Hoops squad delights at Joliet Central

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The Harlem Wizards pressure the J. Town Ballerz during a fundraising basketball game Monday night at Joliet Central High School. | Submitted photo

Updated: February 26, 2012 8:09AM

JOLIET — The Harlem Wizards juggled basketballs like merry pranksters. They dribbled in circles around teachers. They dribbled lying down, spinning on the floor. They passed the ball in whirlwind rotations of bewildering intensity.

Then they dunked it home, lighting up the scoreboards and electrifying the crowd in the Joliet Central High School gym.

And they raised money for Woodland Elementary School in Joliet.

The Wizards — a New York-based team celebrating 50 years of basketball and comedy — stormed into Joliet on Monday night. They took on the J. Town Ballerz, consisting of Joliet Grade School District staff, parents and community members.

“It’s a great experience — doing something positive, not just for the community, but for the world,” said Lloyd “Loonatik” Clinton, a Wizards player.

Early fireworks

The Wizards took an early 17-6 lead with a flurry of dazzling moves: a behind-the-back pass for a layup, a long-range pass leading to an acrobatic skyhook dunk, and a behind-the-back dunk.

The Wizards’ spark plug was Arthur “King Arthur” Lewis, who often evaded defenders by dribbling on his knees or lying down. During the first half, he fed alley oops to Leon “Space Jam” Sewell and Dwayne “Swoop” Simpson.

That was the easy part.

Lewis then bounced the ball off his head toward the net, where an airborne “Space Jam” intercepted its arc and dunked with authority.

Then, when the crowd was practically out of breath, Lewis provided some comic relief. After dribbling in circles around a Joliet defender and drawing a foul, he went to the free throw line. His first shot missed. Then — after dancing to a few lines of James Brown’s “I Feel Good” — he drained the second shot like he never missed a beat.

Cynthia Thompson, a second-grade teacher at Woodland, scored with a spinning layup against the Wizards. Thompson played basketball at Joliet Central during her sophomore and junior years.

The first half ended with the Wizards up 43-14.

Fans cheered for the Michael Jackson halftime show, complete with moonwalking and bejeweled glove. The Woodland cheerleaders — pre-kindergarten through fifth-grade — also performed.

Rally mode

As halftime ended, the Wizards used their magic to manipulate the scoreboard. They put the home team up 53-43. Nah. Make that 63-43. Who’s counting?

The Wizards picked quite a time to purposely place themselves in rally mode — because Joliet lit up the night sky like never before. Edward McClain, Sean Cage and Troy “Action” Cicero launched a soaring three-pointer attack that challenged the Wizards.

The two teams engaged in a fast-paced scoring exchange. Joliet’s David Banks had a fine shot under pressure, and Maurice Bryant drove powerfully to the net for a layup.

Countering the three-point madness with dramatic dunks, the Wizards tied it at 68-68 and drove on to win the game 102-91.

The game raised money for the fourth and fifth grade basketball teams at Woodland. Principal LaQuita Carter, engineer Peggy Jeffries and librarian Lillian Jones all played a role in bringing the event to Joliet.

At game’s end, “King Arthur” balanced the ball on the back of his neck, lofted the ball high in the air, and caught it on the very same place on his neck. He then rolled the ball around in circles on the backs of his arms, and passed it long-range to “Loonatik,” who ended his cavalcade of dunks with resounding thunder.