The Hawks and Vikings renewed their non-conference South Suburban rivalry Saturday afternoon. The two squads meet once a year, usually either on the final Saturday of January, or the first Saturday of February.
The first and only other time I took this rivalry in was in 2018 at Hillcrest. Then junior Isaac Stanback, who transferred from Hillcrest to H-F in the 2017 off-season, was instrumental in the Vikings 68-63 comeback overtime win.
Five years later, I traveled down to Flossmoor for another exciting finish. The Hawks (24-2) led for most of the contest, leading 43-27 at halftime and 52-41 at the end of the third quarter. Point guard Bryce Tillery had a terrific first half scoring all 13 of his points in the half. 6-6 senior Quentin Heady was tough inside the paint scoring 8 of his 10 first half points inside, and 6-3 sophomore Adam Page (8 points) hit two big early threes.
The Vikings (15-10) went on a surge in the fourth quarter, led by junior point guard Carson Brownfield and senior guard Jahlil Birchette. Birchette would hit a couple of threes to help get the Vikings to within 2 with 2:27 left in regulation. After thw Vikings gained a possession on a jump ball, Brownfield hit a three to give the Vikings a brief 63-62 lead.
After a Hillcrest timeout, Hawks forward Darrion Baker fed a pass to sophomore Gary Bradley to put the Hawks ahead. Then Baker would hit an insurance three after a Vikings turnover. That three would prove to be the game winner.
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