After watching a 14-point halftime lead evaporate by the early minutes of the fourth quarter, Gordon Tech turned up the defensive pressure to regroup for a 65-57 win Wednesday over Palatine at the York Tournament.
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“Sometimes it’s harder to play with a lead,” Gordon Tech coach Scott Bogumil said. “We picked up our defensive pressure in the second half. [Palatine] threw the ball away and we converted. I looked up and all of a sudden we were up eight again.”
Palatine took a 56-55 lead on a free throw by Cassidy Peterson with 3 minutes 28 seconds to play. But Gordon (6-3) held the Pirates without a field goal the rest of the way, finishing with a 10-1 run.
Michael Lang hit five three-pointers and led the Rams with 23 points. Chris Inniss added 16 points and seven rebounds, while guard Joe Soroko also scored 16 to go with four steals. Gordon Tech point guard Julian McElroy recorded 19 assists. Peterson’s 16 points led Palatine.
In other opening-round games, No. 20 Lyons Township defeated Riverside-Brookfield 60-46. The top-seeded Lions (9-1) received an 11-for-13 shooting performance from junior Jim Maley, who led the club with 24 points. Cortez Forte added 18 points for Lyons. … St. Ignatius topped Downers Grove South 53-46 behind 21 points from Matt Weber. … Stagg outscored Nazareth 17-8 in the fourth quarter to rally for a 55-53 win. Troy Riley led the Chargers with 18 points. Marcus Theus, Preston Purchase and Laron Reed scored 12 points apiece for Nazareth. … Conant (8-2) used a 20-7 fourth-quarter run to outlast Glenbrook North 51-41. Paul Moersch led the Cougars with 16 points. … Wesley DeVries scored 16 of his game-high 23 points in the fourth quarter to lead Wheaton Warrenville South to a 60-47 victory over Willowbrook. DeVries also pulled down 10 rebounds for the Tigers (5-4) while James Wangler chipped in 13 points. … Host York scored the first nine points of the game and never trailed in a 58-52 win over Deerfield. Guard Rashad McSwine led the Dukes (7-3) with 25 points.
— Pat Rooney
Bloomington/Normal: No. 4 Marshall routed Jacksonville 77-47 behind 16 points from Justin Bowen. Andre Goodwin tallied 14 points, seven rebounds and six assists for Marshall. . . . Nate Gurnsey scored 14 points to lead Springfield Southeast past Andrew 53-44. Brendan Christy scored 14 points and Bob Jonaitis added 11 points and seven rebounds for Andrew. . . . Irvin Payne’s 11 points were enough to lift Washington, D.C., Coolidge past St. Rita 54-39. Andre Senegal’s 10 points and Tim Yerkes’ 11 rebounds led St. Rita.
DeKalb: Erik Jaske and Justin Diedrich tallied 25 points apiece as DeKalb (13-0) captured its first tournament title since 1983 with a 75-55 defeat of Rochelle. . . . John Shafer and Jim Eddy scored 17 and 14 points, respectively, for Geneva in a 72-53 defeat of Streator in the third-place game.
East Aurora: Jason Fisher scored 20 points and made two key free throws in the final seconds as Glenbard East (4-5) nipped Wheaton Academy 65-62. Noah Ritchie’s 22 points led Wheaton Academy (5-4). . . . Mike Henning tallied 20 points and 10 rebounds and Matt Henning added 15 points and nine rebounds as St. Francis (7-2) knocked off Naperville North 64-52. Mike Benning’s 12 points led Naperville North (2-8). . . . Phillip Watson’s 16 points led four players in double figures as Von Steuben (5-3) defeated Bolingbrook 65-50. Derrell Jenkins had 20 points and 10 rebounds for Bolingbrook (3-5).
Jacobs: Dan Evans scored 21 points and Kevin Cooper contributed 13 points as Cary-Grove downed Crystal Lake South 78-66. Will Benson had 17 points for South. . . . Crystal Lake Central knocked off Belvidere 84-68 as Steve Trull scored 20 points. Alan Mercer added 19 points–all in the second half–for Central. . . . Matt Bruksch had 20 points to lead Prairie Ridge over Round Lake 56-55. Jim Nicoline had 19 points and made six three-pointers for Round Lake. . . . Eric McDonald scored 19 points, including three three-pointers, as Elk Grove rolled past Machesney Park Harlem 59-38.
