Boys Basketball
Matthews takes control as St. Rita
rolls at Hinsdale Central tourney
St. Rita coach Gary DeCesare had a message Thursday for senior point guard Jordan Matthews.
Take over the game.
The 6-foot Matthews obliged, scoring a game-high 16 points — all coming over the final three quarters — to lead St. Rita to a 48-43 win over Maine South in a Hinsdale Central Holiday Classic quarterfinal.
The Mustangs (7-7) advanced to a 7 p.m. semifinal Friday against DePaul Prep (11-1), a 49-36 winner over Stevenson.
“I need Jordan to do everything, but I really need him to be a scorer,” DeCesare said. “I was screaming at him to take over the game. He’s been playing like a distributor lately.”
Matthews confirmed he needs to be more aggressive with his shot.
“Coach has been saying that I’ve been too passive,” Matthews said. “I was passing up good shots for my teammates to get great shots. It’s not all about scoring. It’s about winning. But there are times I need to be more selfish.
“That’s one of my biggest challenges.”
Matthews, who has brothers Charles (Michigan) and Dominique (Illinois-Chicago) playing in college, didn’t attempt a shot until 2:04 remained in the first half. That shot — a 3-pointer — brought St. Rita within 25-19.
He was just getting started, however.
Matthews scored nine points in the third quarter, aggressively taking the ball to the basket. His short jumper with 2:09 remaining in the third quarter cut the Maine South lead to 37-34.
“Jordan carried us the first five games of the season,” DeCesare said. “We can’t expect him to do that every game. We’re a young team. We need everybody to chip in.”
Doug Posley certainly did his part. The 6-3 junior guard scored six straight points early in the fourth quarter to cut the deficit to 43-42 with 4:16 left.
Posley had additional motivation to make something happen.
“Coach sat me the second and third quarters,” Posley said. “We were down three when I came in. We needed people to step up and make shots.”
A basket by Matthews with 3:16 remaining gave St. Rita its first lead at 44-43. Free throws by Joel Watts and Stedmon Ihejirika down the stretch sealed the win.
DeCesare was proud of the way St. Rita battled back from the double-digit deficit. It also helped that the Mustangs held a 29-21 rebounding advantage.
“We could have folded,” he said. “The guys hung in there and scrapped and clawed their way back.”
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