Freeman Steals the Show in Bloom Boys Basketball Comeback Victory

Dejahown Freeman will make plenty more shots during his boys basketball playing career at Bloom Township High School. And he’ll come up with plenty more defensive stops, too.

He will be hard-pressed to come up with a play bigger than the one he delivered in the frantic final moments of the Blazing Trojans’ 40-37 victory over Sandburg Friday in the championship game of the Class 4A Joliet Central Regional.

Bloom, after trailing by as much as 27-15 in the third quarter, rallied to take a 36-35 lead on the strength of two free throws by senior Henry Hicks with 2:35 remaining.

The two teams traded scoreless possessions. Then, Freeman, a 6-2 junior guard, deflected a pass thrown by Sandburg’s Brian Dace and raced down the court in hot pursuit of the loose ball. Freeman threw himself on the floor and managed to tip the ball to teammate Donald Moore. Bloom called timeout with 25 seconds remaining.

Moore hit four free throws in the final 23 seconds to close out the victory and Bloom took home its first regional championship plaque since 2008.

“The whole game coach (Bloom’s Jasper Williams) was telling us to shoot the gaps,” Freeman said. “But really we didn’t have many opportunities. We were trying to stay with our man. But I felt like it was a real good opportunity to shoot the gap at that point.

“The ball was rolling. I was just wanted to do what I could to get my team the win. So, I just dove for it. I went for it. I’m sure I did pick up a floor burn. But it’s all right. It feels good to win.”

Freeman scored all five of his points in the third quarter. His 3-pointer helped the Blazing Trojans shoot the first hole in Sandburg’s 2-3 zone defense. And his effort on defense proved contagious.

Hicks, Moore and Lejavius Johnson—Bloom’s three senior leaders—came up big down the stretch. Moore scored seven of his game-high 14 points in the fourth quarter. He made 9-of-10 free throws. Johnson’s long 3-pointer tied the score 32-32 with 4:45 remaining. He scored all five of his points in the fourth quarter.

“Well, the seniors pulled us through,” Williams said. “All the team did well in leadership. We had a big steal by Dejahown Freeman right here at halfcourt. Never say die. And I hope this is the game that gets us back playing our style of ball.”

The Blazing Trojans (25-3) move on to face Thornton at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday in a semifinal game at the Lockport Sectional. Thornton advanced with a 45-41 victory over Joliet West.

“That’s one of the oldest rivalries in the state of Illinois—Thornton and Bloom,” Williams said. “We’ll be ready.”

“There will be a lot of Thornton fans and a lot of Bloom fans,” Freeman said. “We’re looking forward to it.”

His defensive hustle and effort helped make it possible—even when it looked like the task was growing impossible for the Blazing Trojans. Their dramatic turnaround victory settled a score with Sandburg.

The Eagles rallied from nine points down in the last 2 minutes of regulation and notched a 47-43 overtime victory over Bloom when the two first met in the MLK Day of Hoops event at Joliet Central.

“I was not worried,” Moore said. “I knew we were going to come back and pull it out. I have that much faith in our team. We’ve been working too hard all year to let our season end right here.”