Jeff Cade II found out he would be starting only the night before Homewood-Flossmoor’s game against Lincoln-Way East on Jan. 9 in the south gym.
The junior guard’s been a role player so far this season, providing a little scoring punch off the bench. But minor injuries forced the Vikings to take on the Griffins without a few players, including starters Darrius Hawkins Jr. and Danny Ruffin. That meant Cade would have to step up.
“I just wanted to be confident, let the game come to me. Don’t force it,” he said. “I’m just trying to play my game and show people that I have it.”
He did that, scoring 13 in a 60-50 SouthWest Suburban Conference win.
conference rival Lincoln-Way East Jan. 9. (David P. Funk/H-F Chronicle)
Cade scored 13 points, behind only senior Marvin Douglas’s 14. He said he actually came into the game not expecting to get many looks but felt like he grew more confident as the game went on.
“Jeff just competes. He brings it every day in practice and I thought the same slowed down a little bit for him today,” coach Brandin Brown said. “Of course he made mistakes and that’s expected, but taking that jump from JV to varsity, I thought tonight was important for him.”
H-F (15-1, 7-0) led for almost the duration, building its biggest advantage in the third quarter.
H-F didn’t play the clean game it usually does, with a few more turnovers and defensive lapses than most nights. But both Cade and Brown said the night provided an opportunity for other players to gain valuable varsity experience that they hope will pay off later. Freshman Derrell Jackson Jr. played big minutes, scoring 10 points while going 8-10 from the free throw line.
“We were missing two starters that have the ball in their hands probably 75, 85 percent of the time and when you take them out of the equation, guys are put into positions that they aren’t used to being in,” Brown said. “Longterm, that’s going to pay off.”
Brown said his injured players, all of whom sat at the end of the bench and helped out during warmups without any obvious struggle, were held out mostly out of caution. None are expected to miss significant time.
“Their health is the most important thing. We hope to get those guys back here soon,” he said. “We’re just trying to take it day by day right now.”
Ethan Jackson scored 11 for the Vikings. KaiJay Brown led the Griffins with 16.
