Boys Basketball: Tim Williams, Antonio Bishop help H-F snuff out Thornwood

Updated: November 21, 2011 10:14PM

Despite star guard Darrell Combs unable to make a jump shot for nearly 30 minutes of play, Thornwood found itself hanging around for most of the game against No. 9 Homewood-Flossmoor Monday at Marian Catholic in the Chicago Heights Classic.

Combs got hot near the end of the game, but a heroic block and slam by H-F’s Antonio Bishop helped seal the Vikings’ 55-51 win.

Combs drained his first jumper, a three, with 2:17 to play and followed it up with a steal and layup to cut the lead to two. On the next possession, he attempted another three, hoping to give the Thunderbirds the lead, but Bishop, a 6-7 senior, swatted the shot away and slammed it home on the other side, giving H-F an four-point cushion.

“I honestly thought he was going to knock it down, so I just did my best to get out there,” Bishop said. “It felt good to swat it and even better to dunk it.”

Combs finished with 18 points and nine rebounds. He was 6-for-20 from the field and 1-for-11 from three.

“I’ve been playing against [Combs] since seventh grade so I had a pretty good idea on what to do with him,” H-F senior Delvon Rencher said.

Tim Williams led the Vikings (1-0) with 12 points and five rebounds. Bishop finished with 10 points and six rebounds. Rencher added nine points and four rebounds.

“[Rencher] did a great job on Combs,” H-F coach Jim McLaughlin said. “He didn’t give him a clean look. Delvon is long and he’s quick.”

Thornwood 6-3 senior Khapri Alston handled H-F’s massive size advantage in the paint well, finishing with 14 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks.

The Thunderbirds (0-1) turned the ball over 26 times, including an embarrassing stretch late in the fourth quarter where they committed turnovers on three consecutive inbounds passes under their own basket.

“The press worked pretty well,” McLaughlin said. “That’s something we feel we are good at. We’re tall and quick and the guys know what they are doing out there.”

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