| Wade cheers Richards to 1st state |
| Sunday, 16 March 2008 00:00 | |
Miami Heat star Dwyane Wade had a flight delay on his way to Saturday night's Class 4A title game to watch his alma mater, Richards, against Zion-Benton. Wade arrived at Carver Arena at 8:35 p.m. and immediately jumped into the middle of the Bulldogs' raucous pregame huddle. At his request, Wade was seated in the corner of the arena in the middle of the Richards cheering section. Wade made his way down to the Bulldogs' locker room for a halftime pep talk and celebrated with the team on the court after the victory.Richards 67, Zion-Benton 63Bulldogs bring home crown Wade cheers Richards to 1st state championship By Bob Sakamoto Tribune staff reporter PEORIA -- In this state tournament of so many firsts, Illinois high school basketball now has its version of the Lambeau leap. Moments after getting his award for helping Richards beat Zion-Benton 67-63 in Saturday night's Class 4A title game, 6-foot-7-inch junior Shaun Pratl jumped on top of a table and launched himself into a horde of his schoolmates. "Those are my people, and we wouldn't have come this far without their support," said Pratl, a standout wide receiver in the fall. "I can't believe I'm standing here and we just won the state championship." Pratl (16 points, eight rebounds) and teammates Tommie Thomas (15 points, seven rebounds) and Carl Richard said they were inspired by the presence of ex-Richards star Dwyane Wade at Carver Arena. "That meant so much to us that he would go out of his way to come see us win our first title," said Richard, who led the Bulldogs with 19 points and eight rebounds. "In the (pregame) huddle, he told us: 'Let's go. It's the playoffs, win or go home.' " In an absolutely riveting game in which Zion-Benton (32-4) and Richards (30-4) exchanged one big play after another the entire 32 minutes, it was Pratl who had 14 of his 16 points in the second half, including nine in the fourth quarter. "I felt like I had let my teammates down in the first half," Pratl said. The Zee-Bees, who were led by Quintrell Love's 16 points, clung to a narrow lead most of the fourth quarter until Pratl scored with 2 minutes 38 seconds left for a 58-57 Richards lead. A Rodney Clinkscales basket with 16.4 seconds left brought Z-B within 64-63. But three Thomas free throws in the final 13.5 seconds clinched the biggest victory in Richards history. "What won it for us was Eliud Gonzalez keeping us together and Shaun in the fourth quarter," Thomas said. "During a timeout in the second half, Shaun had this look in his eyes that said: 'Give me the ball and I'll take you guys to the title.' " Richard said that he periodically dials up Wade on his cell phone. Is he on D-Wade's Fave Five? "Nah, I don't think so," Richard said with a laugh. "It was so special that he showed up. We didn't want to send him home with a loss." |