Boys Basketball: Marian Catholic ousts Joliet West
By Michael O’Brien mobrien@suntimes.com March 6, 2013 10:12PM
Josh Cohn, of Marian Catholic, puts a shot up over Andre Hardy, of Joliet West. | Vincent D. Johnson~For Sun-Times Media
Boys Basketball
WEDNESDAY’S RESULTS
CLASS 2A JOLIET CENTRAL SUPERSECTIONAL
Seton 46, Providence-St. Mel 45
CLASS 3A RICH SOUTH
SECTIONAL
Rich East 75, Coal City 47
CLASS 4A THORNTON
SECTIONAL
Marian Catholic 65,
Joliet West 54
THURSDAY’S GAMES
CLASS 3A RICH SOUTH
SECTIONAL
Providence vs. Hillcrest, 7:30 p.m.
CLASS 4A THORNTON
SECTIONAL
Bloom vs. Stagg, 7:30 p.m.
Article Extras
Updated: April 8, 2013 8:09AM
Joliet West senior Morris Dunnigan had a spectacular season and a career that will go down in school history, but it didn’t end quite the way he would have hoped Wednesday night in Harvey.
Marian Catholic’s Ki Jana Crawford and John Oliver hounded Dunnigan effectively throughout the game and the Tigers were unable to find any offense without him, losing the Class 4A Thornton Sectional semifinal 65-54 to the Spartans.
“We were just trying to keep Morris Dunnigan from getting into the game,” Ulis said. “That was the goal, to make some of the role players beat us. We just played deny, trying to keep him from getting the ball and then when we got it we made sure we doubled him.
Dunnigan scored 12 points. He had seven rebounds and four assists, but took just one shot in the second half, a long three-point shot late in the game. He finished 3-of-10 from the field.
“I think Crawford and Oliver set the tone on a night where we weren’t great offensively,” Marian Catholic coach Mike Taylor said. “They had the responsibility of Dunnigan and they did the job.”
Marian Catholic’s Tyler Ulis scored 16 points and dished out three assists, but wasn’t his usual dynamic self on offense. He even missed two consecutive free throws in the fourth quarter.
“That might be the first time all year ... it might be the first time in three years I’ve seen him miss both,” Taylor said.
The Tigers (19-8) pulled to within seven on a basket by LeJon Wise late in the second quarter, but Joshua Cohn drained a three at the halftime buzzer to push the Marian Catholic lead back to 10.
“That was a big one Josh hit,” Taylor said. “It really sent us into the locker room on a high, and I think that carried over into the second half.”
Cohn finished with 14 points. Crawford and Parham each added 13 and Oliver scored eight. The Spartans had only one point off the bench, that coming from Ezra Pointer-Jones.
Brandon McCullum led Joliet West with 15 points and nine rebounds. Carl Terrell added 10 points and Wise scored eight and grabbed 11 rebounds.
“I think we wore Dunnigan down, he was tired in that fourth quarter,” Taylor said. “We played about three different defenses on them in the second half.”
Marian Catholic (28-3) will face the winner of Thursday’s Bloom-Stagg semifinal in Friday’s sectional title game.
