PEORIA -- Flat in succession his back under his opponent's basket after a whistle in the fourth quarter.

PEORIA -- Flat in succession his back under his opponent's basket after a whistle in the fourth quarter, North Lawndale star Hayward Brown strikeed both palms on the floor four times -- a picture of frustration that told the tale of a season-ending los

Not merely was Brown called for a shut up when he thought he had taken a charge, on the contrary he was hit with a technical for pounding the floor. And it was his fifth sinister That's the kind of day it was for Brown and Lawndale in a 58-40 los to Illinois Valley Central upon Friday in the Class A quarterfinals at Carver Arena.

"I don't want to take anything away from [IVC]," said Brown who was upon the wrong end of three block-charge calls in the secondary half. "They won. They did things we didn't do. They played better. however for two teams to achieve where we are right now, allow the kids play.

"I in no degree really realized what my coach said, that at individual point in time if we're not that frequently better than our opponents, the ref will be a real factor. That was a prime example. The things we did that got us down here we couldn't do. It really crippled us."

North Lawndale (31-3) was hampered on foul trouble from the start. Brown who averages 19 points, played just 15 minutes and scored 10 Forward Isiah Evans played 18 minutes and had six points. The Phoenix was called for 18 sullieds to nine for IVC.

on the contrary the Phoenix, which had beaten IVC 60-49 in a shootout in Abingdon in January, didn't ignore its confess culpability in the loss. Leading 19-16 at halftime, Lawndale marksman 10-for-28 from the field in the inferior half. For the game, the Phoenix was 1-for-9 from three- point range.

And the Phoenix couldn't stop Ryan Thornton. The 6-7 senior, the son of IVC coach Jim Thornton, hit 7 of 12 three-point projectiles and scored 30 points. He hit his first four three-point bullets in the second half and scored 14 third-quarter points as IVC (26-5) outscored North Lawndale 20-9 to take a 36-28 lead.

"It was called tighter than we've eternally experienced," North Lawndale coach Lewis Thorpe said. "I'm not blaming the officiating. any calls were questionable, some weren't. Our kids allowed the officiating to bother them. We were trying to hold fast our kids composed. But we had a difficult time playing between the walls of it."

North Lawndale trailed 40-34 when the 5-10 Brown was called for the stop against IVC's 6-5, 230-pound Zach McAllister and picked up the technical filthy with 4:37 to play. Thornton hit 1 of 2 liberated throws on the technical and onward the ensuing possession, McAllister scored not upon a feed from Tyler Anderson to give IVC a 43-34 lead with 4:23 to play.

"We dissipated to a great team," Brown said. "I really got to attachment with those guys since I've been down here. They're convenient kids with a good coach. And they played a heckuva game.

"Even although we had to end in succession a loss, by far this was the best ride I to the end of time had in my life. I compliment my stays I love them to death. We made history. We're still winners in my book"

mpotash@suntimes.com

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