Morgan Park was floundering in the first half and needed a boost.
That boost came from Shanti Goodman who worked her way out of the doghouse to help lead the Mustangs to a 52-43 victory over North Lawndale in one of the Public League quarterfinal games at Chicago State on Saturday afternoon.
Morgan Park will face Bogan in one semifinal on Wednesday at Chicago State.
“I got in trouble for doing something on the internet and I was benched for it,’’ Goodman said. “I felt like I let my teammates down and I needed to do something to make up for it.’’
No. 7 Morgan Park trailed for most of first half but came back to tie the game at 25 at halftime. The Mustangs were already down one starter with Tristan Anderson out with an ankle injury.
Goodman, who is normally a starter, came off the bench late in the first quarter with her team down by 5 points and proceeded to score eight first half points to lead the Mustangs in that half.
“We were sleepwalking early on,’’ Morgan Park coach Thomas Johnson said. “North Lawndale woke us up. The girls got more focused at halftime.’’
Bhrea Griffin’ s focus was the sharpest of them all in the third quarter. The junior, point guard scored eight points in that quarter including five points and three steals during the game-deciding 13-3 run that broke open a tied game open and left the Mustangs (19-2) ahead 43-30 at the end of the quarter.
“I just was trying to keep some momentum going in the third quarter,’’ Griffin said. “I was trying to get steals and put-backs and up the tempo and give my team some energy.’’
Kierra Graves led Morgan Park with 15 points including five in the fourth quarter when the Phoenix (16-9) pulled to within three on a layup by Shantell Wilson. Wilson led North Lawndale with 10 points off the bench.
Goodman finished with 13 points and Griffin scored 12.
