Analysis: Tinley Park Has Plenty of Fourth-Quarter Heroes

This week, March began. For hoop fans all across the country, that means the Madness is underway.

Madness certainly found its way to the Rich East gym in Park Forest on Wednesday night, where

While Tinley Park certainly will enjoy the regional semifinal victory, the Titans don’t want a repeat of falling into a 13-point fourth-quarter hole, as they did Wednesday night.

Rich East and Tinley Park battled neck-and-neck in the first half, and Rich East led 29-28 at halftime. The physical battle inside throughout the game was a tough one.

“It was really physical,” Tinley Park forward Tony Core said while pointing to the blood on his jersey. “You can see it on my jersey.”

The third quarter was not a good one for the Titans. Rich East outscored Tinley Park 19-9 in the quarter.

Rich East took a 13-point lead right out of the gates in the final period when forward Nate Cook scored. From that point on, however, Tinley Park came storming back.

“We got in a timeout. We organized our team,” Core said. “We made sure we had the organization to make sure we could come back and win this game.”

Titans junior guard Jon Calhoun knocked down two three-pointers in a row and senior guard Andrew Sebastian chipped in with another, and the next thing Tinley Park knew, it trailed by only two points.

“We switched the defense—we went man-to-man,” Tinley Park coach D.J. Brown said of a tactical change. “The whole thing was energy. I think the energy changed midway through the fourth quarter.”

Tinley Park tied the score at 52-all when Sebastian scored with 3:20 to play. A back-and-forth battle ensued, and Tinley Park led 58-57 when senior guard Aaron Hall hit two free throws with 19 seconds to play.

Rich East guard Roytrell Long attacked the basket on the Rockets’ next possession and was fouled. Long was hurt in the process, so guard Michael Williams came off the bench to shoot the free throws, much to the dismay of the Tinley Park fans.

Williams knocked down both free throws and Rich East led 59-58. That, however, merely set up the drama for Hall’s game-winner, a put-back on which he scored and drew a foul. Hall sank the free throw, a desperation heave by Rich East was partially blocked, and Tinley Park was victorious.

The Titans (15-9) will face top-seeded Brooks in Friday night’s regional title game.

“We’ll take it,” Brown said. “Survive and advance. That’s what we told the kids.”