Senior forward Kendall Webb has turned into an invaluable leader for Tinley Park, but he almost never even made it to the varsity level.
As a sophomore, Webb quit the junior varsity team and prepared to walk away from basketball entirely. But he’s sure glad he reconsidered.
“Sophomore year, I had some ups and downs, I wasn’t playing much on JV and I quit the team,” Webb said. “I came back because I knew that was a bad choice. I had friends I’ve been playing with since before high school and I didn’t want to let them down.
“I didn’t want to let the team down or let Tinley Park down. I came back, I ran and did what I had to do to get back on the team. And I’ve just gotten better since then.”
The 6-foot-5 Webb is now doing big things for the Titans. He stepped up with 16 points and six rebounds Wednesday night and came through with a win-sealing blocked shot as host Tinley Park rallied for a 65-62 win over Shepard in a South Suburban Conference crossover.
Daniel Jervier led the Titans (10-9, 4-3 SSC Blue) with 22 points and five rebounds. Nolan Maciejewski scored 15 points, including the go-ahead 3-pointer with 30 seconds to go, while Keoni George pitched in with four points and eight rebounds.
Jovan Thomas scored 16 points and eight rebounds for Shepard (7-13, 0-7 SSC Red), while Amari Williams picked up 14 points and eight rebounds. Marcus Monteclaro and Aaron Arrambide added 10 points apiece and Aurion Lee-Barnes chipped in with six points.
Webb came up with two huge defensive plays in the final minute. With Tinley Park leading 63-62, he intercepted a Shepard pass and got the ball to Jervier.
“I thank my coaches,” Webb said. “They told me to get in front of him and make the play. He made a bad pass and I came up with the steal, got the ball to ‘DJ’ and he made the free throws to seal the win.”
Actually, it still took one more play from Webb to really clinch it. He blocked Lee-Barnes’ 3-point attempt as the buzzer sounded.
Those are the types of plays Tinley Park coach DJ Brown has gotten used to seeing Webb make.
“Kendall’s a big part of our offense and our defense,” Brown said. “We run a lot through him and teams do see him as a presence and a lot of times they avoid him. That helps us defensively.”
Webb’s older brother, Tony Jr., also starred for the Titans and now plays at Benedict College in South Carolina. Kendall recently made a trip to see his brother play.
“Going out there and watching college players definitely gave me a different look at the game,” Webb said. “I saw stuff that I have to be able to do at the high school level to even be able to make a college team.”
Shepard, meanwhile, led by as many as nine points Wednesday and held a 46-40 advantage going into the fourth quarter, but Webb’s six points in the third quarter kept the Titans in the game and Jervier took off for 14 points in the fourth.
Maciejewski’s 3-pointer with 30 seconds left gave Tinley Park the lead for good.
“Down the stretch, I knew I could trust my team,” Maciejewski said. “We were down seven at halftime, we came out with a game plan, we executed, we had momentum.
“I knew I could trust my guys, and if the game comes to me, it comes to me, so it did there.”
It was the type of game Webb has seen from the Titans since he was in junior high cheering on his brother.
“I’d watch Tinley Park and see how they always have to battle back and it’s never easy,” he said. “We always have to work hard here, and I love it.”
