Sacred Heart-Griffin senior stars with electrifying plays in win over Decatur MacArthur
Zack Hawkinson dished up not one but two highlight reels.
The Sacred Heart-Griffin senior guard/forward scored an emphatic dunk with the and-one at the start of the second quarter. He then topped that with a spectacular full-court heave at the buzzer to end the third period.
Suffice to say, Hawkinson was unstoppable in a 72-58 Central State Eight Conference boys basketball victory over Decatur MacArthur in a marquee state-ranked battle at Jim Belz Gymnasium on Friday.
@ZackHawkinson21 hits @ShgBoys only 3 pointer of the night… FROM 80’!!! pic.twitter.com/J2OCari94p
— SHG 🌪 Boys Basketball (@ShgBoys) January 7, 2023
He ultimately led the Class 3A No. 2 Cyclones (13-0, 8-0 CS8) with 26 points and 22 rebounds in front of a sold-out crowd. SHG coach Tim Allen said he got on Hawkinson’s case after posting just seven points in Tuesday’s 62-50 win over Chatham Glenwood.
“I know what fires him up so I like to push the buttons a little bit,” Allen said.
SHG’s defense picks up
No. 5 MacArthur (15-1, 7-1) was without 6-foot-7 senior Makhi Wright due to an ankle injury, according to coach Terise Bryson.
Hawkinson took full advantage.
“I just told my team, ‘Just give me that,’” Hawkinson said. “I had a lot of motivation coming from last game. I didn't really do too well. Just hearing the outside noise and stuff like that, it was pushing me hard. Tim was on me after the Chatham game, so I knew I had to play well.”
Hawkinson had 12 points in the second quarter alone and already locked up a double-double by halftime to build a 31-25 lead. Jake Hamilton converted 9 of 10 free throw attempts and finished with 19 points. J’veon Bardwell and KeShon Singleton had 12 and 11 points, respectively.
SHG’s defense continued to wreak havoc into the third quarter to bolster a decisive 21-4 run. The Cyclones led by as much as 52-33 following Hawkinson’s miraculous buzzer beater in the third.
Hawkinson pulled down the defensive rebound and hurled the ball as quickly as he could.
“I was hoping it went in,” Hawkinson said. “It kind of curved the wrong way and I was like, 'No way that goes in,' and boom, it went in.
“I've done it in practice maybe once, but I've never ever done that in a game.”
MacArthur shot just 3 of 13 from the floor and committed nine turnovers in the third quarter.
“Defense picked up a whole lot,” Hawkinson said. “That's what we thrive on. We thrive on playing defense and getting out in transition. We've got to get more of those stops and can't let them get open 3s because they started hitting them towards the end.
“We can't let that happen when we play good teams, especially when we play tomorrow against a good (St. Louis) CBC team, so we can't let that happen.”
Not the last say
The Generals rebounded in the next stanza and drained six of their first seven shots in the fourth. Sam Owens and Jordan Woods provided a spark off the bench in that stretch and finished with 13 and seven points, respectively.
Azarion Richardson led MacArthur with 24 points. He connected on 4 of 7 3-point attempts.
Bryson gleaned positives out of the loss. He also knows both teams will meet again at MacArthur on Feb. 7 – and they could be destined for a postseason clash in the MacArthur Sectional.
“We knew we were undersized,” Bryson said. “They do a great job over there. You can't rattle them. They play real hard, they were tougher than us today.”
SHG girls weather MacArthur comeback
The SHG girls basketball team withstood a second-half surge from MacArthur en route to a 50-43 CS8 victory in the preceding game.
The Generals rallied ahead 43-41 midway through the fourth quarter on a 15-3 run. The Cyclones (13-5, 6-2 CS8) answered and capped the game with nine unanswered points, led by juniors Callie Huston and Maggie Fleischli.
A Huston free throw ended a three-minute scoring drought and Fleischli delivered back-to-back baskets to reclaim a 46-43 lead with under three minutes left in regulation.
Huston carried the Cyclones with 17 of her game-high 24 points in the first half for a 27-22 advantage. Fleischli finished with eight points and 10 rebounds. Izzy Hassebrock and Sophie Murphy had five points apiece.
Foul trouble plagued MacArthur’s Christina Rice and Mekiayah Flinn. Both had four fouls early in the third quarter. Rice led MacArthur (9-10, 5-3 CS8) with 19 points and eight rebounds.
Contact Bill Welt: 788-1545, bill.welt@sj-r.com, Twitter.com/BillWelt
This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: IHSA boys basketball: No. 2 SHG hands No. 5 Decatur MacArthur first loss
