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"Worth the Wait"

article by Eric Short, picture by Ray Whitehouse

     Fans of Illinois High School basketball got many of the questions answered Sunday night when the number one ranked Whitney Young Dolphins faced the number two ranked Hales Franciscan Spartans. Many wondered if the Dolphins were too small and too weak to handle Hales’ duo of Oregon signees, Matthew Humphrey and Josh Crittle. Even more wondered if the Dolphins’ were deserving of there number one ranking, given that they only have two players over 6’4. Finally the biggest question on everyone’s mind was if Coach Tyrone Slaughter could take all of this D-1 talent and make a successful basketball team. The Dolphin’s answered all of these questions with a convincing 82-59 victory at Chicago State.

            From the opening tip it was easy to see that the Dolphin’s had the upper hand offensively. Their four guard offense, led by UCF signee A.J. Rompza, helped Young get out to a quick 7-0 lead. Young put constant pressure on Hales, both offensively and defensively, as they employed a full court press for much of the first half. Young’s up-tempo style, along with the defense of 6-7 senior Jake Hager, tired out Crittle, a 6-8 post player, who finished the game with only two points. “We were the better conditioned team out there today,” said Slaughter, “We proved that all fifteen guys can play.” Although Hales’ may have had the better starting five on paper, there is no question as to who had the better bench as the Dolphins’ used ten players to jump out to a commanding 37-50 halftime lead.

            Young continued to dominate in the second half. The Spartan’s could not keep up with Young’s break neck pace and their shots continued to be off the mark. “We wanted to attack them the entire game,” sophomore shooting guard Anthony Johnson said, “We just had to play aggressive defense and everything they did to us we had to do right back to them.” Humphrey, a 6-5 shooting guard, hit a couple of three pointers late in the fourth quarter but it was not enough as Whitney Young came away with an 82-59 victory.

The Dolphins looked very impressive in their first game and they will need to continue their great play if they hope to survive their rigorous schedule. “We scheduled any one who wanted to play; we wanted to play where the best teams in the country play,” Slaughter said, “Next weekend we have to play the Kentucky State Champions so we just have to stay focused.” Young’s Saturday game against Scott County, KY is followed by a Sunday night game against Homewood-Flossmoor.

On Sunday night Whitney Young proved that they are the undisputed number one team in the State. Junior Chris Colvin led the Dolphins with 14 points to go along with Anthony Johnson’s 12. Junior Antonio Johnson was an absolute defensive beast as he blocked 4 shots and grabbed 10 rebounds. Junior Marcus Jordan’s anticipated debut was marred by foul trouble as he finished with only two points. Every player on Young scored and it will take that type of teamwork to play in Peoria come March.