PONTIAC, IL—There isn’t any doubt about Bloom’s aspirations this week at the Pontiac Holiday Tournament. It’s championship or bust for the Blazing Trojans. So far the pressure isn’t getting to them.
“We are dealing with it pretty well,” Bloom guard Dante Maddox Jr. “We just haven’t played our best basketball. That’s a good thing. It just shows how good of a team we really are. When things start clicking it will be a better performance overall.”
Bloom started to display title-winning form in the second half of its 83-64 win against Oak Park in the quarterfinals on Friday.
“We just had a bad first half,” Maddox Jr. said. “We haven’t shot well here as a team. We knew we were a good shooting team. We just had to come out and keep the effort up and we knew it would turn around eventually.”
Maddox scored 30 points and grabbed six rebounds. He shot 9-for-14.
“It so happened that I found the groove and I was able to stay in that groove,” Maddox said. “I’m just playing. I’m not interested in stats and numbers. I’m going to keep playing hard and if my shot is not falling I’ll try and rebound and get the ball to whoever is.”
The Huskies gave top-ranked Bloom all it could handle for 16 minutes. Then the Blazing Trojans opened the third quarter with a 9-2 burst and never relinquished control.
“It went from four to 11 quick and it was all off bad shots, long rebounds and easy fast break points,” Oak Park coach Matt Maloney said. “Against a team like Bloom you have to value every possession and we didn’t.”
Christian Shumate finished with 16 points and eight rebounds. Donovan Newby added 10 points and 11 rebounds and Keshawn Williams scored 13.
Josh Smith led Oak Park (7-4) with 16 points and junior Isaiah Barnes added 15 and six rebounds.
“There were times out there we didn’t have a senior on the floor and we were hanging right with them,” Maloney said.
Bloom (11-1) will face Benet in the semifinals on Saturday.
“It’s a big adjustment going from [Oak Park’s style] to Benet,” Maddox Jr. said. “We just have to make sure we play our game and not settle for their tempo and let them control the game.”
