Dec. 31--Thornton wanted more than to win another Big Dipper Tournament championship.
The No. 15 Wildcats hoped to stake their claim among the best teams in the Chicago area. They made quite a statement with a 67-59 win against No. 11 Marian Catholic on Wednesday night at Rich South.
"Everyone's been talking about Marian like they're the best team in the suburbs," Samuel Taylor III said. "We're the best team in the suburbs."
Taylor scored 11 of his game-high 22 points in the fourth quarter for Thornton (9-1). The Wildcats' 12-point lead early in the period shrank to five with 44 seconds left, but Taylor made six free throws in six attempts to keep the Spartans (10-4) at bay.
Thornton led 23-22 after a back-and-forth first half, then took control with a 10-0 run in the third quarter. The Wildcats' Patrick Rucker scored 10 points in the period, including a 3-pointer that gave his team a 45-32 lead with 1:13 left in the third.
"That was definitely the type of energy and leadership we needed from our point guard," said Thornton's Orlando Allen Jr., who scored 19 points.
Sean Taylor kept Marian Catholic in the game in the fourth, when he scored nine of his team-high 19 points.
The Big Dipper title is Thornton's eighth, all since 1996 at the 43-year-old event. It was the Wildcats' first crown since 2010, and it avenged a loss to Marian Catholic in the 2013 final.
Bob Hurst is a freelance reporter for the Chicago Tribune.
Player of the game: Samuel Taylor III, Thornton, 22 points
Key performers: Thornton -- Orlando Allen Jr., 19 points; Patrick Rucker, 14 points. Marian -- Sean Taylor, 19 points; Austin Richie, 11 points.