Lemont: In Class AA action, Eddie Small had 17 points on 8-of-11 from the field as Romeoville (8-1) knocked off Joliet Catholic 64-54. Brensley Haywood had 24 points for Joliet Catholic (1-7). . . . Michael Thompson tallied 18 points and eight rebounds as Providence (3-6) rolled past Oak Lawn 72-45. Ryan Shaw added 17 points and five three-pointers for the Celtics. Frank Padula had 10 points for Oak Lawn (2-7). . . . Tom King tallied 19 points and eight rebounds as Thornton Fractional South (6-4) defeated Reavis 63-49.
In Class A, Pierre Pierce scored 44 points on 17-of-30 shooting and dished out seven assists as Westmont (9-1) cruised past Gardner-South Wilmington 84-69. Tom Weathers had 32 points and 11 rebounds for Gardner (4-5). . . . Ryan Neill had 14 points, seven rebounds and five assists as Montini (8-1) handled Momence 64-47. John Gilbert’s 18 points and 15 rebounds led Momence (3-4). . . . Jake Fuller had 23 points, 11 rebounds, four assists and four rebounds as Burlington Central (7-2) defeated Seneca 63-53.
Lincoln-Way: No. 6 Lincoln-Way, trying to repeat as tournament champion, rolled past Tinley Park 57-39. James Augustine scored 20 for Lincoln-Way and Adam White added 14 points. . . . Robeson defeated Richards 50-38 behind Amir Major’s 14 points. Richards’ Duran Johnson had 16 points.
St. Charles East eliminated T.F. North 71-57. Eric Regan sank 9-of-10 foul shots for St. Charles, finishing with 19 points. Paris Hardamon scored 13 points for the Meteors. . . . Sandburg beat St. Laurence 50-40 in overtime, when the Eagles limited the Vikings to one basket. Sandburg’s Cory Cummens netted six of his 16 points in overtime. Mike Halac led the Vikings with nine points.
Luther North: Immaculate Conception (5-7) defeated Elmwood Park 69-58 as Tom Hagerty scored 29 points. Angelo DelGiudice scored 18 points to lead Elmwood Park (1-8). . . . LaFringe Hayes had 14 points as Walther Lutheran blasted North Shore Country Day 82-44. . . . Andre White scored 16 points as Zion-Benton routed Amundsen 82-46. . . . Mike Rudoy had 12 points as Chicago Latin downed Hirsch 47-37. . . . Danny Mendoza had 13 points in Mather’s 75-53 victory over St. Benedict. . . . Damien Bracy, Devonsha Pope and Willy Mills tallied 12 points apiece as Holy Trinity defeated Taft 54-47. . . . Matt Barajas scored 18 points to lead four players in double figures as Holy Cross defeated Morton 68-58. Hector Vargas’ 14 points led Morton.
Luther South: Chris White had 16 points to go with Sheldon Yarbrough’s 13 as Washington (8-5) defeated Fenger 59-53 in the title game. . . . In the third-place game, Karl Brown scored 22 points and Donald Reese added 20 points as Agricultural Science (8-4) bested Kennedy 76-67. Jerald Hunter tallied 15 points and 11 rebounds for Kennedy (7-4). . . . Eric Telander’s 24 points lifted Evergreen Park to a 59-53 victory over Lindblom for fifth place.
Northside Prep: Erik Wicklund’s 28 points carried the host Mustangs (3-7) to a 50-41 victory over St. Gregory. Northside Prep outscored St. Gregory 19-8 in the fourth quarter to seal the victory. Harley Stone scored 24 points for St. Gregory. . . . Steinmetz romped past Near North 97-44 as Marquintice Davis poured in 26 points.
