St. Joseph coach Gene Pingatore has seen many great accomplishments by many great players since he took over the Chargers’ basketball program in 1969. Saturday’s victory wasn’t one of them.
But the victory was historic nonetheless. Pingatore picked up victory No. 600 as sixth-ranked St. Joseph held off Conant 42-36 in Hoffman Estates.
“It’s the program that wins,” Pingatore said. “We change names, we change faces, but the program wins.”
St. Joseph prevailed despite missing 10 of 12 free throws in the fourth quarter and 11 of 19 for the game. Steve Morgan led the Chargers (8-0) with 12 points and Keith Perry added 11.
St. Joe opened a 29-16 lead at the half thanks to an 18-5 second-quarter spurt. Conant climbed back into the game, however, behind a 9-0 run to close the second quarter and start the third. The Cougars (4-4) eventually pulled to within five with less than a minute to play but couldn’t get closer.
“We played one of the worst games we could, yet we still came away with the win,” Pingatore said. “That shows character. This is the first game all year that we didn’t play well.”
Thornridge 56, LaSalle-Peru 42: No. 11 Thornridge (10-1) used 12 points by Joshua Drumgole and 11 by Armond Nelson to top LaSalle-Peru (3-6).
Oak Park 52, Wheaton Warrenville South 45: Each time Oak Park threw what it thought would be a knockout punch, Wheaton Warrenville South turned the other cheek and threw one back. It took overtime for the Huskies to deliver the knockout blow.
Oak Park (4-3) scored the first seven points in the extra session and finally put away the Tigers (7-2).
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Jon Cheeks scored seven of his 11 points in overtime for the Huskies. J.P. Tenuta led Oak Park with 14 points.
Twice in the last 2 minutes of regulation, Oak Park took the lead, only to watch Wheaton scramble back to tie. Jon Beutjer led Wheaton with 12 points.
Aurora Christian 74, Walther Lutheran 54: Jason Wright had 21 points as Aurora Christian (6-2) rolled.
Danville Shootout: Aaron Carr scored 23 points, grabbed 13 rebounds, had eight assists and eight steals to lead Lincoln Park to a 93-24 rout of Georgetown-Ridge Farm.
De La Salle 44, De La Salle (Minn.) 39: Matt Bochenek scored 20 points and Ken Love added 10 to lead De La Salle (5-4) over its Minnesota namesake.
Gordon Tech 83, Holy Cross 32: Gordon Tech (7-2) scored the first 18 points and 30 of the first 35 and cruised to the non-conference victory. Jitim Young led the Rams with 19 points and Jerry Sanders added 12.
Harvard 59, Big Foot (Wis.) 56: Jason Pederson scored 16 points and Justin Reckamp added 12 to lead Harvard (5-5).
Hersey 74, Maine South 69 (2 OT): Hersey led the entire game until Maine South’s Brian Price (21 points) hit a three-pointer with 29 seconds remaining to tie it at 53 and force overtime. Hersey’s John Camardella (26 points, 10 rebounds) returned the favor for the Huskies (7-2) at the end of the first overtime, hitting two free throws to force a second overtime and then followed his own shot with 6 seconds left for the game-winner against the 20th-ranked Hawks (5-3).
Jacobs tournament: Michael Liddy’s 12 points and Matt Lerner’s 11 helped Lake Forest edge Crystal Lake South 56-53 in double overtime. Scott Lemke had a game-high 26 points for South. . . . Barrington edged Cary-Grove 54-47 as Todd Moser (11 points) hit 5 of 6 free throws in the fourth quarter to secure the victory. . . . Aaron Barthel scored 19 points and Justin Penio added 17 as Elk Grove rolled past Jacobs 68-52. . . . Robert Holmes scored 12 points and Jeff Schilling added 10 points as Hoffman Estates knocked off Crystal Lake Central 54-30.
Lockport 65, Joliet Catholic 41: Sophomore Kevin Travis scored 23 points and Lockport (7-1) pulled away by outscoring Joliet Catholic 20-6 in the final quarter.
Luther South tournament: Douglas Bush and Eric Young each scored 16 points to lead Bowen to an 81-42 victory over Richards Vocational. . . . Montele Hogan scored 16 points and Jermaine Johnson added 14 as Washington slipped past Kennedy 59-52. Jerome Stephens led Kennedy with 21. . . . Lakimion Callans scored 12 points to lead Hubbard to a 53-41 victory over Fenger. . . . Charles Simmons scored 17 points to lead U-High (4-6) to a 52-38 victory over Evergreen Park. . . . Tavares Nickson’s 18 points and Patrick Henry’s 14 led Agricultural Science past Clemente 59-54. . . . The host Braves downed Tabernacle Christian 67-53 with Terrence McCants’ 16 points and Daniel Rush’s 14. Jerry Jones scored 23 in defeat.
Marengo 63, Sycamore 36: Kevin Schifferer hit 10 of 12 free throws and led all scorers with 29 points as Marengo cruised.
Palatine 64, St. Viator 59: Palatine had big first and third quarters and it was enough to hold off St. Viator in the non-conference matchup.
Rob Misora led the Pirates (3-5) with 18 points and Yaacov Yisrael added 14.
St. Ignatius 80, Holy Trinity 29: Mike Krga scored 22 points and Matt Campbell hit four three-pointers en route to an 18-point outing as St. Ignatius (6-3) rolled in the non-conference matchup.
Warren 64, Deerfield 62: Mike Brandow scored 26 points and Langston Hughes added 15 as Warren sneaked out the non-conference victory. The Blue Devils (9-1) upset No. 10 Zion-Benton Friday evening. Stevenson’s last-second three-pointer was no good.
Waukegan 58, Libertyville 55: Waukegan survived four Libertyville shots, two of them three-pointers, in the final 47 seconds to hang on for the non-conference victory. Justin Claiborne led Waukegan (3-6) with 14 points, including three three-pointers in the first quarter. Andy Yarc led Libertyville (3-6) with 16 points. Waukegan was coming off an upset of Stevenson Friday evening.
“If we hadn’t started out so well tonight, it would have been a different game and a long night for us,” Waukegan coach Grant Flink said. “We really didn’t have the intensity to come back again.”
West Aurora 51, St. Charles 32: West Aurora opened the second half with a 9-0 run to turn an 18-13 lead into a 27-13 advantage and then coasted in the non-conference matchup. Jeff Ruffin led the Blackhawks (5-3) with 15 points and six rebounds.
Willowbrook 64, Glenbard East 53: Alex Jesovic scored 25 points and Dan McKendrick added 20 to lead Willowbrook (5-5).
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