3A boys basketball: Lathan Sommerville, Richwoods rock Kingman, Thornton in Ottawa Supersectional

OTTAWA – One of Illinois’ best high school gymnasiums got one of the IHSA’s best supersectional matchups Monday night.

The matchup – and Ottawa’s Kingman Gym – were both as good as advertised.

Peoria Richwoods punched its ticket to the Class 3A state tournament with a thrilling 58-52 victory over Thornton in front of an incredibly loud, standing-room-only crowd at Kingman. The contest featured not only two of 3A’s Elite Eight teams, but University of Illinois signee Morez Johnson Jr. going head-to-head against Richwoods’ Rutgers-bound center Lathan Sommerville, who, after dropping 32 points with 13 rebounds, spent the postgame on Kingman’s floor taking selfie after selfie with fans.

“Even down at state, it won’t be this loud,” Richwoods coach William Smith said. “This was a big-time game. Two big-time programs. We had history; they beat us earlier in the year by two [67-65 in November]. They’ve got a big-time player; we’ve got a big-time player. Big-time guards on both sides. The kids battled it out.

“Somebody had to win, somebody had to lose. I was glad we were the winner.”

The entire game was intense and loud, but never more so than in the final minute.

With Richwoods (29-4) clinging to a 54-52 advantage after a clutch 3-pointer by Thornton’s Meyoh Swansey with 54 seconds remaining, Johnson swatted a Knights shot attempt at one end, and Thornton was off on a fast break with an opportunity to tie. Chase Abraham drove to the basket and went up for the potential tying shot, but Richwoods’ Jared Jackson returned the favor with a swat of his own, returning possession to Richwoods and sparking a sequence that then saw two Richwoods turnovers answered immediately by a pair of Thornton travels.

“It was a big one,” Jackson said. “I knew he was going to try to attack, he wasn’t going to pass it, and I baited him into it. Once he went up, I knew I was going to get it, so I went and got it.

“The environment was great. We brought out a lot of fans; they brought out a lot of fans. Everybody that came out to support us, we went hard for them, and we went hard for ourselves, and we’re making that trip downstate.”

Johnson – who sat the entire second quarter with two early fouls trying to slow down Sommerville – finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds for Thornton (29-5), which came to the Illinois Valley a day early, as head coach and former NFL player Tai Streets is acquainted with the area after being a teammate at the University of Michigan with Ottawa native and NFL player Aaron Shea.

“[The environment tonight] was great, awesome,” Streets said. “This is an awesome town. I love everything about it. I fish here. I eat here – Bianchi’s, Sam’s, all the pizza, we went to Rip’s [Tavern in Ladd] last night, great chicken. ...

“We’ve played in big atmospheres this season, but this is a smaller gym, and everybody’s on top of you. It was a great atmosphere. It was crazy, awesome place to play in.”

Richwoods will play DePaul College Prep in Friday morning’s late state semifinal at the State Farm Center in Champaign.