Benny Jay: North Lawndale versus Whitney Young

by Nicky Diamond, authored January 16, 2008

Sammy and I are on a roll. Having watched the Bulls yesterday, we decide to check out tonight's Big Game: Whitney Young High School versus North Lawndale High School.

North Lawndale's ranked first in the Chicago area and Young's ranked seventh and the game's on TV so it's a really big deal.

We pick up Nick -- who used to play football on a team I coached -- then head over to Young. My bowling buddy, Norm, was supposed to come, as was John, the security guard, and Pamela, the referee, and Randy, the retired teacher. But Norm's got a party and John's got the night shift and Pamela's working a game, and Randy's recuperating from an operation on his knee.

We sit on the Young side of the court -- behind a man who used to coach high school basketball in Mississippi. And it's quite a scene. The gym's packed. They've got North Lawndale's students on one side and Young's on the other. And they're going at it -- each side teasing and taunting the other. All good fun.

The game's nip and tuck. As soon as one team goes up, the other team comes back. They're both good -- but neither is good enough to put the other away. North Lawndale misses too many free throws, Young can't make its layups.

It comes down to one last possession -- Young with the ball down by three. Marcus Jordan drives, North Lawndale's defenders converge and Jordan shuffles a pass to Anthony Johnson, who's been left open in the corner. As it unfolds, I'm thinking: Why did the defenders drop off of Johnson? He's behind the three point line. The best Jordan can do is hit a layup which will only cut the lead to one. But if Johnson hits that three....

Game tied! He buries that baby -- nothing but net. Man, those kids from Young -- they blow the roof off of that joint -- screaming, cheering, stomping. It's like all the good in life gets encapsulated in that moment.

That's two OT's in two nights for Sammy and me -- we truly are on a roll.

Young wins and their kids are singing songs of happiness. I feel good for them, but not too good, cause I also feel bad for North Lawndale. Their players look like they want to cry -- got their heads down and shoulders slumped as they shuffle off the floor. I have a whole pep talk I want to give them: Could have gone either way, shot falls here, shot falls there....

"They should have hit their free throws," says Nick.

"They shouldn't have dropped off of Johnson to double on Jordan," I say.

"High school kids," says the coach from Mississippi. "Gotta cut 'em some slack."

As he says that, I flash back to Rasheed Wallace doing the same thing in game five against San Antonio in the NBA championship back in 2005. He dropped off of Robert Horry to cover Manu Ginobili. And, bam, Horry buried a three to win the game. If Wallace doesn't leave Horry, he doesn't hit that shot and San Antonio doesn't win that game and maybe Detroit wins the championship, instead of the other way around.

And the thing is -- Horry's nickname is Big Shot Rob cause, you know, he always hits the big shot. So how in the hell can you drop off a guy they call Big Shot Rob? But that's how it goes. You get a split second to make a decision -- later on you can only hope it's the right one.

The kids stream out the gym, breath turning to steam in the cold. It's hard to tell who's from North Lawndale and who's from Young -- everybody's got their hoods up and winter coats on. Looks like the game's long since forgotten. Seems like everyone's laughing, carrying on and planning where to party.

I try to remember what it's like to be 16 or 17 or 18. But that was a long time ago....