Crete-Monee coach Mario Coleman gave Tyrese Hunt a message after Thursday’s practice.
“Coach told me I had to be more aggressive,” Hunt said. “Whether I was making or missing them, he wanted me to take my shot.”
It proved to be sound advice.
The 6-foot-3 senior guard mostly made his shots Friday night against Rich East. He sank six 3-pointers and scored a career-high 23 points to spark the Warriors to a 78-76 Southland Conference road victory.
Hunt shot 6-for-9 from 3-point range to lead Crete-Monee (14-7, 6-0). Senior forward Malik Hardmon wasn’t surprised by the performance.
“He can get hot in a second,” Hardmon said of Hunt. “He’s a pure shooter. He opens up the floor for us and helps us so much offensively.”
Hardmon was a major factor as well, totaling 20 points and 10 rebounds. He converted two powerful dunks that had the crowd buzzing.
“I go up and try to kill the rim,” Hardmon said.
Joshua Evans scored 11 points, including a 4-for-4 effort from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter that helped the Warriors clinch the win.
Isaiah Rucker added six points and 14 rebounds. None were bigger than his rebound and putback with 32 seconds left in the fourth quarter that gave Crete-Monee a 76-74 lead.
Rucker later pulled down a rebound of a missed 3-pointer by Rich East’s Vashawn Sims with six seconds left.
The 6-foot-6 Rucker, a senior who didn’t play basketball as a sophomore and junior to focus on football, was named first team all-area in 2017 as a quarterback.
He’s happy to be back.
“I just want to contribute to the team,” Rucker said. “Just do what I can do. That football mentality took over in the last couple of minutes. It’s been a lot of fun.”
Rich East (13-7, 4-2) had fun in the early going. The Rockets raced out to a 10-0 lead before Coleman was forced to call a timeout. The fast start didn’t surprise Rockets coach Jamaal Hodges.
“We had a great week of practice,” he said “That’s exactly how we wanted to start the game, especially at home. But we just got away from the things we like to do in the fourth quarter.”
Sims paced Rich East with 26 point. He hit five 3-pointers. Lewis Harper added 19 points and Deshaun Edmond had nine.
With four games remaining in conference, Crete-Monee sits in the driver’s seat for the championship. Hardmon insisted the Warriors are taking nothing for granted.
“This win means everything,” he said. “Now we have a two-game lead in conference. We can’t look ahead. We need to keep taking it one game at a time. I wanted a road win (Friday) and I got it.”
Twitter @disabato
