Hillcrest beats Lemont, says it is 'state or bust' as the IHSA releases the state tournament brackets

Hillcrest’s season took a major turn when 6-7 senior Max Carmicle suffered a season-ending injury in early December. The Purdue-bound defensive lineman was also the focal point of the basketball team.

“We had high expectations early in the year and when Max went down, it threw us completely off,” coach Don Houston said. “We had to learn how to play without him. He was a potential all-stater.”

Carmicle’s injury meant major minutes for 6-7 junior Terrence Richardson.

“Terrence was a 5-9, B-team player in his freshman year,” Houston said. “He just stretched out and then he had to learn how to play with his length.”

Richardson didn’t have the physical mindset for post play early in the season.

“Terrence started out the season soft,” Hillcrest guard Jamir Ratliff said. “But he got a tougher mindset and got better from there.”

Richardson scored seven points and grabbed 13 rebounds in the No. 25 Hawks’ 60-49 victory at Lemont on Friday.

“We put a lot of work into toughening him up,” Houston said. “He’s been doing a great job.”

The softness is gone now, and Richardson plays like a promising college prospect.

“I’ve been up and down and up and down this season,” Richardson said. “It’s been a lot.”

The Hawks (19-7, 12-0 South Suburban Blue) have a talented backcourt to handle the scoring load. Ratliff scored 17 points against Lemont to crack the 1,000-point mark in his career.

“Hitting 1,000 feels good, but it was never really the goal,” Ratliff said. “It just happened naturally.”

Sophomore Ja’Sean Greene added 14 points for Hillcrest with some dynamic moves to the basket and senior point guard Jamari Thomas handled Lemont’s pressure with grace.

“[Greene] has been playing like that all season,” Houston said. “He gives us solid minutes and he’s probably our best defender. He’s only going to continue to get better. He will step up huge for us next year.”

Lemont (15-12, 9-3) jumped out to a 19-9 lead and still led 29-28 at halftime but only scored one field goal in the first 12 minutes of the second half as Hillcrest took control.

Junior Zane Schneider led Lemont with 22 points, and 6-5 senior Ryan Crane added 11 points and seven rebounds.

Hillcrest joined the Super 25 on Sunday after knocking off Kenwood by 22 points last week. The Hawks’ only losses in 2026 are to York and Curie, and they played the Condors tough, losing by just two points.

“We are playing to the competition level,” Houston said. “But overall, we are starting to find ourselves now. It is state or bust.”

Hillcrest hosts a Class 3A sectional. The Hawks are the No. 2 seed behind Leo, and the path to Champaign looks very promising. The Illinois High School Association released the full state tournament playoff brackets on Friday evening. Crete-Monee and Thornton are the other contenders.