Hillcrest coach John Maniatis probably heaved a sigh of relief after his Hawks beat Rich Central 56-47 Thursday night in the Hillcrest quarterfinals. Hillcrest improves to 13-0 and the Hawks were able to withstand an 11-0 Rich Central run.
But, more importantly, was the effort of senior captain Jocelyn Wide. The 5-9 senior guard/forward has been playing on a bum left ankle. She tweaked it late in the third quarter and had to sit until early in the fourth. Wide was able to ignore a very vocal Rich Central crowd and show her leadership in getting the Hawks back on track.
Aside from the one-point Mother McAuley win over Evanston and the Fremd upset of Maine West on Wednesday (both at Dundee-Crown), the Hillcrest-Rich Central game is one of the most exciting I've seen during tournament time.