Dec. 18--The No. 1 player in the senior class wears a Morgan Park uniform.
So too, apparently, does the deepest collection of talent in Illinois.
On the road in a hostile Public League Red South environment with its leader, Charlie Moore, on the bench with four fouls, No. 1 Morgan Park flexed its unparalleled depth in a second-half blitz to run away from No. 8 Bogan 79-58 on Thursday on the Southwest Side.
Jarrin Randall scored 20 of his 23 points in the second half, 6-foot-5 junior Malik Binns (13 points, 11 rebounds) had a breakthrough performance, and Moore (five points) did not return after going to the bench with the Mustangs leading 46-38 midway through the third quarter.
Six days after beating then-No. 1 Simeon to take over the top spot in the Tribune rankings, Morgan Park (5-1, 3-0) has a clear leg up in the state's toughest conference.
"With Charlie in foul trouble, that caused me to step up and be more aggressive and assert myself and also give the ball to Malik," said Randall, a Western Michigan recruit. "Everybody had to step up and have the mind-set to be aggressive.
"We have the mind-set that we can go 12 to 15 deep. We all trust in each other. We know if one person goes down others can pick it up. We are deep, as you can see."
Four first-half 3-pointers by Buffalo recruit James Jones (21 points) kept Bogan (6-2, 2-1) in it for a while. The Bengals' deficit was just 39-36 early in the third quarter when Morgan Park began its best stretch of play so far this season.
Moore came out shortly after, but the lead kept growing. Randall and Cam Irvin (nine points, three 3-pointers) got hot, and Binns, a transfer from Hope Academy, started flashing skills in the post and on the perimeter that figure to lead to considerable playing time.
By the time Morgan Park coach Nick Irvin was ready to re-insert Moore, the lead was than 20 and the Memphis-bound point guard declined.
"My teammates picked me up, everyone stepped up and played well," Moore said. "Everyone was clicking. Everyone was hitting shots. It was something special. Those guys were rolling. I didn't want to mess it up."
"I asked Charlie if he wanted to go back in," Nick Irvin said, "and he said, 'No, Jarrin is doing a great job, Nephew (Cam Irvin) is doing a great job just ride with them. And Malik is a ton in the post. I'm good.'"
Mike Helfgot is a freelance reporter for the Chicago Tribune.
Player of the game: Jarrin Randall, Morgan Park, 23 points, 5 3-pointers.
Key performers: Morgan Park -- Malik Binns, 13 points, 11 rebounds; Jamal Burton, 9 points, 7 rebounds; Cam Irvin, 9 points, 3 3-pointers. Bogan -- James Jones, 21 points, 5 3-pointers.
