When T.F. North coach Tim Bankston asked Chase Abraham to embrace a reserve role in order to provide a scoring spark off the bench, the junior guard was OK with it.
It helped Abraham that one of his idols in the NBA has the same job.
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“Jordan Poole is my favorite player right now,” Abraham said of the Golden State Warriors guard. “He comes off the bench as the sixth man and makes game-winning plays.
“I’m looking just to help the team win. Score if needed, pass the ball if needed, play defense if needed.”
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Abraham did a ton of scoring Thursday night. He poured in a career-high 34 points off the bench to lead the host Meteors to a 67-60 win over Oak Lawn in a South Suburban Conference crossover.
Jevon Warren finished with 18 points and eight rebounds and Jordan Petty contributed six points and eight rebounds for T.F. North (16-4, 8-1 SSC Blue).
Corey Lee scored 14 points to lead Oak Lawn (15-7, 7-3 SSC Red), which had a seven-game winning streak snapped. Ayham Salah had 13 points and five rebounds, while Jack Dempsey and Eduardo Chiquito each scored 10 points.
Abraham sparked the Meteors’ rally from a 24-13 deficit early in the second quarter. He scored 13 points in that stretch, making seven straight shots at one point.
“As soon as the first couple shots fell in, I was like, ‘It’s going to be my night,’” Abraham said. “We came off a big loss Tuesday (to Lemont), our first conference loss, and I just wanted to come out in this game and make a difference.”
Bankston is quick to motivate Abraham by pointing out what he still needs to work on.
But Bankston also sees Abraham providing exactly what he envisioned when he put him in the sixth man spot.
“Check Jordan Poole’s stats,” Bankston said of Abraham’s idol. “I bet he didn’t have four or five turnovers in the fourth quarter. So, we need Chase to be better there.
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“But he gives us everything he’s got. We need someone who can come off the bench and give us a lift, and that’s what Chase does.”
Bankston credited the 6-foot-4 Petty with doing all the little things for the Meteors. Petty is the tallest player in the starting lineup.
He’s ready to battle even when he’s at a height disadvantage.
“People taller than me are really soft, so it’s easy,” Petty said. “We’ve got people scoring. I’ll just get the boards and pass the ball out to them. That’s pretty much my job.”
Down 30-29 at halftime, T.F. North outscored the Spartans 19-8 in the third quarter to take control.
Oak Lawn tried to make a furious rally in the final two minutes, cutting an 11-point deficit down to five, but T.F. North closed things out at the free-throw line, finishing 20-for-24.
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“T.F. North is one of the better teams in the league and it’s always hard to win here on the road,” Oak Lawn coach Jason Rhodes said. “We tell our guys all the time it comes down to defense and rebounding on the road, and neither of them were good for us.
“(Abraham) was just incredible. He was the best player on the floor.”
Abraham, who is just 5-6, is trying to prove height will not hold him back.
“I just want to come out and compete,” Abraham said. “I want to show these college coaches that even though I’m little, I can still score the ball. I can still play defense. I can still make winning plays for my team.”
Steve Millar is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
