Santana Flowers, who’s red hot for short-handed Blazing Trojans, grows up for Bloom. ‘Just have to do what I could do.’

Even though not too many people saw this coming, Santana Flowers has had a monster three-game stretch for Bloom.

The 6-foot-5 junior forward averaged 5.3 points in his first 16 games for the Blazing Trojans before breaking out against Thornridge, Mount Carmel and Thornton.

“We have some big players out with injuries, and I just have to do what I could do for the team,” Flowers said. “Before this, I was just doing what I’m doing now, but I’m earning more minutes.”

And he’s a good earner.

Flowers put together another strong effort Friday night with 12 points, 11 rebounds and four steals in a 57-52 Southland Conference victory over Thornton in Harvey.

Flowers, who scored 16 points against Thornridge and ramped that up to 20 in a stunning upset over Mount Carmel, did some of his best work for Bloom (14-5, 6-0) when guards Raeshom Harris and Jordan Brown were on the bench midway through the third quarter with foul trouble. Harris finished with 14 points and Brown had 10.

Thornton (8-8, 4-3) led 35-32 before a four-minute stretch where Flowers had six points, four rebounds, two steals and a blocked shot and took a charge.

That helped the Blazing Trojans take a 44-39 lead, and they never trailed after that.

Harris, a senior getting attention from Toledo and NCAA Division II schools, wanted to be in there during that burst, but he did enjoy the show from the bench.

“Every game, you need your teammates to step up,” Harris said.

Flowers, indeed, stepped up.

“Santana brings toughness,” Harris said. “He can rebound, and he’s strong going back up. He’s gets a lot of and-ones. And he’s fast, so now we can run the offense fast.

“He’s like a forward, but he can play guard and he can get some steals.”

The Blazing Trojans welcomed back 6-5 junior wing Jaden Clark from an injury. He scored six points.

Michael Garner, a 6-7 senior center, missed the game visiting Grambling State for football and could be announcing a decision Monday, according to Bloom coach Dante Maddox Sr.

Jayden Watson, another 6-7 senior, is still injured. Maddox is not sure when he will return.

Bloom suffered a heartbreaking 79-75 loss to Lincoln-Way East in double overtime on Jan. 11. That could have carried over, but the Blazing Trojans instead rallied for the three straight wins.

“We knew we had to step it up and that we couldn’t keep losing,” Flowers said.

“It was a tough loss, but when you play this game, you know that anything can happen,” Harris said. “We had to make sure we closed these other games out.”

Thornton was led by Vincent Rainey with 15 points. Wadell Bell added 11.

The first time these two teams met in conference play, Rainey scored 25 points in a 56-41 loss to the Blazing Trojans. But Bloom owned that game from the start, taking a 26-11 halftime lead.

This time, Thornton stayed close, with seven points being the widest gap.

“I knew it wasn’t going to be easy here and I was hoping the players knew that,” Maddox said. “It’s a rivalry game, and they (the Wildcats) are going to play. They have pride. They were everything we thought they would be.”

Speaking of pride, Maddox said players such as Flowers and Harris have shown Bloom school spirit throughout their lives.

Flowers’ father, Jabbar, played for Bloom.

“He’s one of those guys who grew up in the Bloom area and has that Bloom pride,” Maddux said. “With all of these kids transferring, it’s hard to have that pride.

“Santana and Raeshom are guys who grew up with Bloom ties and have that pride.”

Jeff Vorva is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.