Everybody already knows about Andre Brown, Leo’s 6-foot-9-inch, DePaul-bound center.
Westmont’s Eric Van Der Stuyf is hardly a household name.
But if Van Der Stuyf continues to play as he did Friday night against Leo in the Westmont Class A sectional final, that may soon change.
Van Der Stuyf scored 22 points and helped Westmont hold its own on the glass against the bigger Lions with 13 rebounds as the Sentinels upset Leo 58-55 before a raucous sellout crowd. Westmont (28-1) will take on Bishop McNamara in the Kankakee supersectional Tuesday.
“The key was that their big player had a big night and our big man should have had a huge night,” Leo coach Mike Manderino said. “We didn’t go to [Brown] enough. He should have touched the ball every time down the court.”
Brown finished with 24 points on 10-for-16 shooting while adding 10 rebounds and six blocks before fouling out with 2 minutes 12 seconds left and Leo trailing by six. All five of Brown’s fouls came after halftime, when Van Der Stuyf, Pierre Pierce and Brandon Steadman began a steady attack of drives right at Leo’s big man.
“We talked about that all week at practice,” Westmont coach Craig Etheridge said. “But during the game, I didn’t have to say that once. Those guys knew that was what we had to do.”
The game was tied 39-39 entering the fourth when a bucket by Brown gave Leo its last lead. Jason Vervack answered with a three-pointer, his only field goal of the game, to put the Sentinels ahead for good. Brown committed his fifth foul on a reverse layup by Van Der Stuyf, all but sealing Leo’s fate. The Lions twice cut the lead to two in the final minute but could get no closer.
More Top Picks Best Inflatable Tandem Fishing Kayaks
Pierce, a junior, led all scorers with 25 points, extending his school-record total to 748 points on the season. Chris Burras scored 14 points and had 10 rebounds for Leo (26-2).
Pat Rooney.
Kaneland: Aurora Christian (20-8) used Jason Wright’s 15 points plus 11 points each from Tim Harris and Jeremy Henderson to snap Marengo’s 22-game winning streak with a 58-57 victory.
Aurora Christian came from behind in the fourth quarter with a 9-1 run to tie the game 49-49. With one minute remaining in regulation, Jason Dobran hit two free throws to help the Eagles take the lead for good at 58-55.
Kevin Schifferer, who turned in a monster game for Marengo (24-4) with 38 points, hit a jumper with 19 seconds left for the final margin.
Reed-Custer: Gabe Kirstein poured in 31 points, including a stretch of 11 straight points in the first quarter, to help Bishop McNamara (19-9) knock off St. Francis de Sales 58-46.
“Their size affected us, so we made an effort to get the ball into Kirstein–we did that early and often,” Bishop McNamara Coach Kurt Weight said. “We just told the guys to get the ball inside.”
Sterling Webb and DeAndre Williams had 15 points each for St. Francis de Sales (14-10).