Gorniak's injury slows Mustangs
Downers Grove South coach Paul Runyon didn't know which of Alex Gorniak's ankles the senior point guard had sprained in the first half of Tuesday's Class 4A Hinsdale Central sectional semifinal, and he didn't care.
It was enough to know that Gorniak's disability sent a ripple through Downers South that the Mustangs couldn't recover from. They lost to top-seeded Hyde Park 53-41.
"We just have been able to, with our defense, cause enough turnovers, cause enough transition baskets. Our strength has been our transition," Runyon said after Gorniak went scoreless and assist-less. "Without Alex handling the ball that transition or even against the press we were not able to capitalize like we have in the past against a team that presses us.
"They were just too quick, and then with Alex's injury, you don't want to make excuses, but the kid's averaging 11 points and he's handled the ball for us two years in a row. You take him out of the game like that, with no points for him."
Hyde Park coach Donnie Kirksey had seen what Gorniak did to Mt. Carmel in Friday's regional championship.
"I just told the guards, stop No. 20 from getting the basketball, push him left," Kirksey said. "Don't let him get to the basket. He hurt Mt. Carmel. After we studied the film and everything we didn't want to let him go right. We made everything he wanted to do go left."
Senior guard Malcolm Herron also was a target of the Thunderbirds.
"Our coach really scouted Malcolm Herron and (Gorniak)," said San Jose State-bound Thunderbird Anthony Dixon, who led everybody with 19 points and blocked 3 shots. "He just told us to make sure we know exactly where they are on the court, because those are the biggest threats on their team."
The fifth-seeded Mustangs (23-6) started well, leading 9-6 before Hyde Park started hitting its shots and went on an 8-0 run to end the first quarter.
"We came out pretty strong early," Herron said, "but it kind of trailed off at the end when they put a little pressure on."
"We came out and shot a lot of jump shots," Kirksey said. "Everybody wanted to do it by themselves individually. ...Everybody wanted to be an individual hero."
The Mustangs cut the margin to 2 on a Herron bucket early in the second quarter, but they never got any closer. They seemed to have momentum on their side at the end of the third quarter, but instead of possibly cutting the lead back to 4, the Mustangs turned the ball over and Jerome Moore beat the buzzer with a 3-pointer to make the score 34-25. It was never close again.
"That was a big basket for them," Runyon said. "That was a big turning point."
Moore and Martel Jackson added 10 points apiece for Hyde Park (26-4), which meets the winner of tonight's Simeon-Chicago Vocational game in Friday's sectional final at Hinsdale Central.
Herron and Bledar Dervishi scored 12 points each for the Mustangs, and Julius Staisiunas added 9.
"Those four kids are the ones we've counted on all year, and three out of the four came through pretty good," Runyon said of Gorniak, Herron, Dervishi and Staisiunas. "But the other players were not able to do things because Alex was hurt, and that's what really hurt us."
CLASS 4A HINSDALE CENTRAL SECTIONAL SEMIFINALS
HYDE PARK 53, downers grove south 41
Downers South - Gorniak 0 0-0 0, Cahill 1 0-0 3, Herron 6 0-0 12, Staisiunas 4 1-2 9, Dervishi 5 2-4 12, Bentley 0 0-0 0, Carson 0 0-0 0, Mahone 0 0-0 0, Kusinski 1 0-0 3, Wido 0 0-0 0, Biel 1 0-0 2, Dillon 0 0-0 0. Totals 18 3-6 41.
Hyde Park - Griffin 4 0-0 8, Dixon 5 9-13 19, Jackson 5 0-0 10, Harris 3 0-0 6, Shareef 0 0-0 0, Moore 3 3-3 10, Jones 0 0-0 0, Craig 0 0-0 0, Allen 0 0-0 0, Brown 0 0-0 0, Scott 0 0-0 0, David 0 0-0 0. Totals 20 12-16 53.
Downers South 9 5 11 16 -41
Hyde Park 14 8 12 19 -53
3-point baskets: DGS: Kusinski, Cahill. HP: Moore.
Fouled out: None.