Jones, Parker combine for 40-plus as Riley honors Cornell, beats Adams 87-67

South Bend Riley rolled to an 87-67 victory over inner-city rival Adams in a Northern Indiana Conference game that doubled as a public tribute to late Clay legend Jaraan Cornell. The Wildcats combined on-court firepower with a pregame ceremony that underscored Cornell’s lasting place in South Bend basketball lore.

Tyrese Jones and Da'Kori Parker paced Riley, each scoring over 20 points as the Wildcats pulled away in the second half. Riley’s balanced attack and scoring punch gave the home team separation that Adams could not erase, producing a 20-point margin in a game that also carried heavy emotional weight for the community.

Before tip-off, Riley players wore yellow warmups bearing Cornell’s iconic photo and his No. 22. Family members including Cornell’s children Ciarra and Jayce and his father Paul were brought to midcourt, received a round of applause and were presented with a bouquet of flowers. A moment of silence followed, and photographs captured Cornell’s family visibly emotional during the tribute.

The ceremony was the culmination of planning announced earlier this winter; an Instagram post in mid-January said, “On Jan. 15, 2026 (Riley vs. Adams), Riley will honor Jaraan with shooting shirts and a moment of silence. This is a commitment that Riley has”, a pledge the program fulfilled on Feb. 10. Shawn Henderson, who helped organize the night and who remembers watching Cornell’s 1994 buzzer-beater as an eighth grader, called Cornell a standard-bearer for the region. “He is the model of what South Bend basketball is,” Henderson said. Another community voice summed up Cornell’s intergenerational appeal: “We get a lot of negative stories,” Daniel said. “Jaraan was one of those impactful stories that can go on for generations and generations and keep giving back to our kids. I think they’re playing for him, regardless of how close their relationships may have been. It’s a South Bend thing.”

Cornell’s best-known moment came in 1994 when his buzzer-beating 3-pointer sent South Bend Clay’s IHSAA state championship game against Valparaiso to overtime; Clay went on to win 93-88, the program’s lone boys state title. That shot has been remembered by many in South Bend as a unifying moment during a turbulent time in the city, one that helped bind neighborhoods and fans around a single, joyous memory. Cornell later played at Purdue and died suddenly in June 2025, making last night’s recognition a moment of communal remembrance less than a year after his passing.

For local fans, the game stitched together sport and memory: Riley advanced in conference play behind Jones and Parker, while the pregame tribute reinforced Cornell’s mythos as a figure whose influence extends beyond stat lines. The Wildcats now turn back to Northern Indiana Conference competition carrying momentum on the court and a refreshed sense of community connection off it, keeping alive a legacy that still resonates around South Bend gyms.