Back in 2020, Morez Johnson helped lead Riverdale Washington to an Illinois Elementary School Association Class 2A eighth grade state championship in boys basketball.

Layshawn Scott and Jerell Turner were also on that team, which took the title shortly before the pandemic began. Some of the band is back together again as seniors at Thornton.

“It feels good to play with those guys again,” said Johnson, who transferred from St. Rita. “It’s been a minute. The game before the championship game, we played (Notre Dame commit) Cole Certa, and we beat them. It was a big game. It was crazy.

“We would like to go to Champaign and win again.”

Can Johnson, a 6-foot-9 senior forward and Illinois recruit, lead the Wildcats this season to an Illinois High School Association state championship in Class 3A at his future home in Champaign?

“That’s the goal,” Johnson said. “The goal is always to get downstate. No matter what the school is, the goal is to get downstate and win it.”

It might be a good thing to have some players with state experience.

The last time a Southland school won a state title in boys basketball was in 2018, when Chicago’s Morgan Park prevailed in Class 3A. The last team from the south suburbs to win was Hillcrest in 2010, also in 3A.

Last season, Johnson averaged 18 points and 11 rebounds for St. Rita, but Thornton coach Tai Streets said Johnson brings a lot more to the table than just those lofty numbers.

“He commands respect,” Streets said. “He doesn’t just talk. He does it.

“He plays hard. He’s a leader. They listen to him. I know he transferred in this year, but he knows all the kids here.”

Before choosing to go to St. Rita, Johnson was close to coming to Thornton. He said, as an eighth grader, he took math courses at the school.

Now that he’s back, he will team with some familiar and not-as-familiar faces with fellow transfers Meyoh Swansey (Romeoville), Isaiah Green (Kenwood) and Chase Abraham (T.F. North).

That mix should greatly improve the Wildcats’ 14-12 record from last winter.

“We’re all seniors and we should all know how to play with each other,” Johnson said, “I think we have some smart basketball players, so we should be good.”

Thornton should find out how good early.

A meat-grinder schedule includes a Dec. 2 matchup against Class 4A power Kenwood in the Chicago Elite Classic at Credit 1 Union Arena and Jan. 5 game against two-time defending Ohio state champion Richmond Heights in LaPorte, Indiana, which will be televised on ESPN2.

The Wildcats will also mix it up with a bevy of talented teams in the 50th Big Dipper Tournament from Dec. 26-29.

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Meanwhile, the recent preseason buzz around the Harvey campus was Johnson signing with Illinois. It was a decision he made his sophomore year, and he stuck with it.

“Obviously, we feel great that we’ve had him committed for two years — it does seem like forever,” Illini coach Brad Underwood said in a video produced by the school’s athletic department. “It’s been fun to watch him blossom and grow and get better.

“Now he’s turned into, in my opinion, the outstanding big in this class.”

With Thornton graduate Ty Rodgers in the starting lineup for the Illini and Johnson heading to Champaign, Streets has a rooting interest, even though he played football for Michigan before embarking on an NFL career.

“I know, I know,” Streets said of now cheering the Illini. “I have two guys there. As a Michigan guy, it hurts me. Nah, I’m joking, I love Illinois. They’re doing a great job.

“I think they’re going to shock some people this year and they are going to keep getting better.”

Jeff Vorva is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.