Thornwood coach Paul Slavich expects Darrion Robinson to be a sharpshooter for the Thunderbirds.
So when Robinson didn’t attempt a 3-pointer in the first half Friday night against Lincoln-Way West, and Thornwood went into the break down 27-22, Robinson heard from his coach.
“Coach told me to start shooting,” Robinson said. “He wanted be to more aggressive and I went out and hit a couple shots and gained a lot of confidence.”
Robinson sparked a second-half explosion for Thornwood, hitting three 3-pointers in less than three minutes in the third quarter to give the Thunderbirds the lead for good in a 61-48 SouthWest Suburban Red win in New Lenox.
“Darrion’s a great shooter and I told him he’s got the green light,” Slavich said. “We weren’t happy with the way we played in the first half, but we started knocking down some shots in the second half, we picked up the defensive pressure and I think we wore them down.”
Robinson started the shooting surge for Thornwood (21-5, 12-2) and Chelby Frazier kept it going, knocking down three 3-pointers of his own in the second half.
Robinson, Frazier and Kaliph Fagan (8 rebounds) all finished with 15 points each for the Thunderbirds, who enter the postseason on a 16-game winning streak.
Marco Pettinato scored 17 points to pace Lincoln-Way West (18-7, 9-5).
The only downer of the night for Thornwood was not getting the help it needed to share the Red title. Thornton, with its win Friday over Bradley, clinched the league outright.
“We did all we could, but Thornton controlled its destiny,” Slavich said. “Congrats to them.”
Thornwood trailed 33-26 before a 14-6 spurt that included all of Robinson’s 3-pointers and one from Frazier.
The Thunderbirds took a 44-41 lead into the fourth and Frazier knocked down a pair of threes in the first 90 seconds of the fourth, including a 25-footer on the first possession of the quarter.
“We needed that one,” Frazier said of the long three-pointer. “I wanted to come out and give us a spark to start the fourth quarter.”
Fagan converted a putback and scored on a layup off a Drew Evans pass to stretch the lead to 54-42 with 4:43 to go and West did not get within single digits again.
Thornwood, seeded third in the Class 4A Bloom Sectional, will open the playoffs Tuesday against Bloom or Hubbard.
“We were like a dysfunctional family our first 10 games and we started 5-5,” Slavich said. “We came together over Christmas and I’m really happy with the way we’re playing going into the postseason.”
Craig Majcher added 12 points and seven rebounds and Trace Howard contributed six points for the Warriors. West, the top seed in the Class 3A Coal City Sectional, will open Wednesday against Joliet Catholic or Sandwich.
“This is the first time all season we’ve lost two in a row,” West coach Brian Flaherty said. “At the same time, coming into the week and knowing we were playing at Bradley then playing Thornwood, I just hoped it’d prepare us for next week. Hopefully it’s one of those situations where what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger.”
Steve Millar is a freelance writer.
