Mount Carmel’s Ronald Johnson created his own runway in landing a spectacular finish.
The freshman point guard looked up and saw the time remaining on the clock Friday night. He knew that the Caravan trailed Brother Rice by one point. And he knew exactly what he had to do.
He initiated a one-man fast break.
“I got the rebound off the missed free throw,” Johnson said. “We just had to score as fast as possible. I think of my game as flashy but also simple. I like to get downhill with the ball.”
Indeed, Johnson drove coast to coast for the game-winning layup with 4.6 seconds left as Mount Carmel pulled off a 42-41 Catholic League Blue win over the host Crusaders in Chicago.
Johnson finished with 12 points, six rebounds, three assists and two blocked shots for Mount Carmel (17-10, 5-3). Sophomore guard Marshaun Thornton scored a game-high 13 points.
Senior forward Joe Niego picked up 12 points and eight rebounds for Brother Rice (20-10, 3-5). Junior forward Adam McBrearty, a transfer from Mount Carmel, added 11 points and six rebounds.
Up 41-40 with 10 seconds remaining, Brother Rice missed two free throws, setting the backdrop for Johnson’s highlight-reel basket.
“That’s just Ron,” Thornton said. “You can expect anything out of him because he’s just a great player. Big-time players make big-time plays. You already see the playmaking.
“(Friday night) he passed up open shots just to get better shots.”
Mount Carmel coach Phil Segroves pointed out that Johnson has learned to connect his natural talent to the moment.
“He’s an elite player, but now he’s learning how to play high school basketball,” Segroves said of Johnson. “He’s only 15 years old, but he wants the ball in his hands.
“Unselfishly, he feels that he can make the plays for us.”
The 6-foot-3 Johnson, explosive and athletic, has the positional versatility and flexibility to play either on or off the ball. With his size, range and reach, his game is built for mismatches.
“That’s always the ultimate goal,” Johnson said. “To create a disadvantage for the opposite team so I can use my size and my wingspan.”
Johnson stepped into the void after Mount Carmel was hit by multiple transfers and graduation losses from last season’s supersectional qualifier.
The early opportunities accelerated his growth curve.
“I think if I didn’t have all the playing time I got at the start, I wouldn’t have developed how I am now,” he said. “Coming from grammar school or AAU basketball, I learned you have to be patient.
“In high school, you have to slow it down and get the best shot. Every possession is crucial.”
Johnson has also demonstrated an impressive range of interests that paints a fuller portrait.
“I played drums and percussion in a drumline and I was really good at it,” he said. “I also play piano. I really love plants, nature and outdoor stuff.
“I think my outside hobbies help bring more interest and show I’m not one-dimensional.”
Johnson comes from a family of basketball players, ranging from his siblings to his father and uncle and nieces and nephews.
“When I was younger, I used to play against my sister and my whole family used to beat me,” he said. “I’ve always played against older guys. I think that has helped with my competitiveness.”
On top of that, Johnson has the perfect mentor in Tracy Abrams, the former Mount Carmel and Illinois standout who’s in his first year with the program as an assistant coach.
“I’ve known him since the fifth grade when I started going to his camps,” Johnson said of Abrams. “I really became who I am by starting so young, and I’ve grown as I grew up with the game.”
Patrick Z. McGavin is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.