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By Mike Helfgot

The proliferation of whistles had fans of both teams crying foul.

Derek Hannahs' ability to cash in turned Robinson's four-hour drive home into a wild caravan.

With seemingly the entire town on hand, Hannahs went 18 of 20 from the free-throw line and scored 12 of his game-high 28 points in overtime to give the team's loyal following something to party about -- a 76-68 victory over Peoria Manual in the 2A final Saturday night at Carver Arena.

By Mike Helfgot

PEORIA -- Playing at the same time some 2,000 miles apart, Jamie Adams easily outscored his older brother on Saturday.

Of course, it's not a matter of competition between Adams and Jerome Randle -- even if the University of California star has something his little brother desperately wants.

Adams certainly looked like a Division I player Saturday, scoring 22 points to help Hales capture third place in the Class 2A state tournament with an 80-70 victory over Breese Central at Carver Arena.

By Mike Helfgot

PEORIA -- The streak is on hold for the next eight months.

It could extend well into 2011.

Joel Learnard and his junior classmates gave the tiny east-central Illinois communities of Catlin and Jamaica a thrill this weekend, taking home the Salt Fork co-op's first Class 1A state title with a 55-42 victory over Sesser-Valier on Saturday at Carver Arena.

Learnard had 20 points and 14 rebounds, Nathan Fathauer (10 points) made 8 of 9 free throws in the fourth quarter and David Keenan (eight points) held 1A all-state forward Justin Matyi, of Sesser-Valier, to eight points in Salt Fork's 27th win in a row.

By Mike Helfgot

Seven-feet tall is impossible to teach and almost as difficult to defend.

Throw in a heavy dose of athleticism, and Robinson -- not Hales -- is a 2A state finalist.

Towering Illinois-bound center Meyers Leonard had 19 points and 17 rebounds to lead Robinson to a stunning 64-61 victory over Hales in the 2A state semifinals Friday night at the Peoria Civic Center.

Ben Jones had 21 points and hit three key free throws for Robinson (26-5) after a pair of foul shots by Leonard tied it at 60 with 2 minutes, 12 seconds remaining.

Patrick Miller scored a game-high 22 points for Hales (28-3), the final three coming from downtown to bring the Spartans within three with .6 seconds left.

By Paul Skrbina

PEORIA -- Peoria Manual held on to the lead. Breese Central held on to hope.

The lead outlasted hope Friday when the Rams of Manual nipped the Cougars 39-38 in a Class 2A semifinal to advance to Saturday's championship against either Hales or Robinson.

Four times in the fourth quarter Breese Central came within two, and twice more within one, but the Cougars never led a game in which they dominated inside, outrebounding the Rams 37-14.

Tribune News Services

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. -- Jon Scheyer (Glenbrook North) of Duke, Sherron Collins (Crane) of Kansas and Evan Turner (St. Joseph) of Ohio State are among the six finalists for the Bob Cousy Award presented to the top point guard in college basketball.

The other finalists are Grevis Vasquez of Maryland, freshman standout John Wall of Kentucky, and Scottie Reynolds of Villanova.

The finalists were announced Saturday by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and came from an original list of 73 nominees from all three NCAA divisions.

The award will be presented April 5 at the Final Four.

By Colleen Kane

NORMAL -- After Morgan Tuck led Bolingbrook to a state championship last season as a freshman, she won the Illinois Ms. Basketball award and became a well-known name in girls basketball circles.

On Saturday in a rematch of the Class 4A championship game between Young and Bolingbrook, a green collection of Young players made sure those in Bolingbrook know their names. The second-ranked Dolphins pushed the top-ranked Raiders to the brink before falling 60-50.

Behind 18 points from junior guard Ariel Massengale, Bolingbrook (29-1) won its third championship in five years. Tuck scored only 10 points, but her two free throws with 4.9 seconds to play sealed it.

By Phil English

NORMAL -- For Montini, Saturday's 64-53 Class 3A championship win over Hillcrest marked the perfect ending to an improbable run that started in January with the loss of their leading scorer, Michala Johnson.

For Hillcrest, the game will be the one they'll always wonder about.

Whitney Adams scored 20 points to go with 10 rebounds and the Broncos set a state record with 12 3-pointers to give Montini (33-2) its third state championship of the school year to go along with titles in football and wrestling.

"We had a motto for this weekend and that was '56,'" said Adams, who hit 4 of 7 shots from 3-point range. "That meant being down here March 5 and 6. And we came down here with a lot of confidence."

By Chris Hine

Illinois has offered a scholarship to Mychael Henry, a 6-foot-6 junior from Orr.

Henry attended last week's Illinois game against Minnesota, and is expected to be in attendance on Sunday when the Illini take on Wisconsin, 1 p.m. at Assembly Hall.

In the class of 2011, Illinois has already received verbal commitments from Mount Carmel's Tracy Abrams and St. Ignatius College Prep's Nnanna Egwu.

