POINT BREAK
Munir-Jones provides boost at point guard and scores 16 points too, powering Hillcrest past Oak Lawn
Senior point guard Aa’Reyon Munir-Jones came into his first season with Hillcrest looking to make a fast impression with his scoring ability.
Munir-Jones, a transfer from Tinley Park, quickly realized shooting was not always his best option with the talented Hawks.
“At first, starting the season, I was shooting a lot more,” MunirJones said. “Then I realized my teammates will feed off me going to the bucket, and that’s when they’re going to step up and I can feed it to my bigs or kick it out to a shooter.”
Munir-Jones has embraced the pass-first role as a point guard, but he can still score. He had 16 points Friday night as the host Hawks rolled to a 67-32 win over Oak Lawn in a South Suburban Conference crossover.
Darrion Baker added 14 points and six rebounds for Hillcrest (13-2, 6-0 South Suburban Blue), while Marcus Glover contributed 12 points and six rebounds.
Corey Lee scored nine points and John McGowan had six for Oak Lawn (11-3, 3-1 South Suburban Red).
Hillcrest forced 29 turnovers and turned many into easy baskets.
“We feed off the defense a lot,” Munir-Jones said. “We’re good in our half-court offense too, and we work on that a lot, but if you let us get energy from our defense, we’re going to take over.”
Take over is exactly what the Hawks did in a hurry. Oak Lawn led 5-3 early, but Hillcrest went on a whopping 31-0 run over the final 5 minutes, 36 seconds of the first quarter and first 6:44 of the second quarter.
“We were just playing together, playing with positive energy, trusting each other and having fun,” Baker said. “That’s what let us get that big lead early and we never looked back.”
Munir-Jones, who hit a pair of 3-pointers during the 31-0 run, said he’s starting to learn more about Hillcrest basketball — both past and present.
“It’s gotten easier just from knowing my players,” he said. “I know them, they know me. I know what spots they like to be in and they know what spots I like to be in.
“I love playing for Hillcrest with these coaches and the tradition. There’s a lot of history I don’t even know yet, but I’m learning.”
Baker said the Hawks have full faith in MunirJones to run the show.
“We always knew Aa’Reyon could run the point,” Baker said. “We trust him handling the ball. He’s a great decision-maker. We knew he could do it, we put him in position to do it, and he did it.”
Hillcrest coach Don Houston appreciates Munir-Jones’ ability to evolve and play several roles.
“It’s him recognizing that he can play all-around,” Houston said. “He doesn’t have to be one-dimensional. He can do so many things, and he’s realizing that now. That makes him even more dangerous.”
During the 31-0 run, Hillcrest threw down four dunks, including two from Matthew Moore. The Hawks also hit five 3-pointers, with two from Quinten Heady.
After a runner-up finish at the Big Dipper Tournament, Hillcrest has looked to tweak one thing.
“We’ve really been stressing playing with energy,” Houston said. “Even though we had some big wins at (the Big Dipper), we didn’t play with the energy we normally play with. We were trying to get back to what we had been doing.”
Oak Lawn was coming off Tuesday’s big 60-57 win over Oak Forest but never got on track Friday night.
“Hillcrest is obviously very good,” Oak Lawn coach Jason Rhodes said. “I thought we were capable of playing much better and giving them a game. I’m pretty disappointed by the effort and execution of our first group.”