How Richwoods and Lathan Sommerville fared in a battle of future Big Ten big men

With the game hanging in the balance, Lathan Sommerville scored nine points, grabbed five rebounds, blocked a shot from the state’s top recruit and twice dove to the floor to grab a loose ball to give Richwoods a chance to win in the final seconds.

That was exactly what the crowd came to see Friday at Rockford Boylan’s annual Thanksgiving basketball tournament: an epic duel between a pair of future Big Ten Conference big men.

Morez Johnson, a 6-foot-9 Illinois recruit, and Harvey Thornton wound up edging Richwoods 67-65 after the Knights missed three shots — none of them by Sommerville — when it was trailing by two with 40 seconds left.

“I wanted them to know who was Big Ten better,” said Johnson, who outscored Sommerville 20-19.

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The finish between the two big men was epic, but the rest of the matchup fizzled under a flurry of whistles.

Sommerville, a 6-10 senior who has committed to Rutgers, picked up his third foul in the first 30 seconds of the third quarter and then sat out over seven minutes after picking up his fourth foul with 5:33 left in the third quarter.

“It’s definitely frustrating,” Sommerville said. “I want to be out there for my team. But like my coach says, I have to move past that. I can’t let my emotions take over the game. I have to remain calm. That’s something I have to get better at.”

Sommerville appeared to be just standing there on his fourth foul, while a different Richwoods player reached in and fouled Johnson.

“It happens,” Sommerville said. “People make bad calls. That’s part of basketball.”

Richwoods (now 2-1 in the Boylan tournament) led 30-20 before Sommerville sat down with two fouls midway through the second quarter. Thornton (2-0) then went on a 17-2 run. Richwoods never led again, although it tied the game three times, at 39, 42 and 44.

The Knights trailed 55-47 when Sommerville returned with 6:34 to play after sitting out seven minutes with his fourth foul. He scored all four of his baskets after that by muscling inside, including his first two baskets off of offensive rebounds.

“I was off a little bit with my jump shot,” Sommerville said. “Once I saw that, I had to adjust and I got going a little bit after that.”

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Johnson, who finished with only two fouls, said he was playing conservative defense on those four late baskets.

“I was just walling up. That’s why he was in foul trouble and I wasn’t,” Johnson said. “I was playing smart basketball.”

Sommerville was also playing with his heart, including diving for those two loose balls.

“It’s just trying to make winning plays, that’s all it is,” Sommerville said. “It’s just the will to win. I am one of the biggest competitors in this game. I never want to lose. I never want to lose at anything I do. It was a good moment, adrenaline pumping. It gave us a chance to win. I am willing to play hard and do whatever it takes.”

That includes blocking Johnson’s shot with 2:30 to play. Followed by a Sommerville basket on the other end, that brought Richwoods to within 62-60 and put an exclamation mark on their big-man battle.

“I didn’t remember that until you just brought it up now, but, yeah, that felt good,” Sommerville said, smiling for the first time.

Contact: mtrowbridge@rrstar.com, @matttrowbridge or 815-987-1383. Matt Trowbridge has covered sports for the Rockford Register Star for over 30 years, after previous stints in North Dakota, Delaware, Vermont and Iowa City.

This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: Illinois recruit outduels Rutgers recruit in clash of future Big 10 players