CHAMPAIGN — Evanston, Aurora, Maywood, Joliet, Dolton, Harvey, Country Club Hills . . . the list of Illinois state basketball champions goes back to 1908, and nearly every hoops-crazed community in the area is represented.
Some towns only have one title, and some have dynasties. Homewood-Flossmoor had nothing until Saturday. The school opened in 1959, and its best chance at a title came in 2004, when the Julian Wright-led Vikings lost to Shaun Livingston and Peoria Central in the Class AA state championship game.
Expectations were high immediately this season after Gianni Cobb, Bryce Heard and Mac Hagemaster transferred in from other schools to play for the Vikings. They teamed with senior Carson Brownfield and junior Jayden Tyler to create one of the state’s most talented teams.
For years, the best players in the H-F district wound up playing for other schools. Just a couple of seasons ago, the top players in the Chicago Public League had all played together in the Vikings United youth basketball program based in Homewood.
Coach Jamere Dismukes, in his second year at H-F, was tasked with finding a way to mold all the talent together. Many observers thought it would never happen: too many shooters, too many ballhandlers, not enough basketballs.
In the Class 4A state championship, it all came together beautifully in a 60-48 victory against Normal.
The Vikings rallied late to knock off then-top-ranked Curie in the UIC Supersectional on Monday. That was impressive, but the wire-to-wire win against the Ironmen was a state-championship statement.
“Ring-chasing,” Heard said. “Ring-chasing was our motto all year, and we got the job done tonight.”
H-F (33-4) opened the game with two three-pointers from Tyler. The Vikings took the lead for good on a rebound and basket by Heard with 49 seconds left in the first quarter.
“My teammates trusted me tonight,” Heard said. “My shot was falling. [Tyler] started off with a couple of good buckets and got us going.”
The Ironmen had a significant size advantage with 6-10 Jaheem Webber, 6-8 Noah Cleveland, 6-6 Nico Newsome and 6-10 Kobe Walker. H-F was shorter at every position, but Hagemaster, a 6-8 senior, battled valiantly and clogged up Normal’s scoring opportunities in the post.
“This means everything to us,” Dismukes said. “These kids have now marked themselves in history forever.”
Heard led the Vikings with 21 points and 10 rebounds. Tyler scored 15, and Brownfield added 12 points.
“This is a special group,” Dismukes said. “I’ve been saying it all year. I got a lot of flak for saying it, but I believed it all year.”
Heard, who spent his freshman year at Kenwood, played at Montverde in Florida last season.
“I’d encourage more players to stay at home,” Heard said. “It’s a great feeling to come back and win state. There’s no other feeling like this.”
Senior guard Braylon Roman led Normal (32-6) with 18 points, and Cleveland scored 13.
The Ironmen lost the Class 4A title game in 2015 to Jalen Brunson’s Stevenson team.
“We proved that Normal Community kids can play for state championships,” Ironmen coach Dave Witzig said. “We were right there, but H-F played a great game.”
