The beauty and curse of tournament basketball was encapsulated for 32 minutes Tuesday night in Hillside.
After enduring a 7-14 season that coach Mark Schneider called “lousy,” Proviso West had a chance to redeem itself in its opening Class AA tournament game against Leo in the Morton sectional complex.
Despite being a fourth seed, Leo had to travel to Proviso West because the Lions’ home gym doesn’t meet the IHSA’s seating capacity minimum. It turned into a painful ride back into the city after Proviso knocked out Leo 73-60.
“It was probably a bigger disadvantage for (Leo) not being able to play on its home floor than an advantage for us to play on our home floor,” Schneider said.
For Leo, which finished fourth in the Class A tournament last season, a 17-9 season and high hopes vanished quickly.
“As lousy of a season as we have had, we played well in February and we didn’t get John Moore until February,” Schneider said.
Moore, who had been ineligible, led the Panthers (8-14) with 18 points and seven rebounds while Keith Blake added 14.
Proviso took control of a see-saw game that featured 23 lead changes in the first three quarters. Proviso went on an 11-0 run to start the fourth for a 66-53 lead that Leo couldn’t recover from.
“We went man-to-man at the tail end of the third quarter and decided to stay with it,” Schneider said. “The change in defense really helped. Especially when the kids are able to excecute it.”
Andre Brown led Leo with 23 points and 19 rebounds.
In other games from the Morton sectional, No. 2 St. Joseph (25-1) rolled over Elmwood Park 89-39 as Brandon Watkins’ 16 points led three in double figures.
Mike Krga scored 31 points to lead St. Ignatius (15-12) to a 67-52 victory over Lyons. Krga was 8 of 11 from three-point range and scored 19 of his points in the fourth quarter as St. Ignatius pulled away.
Mike Lebeter’s 12 points paced De La Salle (18-9) in its 49-40 victory over Nazareth (13-14). Nick DiForti scored 14 in defeat.
Bloom: Jonathan Woods scored 20 points with 12 rebounds as No. 7 Thornton (20-5) downed Crete-Monee 77-50.
Eddy Curry scored 19 points and David Walker added 15 to lead Thornwood (15-10) to a 57-44 victory over Eisenhower.
Derrick Murphy scored 20 points and grabbed 17 rebounds to lead Rich Central (15-11) to a 75-50 victory over T.F. North.
Chris Clark scored 29 points and Rod Middleton and Matt Szelag each scored 14 as Marian Catholic (17-8) rolled to a 76-58 victory over T.F. South.
Bolingbrook: Dwayne Wade had 18 points, Desmond Altman 18 and Lawrence McGhee 14 as No. 11 Richards (24-2) routed Neuqua Valley 89-53.
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Stan Strong scored 24 points and Matt Pahr added 19 as Hinsdale South (19-7) cruised to a 69-55 victory over St. Laurence.
Sean Mackey scored 27 points and grabbed 19 rebounds as Stagg (20-8) broke the school record for victories in a season with its 65-38 rout of Lemont.
Led by Matt Wilke’s 20 points and Colin Sendlak’s 14, Benet held off a late Hinsdale Central rally for a 47-45 victory.
East Aurora: Mitch Novack scored seven of his 13 points during a 13-2 run the fourth quarter as Glenbard West knocked out St. Charles 60-55. Aaron Kramer also scored 12 to lead Glenbard West (15-11).
Louis Smith’s 18 points led No. 18 West Aurora (20-6) to a 80-55 victory over Wheaton North (9-17)
Lincoln-Way: Marcello Robinson scored 22 points and Tom Dellibac added 20 to pace Kankakee (14-11) in its 80-62 victory over Morris.
No. 16 Hillcrest (22-5) used 16 points by Lee Butler to drub Joliet Catholic 70-26.
David Crews’ 20 points and 10 rebounds powered Bradley-Bourbonnais (16-9) past Shepard 68-60. Raymond Smith scored 21 for Shepard (5-20).
Niles West: Glenbrook North jumped out to an early lead and held off Loyola 57-47. Nick Robison led the Spartans (14-12) with 19 points and 12 rebounds and Sean Brandt added 12 as the Spartans connected on 12 of 18 shots in the first half.
“If (Robison) plays to his capability and is strong with the ball, he’s hard to stop,” Glenbrook North coach David Weber said. “He was under control when he needed to be tonight.”
Todd Gierke scored 26 points as Maine South (19-7) rolled past Fenton 73-55.
Jim Coston scored 20 points and Greg Hamann and Adam Rose each scored 16 to lead Leyden (17-10) to a 66-57 victory over St. Viator.
Prospect: Dustin Rusakiewicz scored 22 points for Hoffman Estates (19-8) in its 48-33 victory over Wheeling (11-15).
Taki Mullins scored 20 points and grabbed eight rebounds and Justin Bentley added 20 as Prospect (17-9) held off Lake Park 67-60. Prospect led 31-18 in the second quarter, but Lake Park rallied with an 18-2 spurt in the final 5 minutes to lead 37-33 at the half.
Lake Park held its lead until the final 3 minutes until Prospect’s David Oleksy (eight points) hit a three-pointer to give the Knights a 61-58 lead. Prospect then converted all six free-throw attempts down the stretch.
“The big shot, no doubt, was by Oleksy,” Prospect coach Glen Elms said. “Taki cut to center and they double-teamed him, leaving Oleksy free on the wing.”
Steve Schrandt’s 17 points led No. 3 Schaumburg (23-2) in its 57-38 victory over Fremd.
Waukegan: Liam McCluskey’s 15 points and Blake Larson’s 14 led Grayslake (22-5) past Libertyville 72-52.
Jourdain Milot scored 16 points as Warren (22-4) crushed Wauconda 72-35.
Don Lackey had 15 points and Eric White 11 as host Antioch (14-13) edged Lake Forest 51-49 in overtime.
Todd Rheingruber hit a three-pointer with 10 seconds left to give Highland Park (11-15) a 57-56 victory over Stevenson. Eric Schreiber led Highland Park with 20.