By Colleen Kane

NORMAL, Ill. -- Bolingbrook advanced to its fifth straight state championship game with a 56-30 win over Hersey in Friday's Class 4A semifinal at Redbird Arena.

Morgan Tuck scored 28 points, including 19 in the second half, and had 12 rebounds to lead the Raiders. Her sister, Taylor Tuck, had eight points and eight rebounds.

Bolingbrook will play the winner of the semifinal between Young and Fenwick.

After Hersey cut Bolingbrook's lead to five points on a Maddie Swan basket with 5 minutes, 18 seconds to play in the third quarter, the Raiders went on a 14-2 run to take a 46-29 lead with 6:09 left.

Maddie Swan had 12 points for Hersey. Megan Rogowski, Hersey's career scoring leader, made 1 of 18 field goals and had seven points.

District sports director Calvin Davis sent the memo to school athletic directors today saying that only varsity and freshman teams will be allowed to practice for now. The memo, which some coaches called confusing, comes at the last possible moment for sophomore coaches. Today is the first day of practice.

By Mike Helfgot

Wayne Blackshear complained on Wednesday that freshman teammate Markee Williams kept stealing his glory.

The junior Louisville recruit was joking, but he could not have been more serious about getting the ball in his hands this time around.

Blackshear banked in a running one-hander from about 10 feet away with 13.4 seconds remaining to give Morgan Park a 61-60 victory over Marshall and an improbable city championship Friday night at UIC Pavilion.

By Mike Helfgot

They kept coming in waves, player after player of similar ability and determination.

The Marshall Commandos trailed by as many as 15 in the third quarter Wednesday night before rallying for a 65-59 victory over top-seeded and No. 1-ranked Foreman in a Public League semifinal.

Keifer Sykes (16 points), Alphonso McKinnie (13 points) and Vincent Garrett (13 points) led the comeback from a 35-20 deficit, but all 10 players in No. 12 Marshall's rotation were responsible.

By Mike Helfgot

Jereme Richmond made the cut for the prestigious McDonald's All-American game.

The 6-foot-7 Waukegan senior is among the 24 players nationwide selected for the March 31 game, according to a source. The official announcement will come Thursday.

An Illinois recruit, Richmond is averaging 21 points and 12 rebounds a game after leading Waukegan to the Class 4A state-title game and finishing second in the Mr. Basketball voting last season.

The McDonald's game will be played March 31 in Columbus, Ohio. The All-American teams will be announced at 4:30 Thursday on ESPNU.

By Mike Helfgot

Wayne Blackshear and Markee Williams might not have been feeling great, but Morgan Park has never felt better.

The Louisville-bound Blackshear scored 11 of his game-high 17 points from the free-throw line. The freshman, Williams, had 13 in two-and-a-half quarters as No. 20 Morgan Park stunned No. 1 Young 72-53 in the second round of the Public League playoffs Wednesday at Young.

"We've been preparing for this game since we saw the bracket, and I've been talking about playing against these guys since the summer," said Blackshear, playing for the second time since missing nearly three weeks with a sprained ankle. "I didn't worry about my ankle. I couldn't play above the rim, so I relied on fundamental stuff like pump-faking to get to the line."

By Art Barnum

A Glenbard West High School football player died today from injuries he received in a car crash last Friday.

Pierre Washington-Steel, 17, was pronounced dead at Good Samaritan Hospital in Downers Grove, according to the DuPage County Sheriff's office.

Steel, a senior, was the driver of a car that hit a utility pole around 7:45 p.m., Jan. 29, at St. Charles Road and Swift Road in unincorporated Lombard.

Both Steel and Demarco Whitley, another Glenbard West football player injured in the accident, were running backs at the Glen Ellyn school. Whitley remains in the hospital in serious condition.

By Brian Hedger and Mike Helfgot

Curie boys basketball coach Michael Oliver tried to take the news in stride, but having varsity players transfer midseason for the second year in a row stung.

Oliver said he saw the transfers of starters Asante Smiter and Andre Arrington to No. 2 Foreman coming based on the pair's actions and summer AAU affiliation with Foreman coach Terrence Head.

"All it is, is copy-catting," Oliver said following Wednesday's 63-50 home victory against Urban Prep in the city playoffs. "The Board allowed Wayne (Blackshear) to do it last year, so why shouldn't they let these guys do it? That's how they're looking at it.

"By him getting away with it last year and playing this year, then everybody else thinks they can do it too."

Jacob Curby, a 25-year-old Greco-Roman wrestler with the U.S. national team, died Friday at his home in Boise, Idaho, according to a statement by USA Wrestling. Curby graduated from Lyons Township High School and Northern Michigan.

Curby was discovered non responsive at his home.

"Wrestling is his life and he was totally engaged in it," Dave Curby, his father, said in the statement. "He is a kid with many friends. He overcame so much in his life, with epilepsy and having cancer when he was in high school.

"It is a shock. We are always so proud of him in all aspects of his life. He only got great things from being involved with USA Wrestling at this level."