Plano: Jeremy Henderson scored 22 points and scored the game-winning basket on a layup with 1 second left as Aurora Christian (4-5) edged Spring Valley Hall 42-40. Josh Duffield had 10 points for Hall (3-6). . . . Scott Pitstick had 17 points and five three-pointers as Kaneland (4-4) downed Earlville 69-51. Kevin Boltz’s 24 points led Earlville (0-10). . . . Blake Dankovich scored 17 points as Coal City (6-3) pulled away from Mendota 57-42. Doug Safranek had 18 points for Mendota (4-8). . . . Ruben Flock’s 19 points led Bureau Valley (12-0) past Sandwich 82-53. . . . Reid Burel scored 25 points and Matt Dailey contributed 19 points as Yorkville cruised to a 72-56 victory over Newark. . . . Jeremy Spoonmore’s three-pointer with 10 seconds left gave Somonauk (5-5) a 47-46 victory over Byron. Matt Grandgeorge led Somonauk with 15 points, while Spoonmore finished with six points. Adam Bailey had 10 points for Byron (6-5).
Rich South: No. 11 Bloom (9-1) rolled past Rich East 81-59 as Joe Chapman tallied 24 points and nine rebounds. Antonio Cool added 13 points and 10 rebounds for the victorious Trojans. Antonio Gray had 19 points and five steals for Rich East. . . . Mike Smith had 22 points on 10-of-14 shooting and Brian Nievera and Mike Hall added 15 points apiece as No. 18 Shepard (8-2) downed Hinsdale South 77-61. Zach Luetkemeyer and George Thomas had 14 points apiece for Hinsdale South. . . . Charles Bass had 25 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks and Darrin Alexander added 17 points as Crete-Monee (5-5) defeated Leo 63-56. Chris Burras led Leo (8-3) with 17 points and 10 rebounds. . . . Corey Patterson scored 14 points as Hales Franciscan defeated Marian Catholic 70-61. Mike Gavin’s 23 points and four three-pointers led Marian. . . . Brandon Cole’s 19 points led Rich South (7-2) in a 85-49 rout of Eisenhower. . . . Thornton romped past Lincoln Park 69-44 behind Tyrone Coleman’s 18 points and eight rebounds. Rashad McKinnie had 15 points as Chicago Vocational (7-3) snuck past Dulles (Sugar Land, Texas) 51-45.
Rockford: Sharon Crenshaw had 13 points in Rockford Auburn’s 51-32 defeat of Grayslake. Adam Zwolfer had 11 points for Grayslake in the loss. . . . Eric White poured in 32 points as Antioch edged Orr 53-52. Josh Davis led Orr with 18 points. . . . Kevin Filipowicz’s 16 points helped Rockford Guilford to a 59-49 defeat of De La Salle. Drew Stevens and Michael Brown put in 14 points apiece for De La Salle. . . . McHenry bested Sterling 67-46 behind Brady Noll’s 25 points. . . . In its second game, De La Salle edged Rockford East 56-54 as Aaron Wellington put in 16 points. . . . Adrian White’s 24 points lifted Orr past Rockford Christian Life 64-63.
Wheeling: Justin Funk put in 18 points and grabbed eight rebounds as No. 17 St. Viator topped St. Edward 64-44. Ken Peters added 11 points, including three three-pointers, for the Lions (10-0). Doug McCullough had 16 points for St. Edward. . . . Mike Vigione’s 17 points led Loyola’s 67-38 rout of Niles North. Colin Falls contributed 12 points and 10 rebounds for the Ramblers. . . . Maine South downed Streamwood 63-49 behind John Vigna’s 23 points and Bryan Smaha’s 11 points and 10 rebounds. Drew Gronau led Streamwood with 22 points and 11 rebounds. . . . Bobby Steinman and Rueben Trotter each scored 13 points for Stevenson in a 65-32 defeat of Maine West. . . . Lake Park edged Carmel 72-66 in overtime on Dino Schulatz’s layup at the buzzer. Ray Alford led Lake Park (2-7) with 19 points and Schulatz finished with 18. . . . Michael Wilson’s 18 points led Naperville Central (8-2) to 46-31 win over Wheeling.