Hillcrest’s JayQuan Ratliff, limited in first game vs. TF North, passes test. His goal? ‘All the little things.’

JayQuan Ratliff sometimes surprises his Hillcrest teammates with the passes he pulls off.

The junior guard doesn’t always need his eyes to know where he should throw the ball.

“I don’t always look, but I always know where my teammates are on the court,” Ratliff said. “I know they’re going to finish when I get it to them.

“Those no-look passes, I don’t really work on them, but they just come to me naturally.”

Ratliff’s ability to set up his teammates Tuesday night helped Hillcrest pull away late.

He had seven assists, including three huge feeds in the final three minutes, as the top-seeded host Hawks defeated fourth-seeded T.F. North 74-56 in a Class 3A Hillcrest Sectional semifinal.

Quentin Heady had a monster performance with 31 points and eight rebounds to lead the Hawks (28-3), who avenged an 84-64 loss to the Meteors in their regular-season finale. Bryce Tillery and Tolu Samuels scored 15 points apiece, with Samuels also blocking seven shots.

Chase Abraham scored 24 points off the bench, while Jevon Warren finished with 21 points and 10 rebounds for T.F. North (21-6).

Hillcrest will take on Lemont (27-6) or Marian Catholic (26-7) at 7 p.m. Friday in the sectional championship game.

“JayQuan’s not going to score a lot, but he does so many intangibles,” Hillcrest coach Don Houston said. “He’s one of the biggest keys to our success.”

Ratliff scored just two points, but he took over the game with his drive-and-dish abilities down the stretch.

The Meteors trailed just 64-56 with under three minutes left until Ratliff hooked up his teammates on three straight possessions, assisting on two layups for Heady and a dunk by Akron recruit Darrion Baker.

That sparked a 12-0 game-ending run for the Hawks.

“I didn’t think he saw me at times, but he got the ball to me for sure,” Heady said of Ratliff. “I appreciate that. He wasn’t even looking at me on two of them, so he surprised me.”

Ratliff came off the bench for most of the regular season but was inserted into the starting lineup for the playoffs.

“Coach just told me in practice he was going to put me in a starting role,” Ratliff said. “It felt great. I had to make sure I did what I had to do to stay in that spot and help my team the most.

“I don’t score that much, but I can guard the best person on the other team, get my teammates their points, get steals and 50/50 balls and all the little things.”

Houston credited Ratliff for his ability to handle the ball and deal with T.F. North’s pressure, which caused the Hawks all kind of problems in the first meeting.

“We knew we were going to run into some teams that are going to pressure us a lot, so we wanted to get in some guys that are going to be able to handle the ball,” Houston said. “JayQuan has great basketball IQ and great vision — really takes that pressure off Bryce and lets him play more loose and free.”

Heady, on the other hand, does score a lot, especially when he has extra motivation.

“At the end of the game last time, they were dancing and they were dunking,” Heady said. “We had to come back with a vengeance.”

The loss ended a massive turnaround season for T.F. North, which won its first regional title in 12 seasons after winning just four games last winter.

Ratliff, meanwhile, played sparingly in the loss to the Meteors. He was ready this time.

“I couldn’t play much the first time we played them because my knee was injured,” Ratliff said. “I had to make a difference this time.”

Steve Millar is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.