors who fouled out in the fourth quarter or during overtime.

“We had two seniors foul out in overtime,” Lamberti said. “It was huge for our young guys and role players to step up and get it done.”

Junior Andre Norris put back a loose ball as time expired in regulation, sending the game into overtime tied at 52-all.

In overtime, Thornwood junior guard Darrell Combs hit a layup between two Wildcat defenders with 2.5 seconds to go, giving the visitors a 63-61 lead.

A long inbound pass to Norris and a quick timeout set up the game-winner.

“I want to practice tomorrow,” Lamberti said. “It’s too early to be done with the season. It’s too early to finish the season. The ball bounces 1,000 ways. Curtis hit a big shot. We got down early and didn’t do some of the things we wanted to do.”

Combs led all scorers with 30 points, 19 coming in the first half.

Marks led Plainfield Central with 27 points, before fouling out with 2:07 to play in the fourth quarter. Norris added 15 points, 10 in the first half.

Homewood-Flossmoor beat Marian Catholic 66-34 to advance to Friday’s regional final at Plainfield Central.

“Our next game is going to be real big,” Harrington said. “We have to come out and play hard the whole game.”