By Xavier Sanchez
Correspondent
After closing out 2023 with a loss and runner-up finish at the 80th Annual Centralia Holiday Tournament, Marist got back to its winning ways with routs of Carmel and St. Rita.
The RedHawks topped the East Suburban Catholic rival Corsairs, 73-42, on Jan. 5 and best the Mustangs of the Chicago Catholic Blue, 62-46, on Jan. 6.
Following the win over Carmel, Marist coach Brian Hynes opened up about the experience at Centralia.
“Marist has been going down there for 45 years and I have been going for a while,” Hynes said. “I found that it is a big decider for the season. If you have high-character kids, you will come back stronger.
“Going to Centralia and everyone staying together really brought us together. It feels like a good locker room right now”
Against Carmel, Darshan Thomas finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds to help carry the RedHawks to victory in their first game of 2024.
The Corsairs actually led, 12-10, with 2:04 left in the opening quarter before Marist’s TJ Tate closed out the quarter with a basket to give the RedHawks a 16-14 lead.
Carmel struck first in the second quarter, hitting a 3-pointer to go up 17-16, but that would be its last lead of the night. Marist went on a 24-6 run and led 40-23 at halftime.
Four RedHawks scored in double figures. Stephen Brown had 15 points and seven rebounds, while Adoni Vassilakis and Achilles Anderson both had 12 points. Anderson grabbed six rebounds
Vassilakis scored all his points in the second half, including a 3-point at the buzzer beater to end the third quarter.
Tate finished with only five points, but Hynes spoke of the point guard’s impact.
“All of it was led by [Tate], who had an awesome night,” Hynes said. “He’s one of the reasons we got a lot (of points) in transition.”
Thomas, meanwhile, joined the RedHawks this season after transferring from Fenwick. Hynes applauded him for stepping in on a relatively inexperienced team and leading by example.
“To blend in is not easy, and then to blend in as a starter … usually you see some push back from kids that are returning and we have not had that at all,” Hynes said. “And it all speaks to his character.”
Thomas says it would not be possible without his teammates.
“I am forever grateful for them,” he said. “These guys are particularly young and I am older. There is so much advice that I could give them, but I did not want to nail them with how certain things should go. I am coming in and I have to learn my role, I have to embrace my role first in order to tell them what to do and be able to get advice back.
“We had to embrace each other to get to the level we want to play in.”
The RedHawks play five straight road games from Jan. 9-26.