Lincoln-Way survived a challenge from St. Charles East on Friday night, topping the Saints 43-39 to repeat as champions of the school’s own tournament
Knights senior center Kevin Menard won the game in the final 20 seconds when he sank 3-of-4 free throws and won a rebounding scramble with 4.4 seconds left. The Marquette-bound Menard, who grabbed seven rebounds, scored half of his 16 points in the fourth quarter. He missed the first two games of the tournament with the flu.
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“When I got back, I wanted to make as much of an impact as I could,” Menard said.
The sixth-ranked Knights (11-1) led by as many as 10 points in the third quarter, which ended with the Saints (9-3) on a 6-0 run. Saints forward Eric Regan, the tournament’s most valuable player, scored 10 of his 12 points in the second half, including the game-tying bucket in the fourth quarter.
Adam White hit both ends of a one-and-one with 1:09 left, putting the Knights up 40-36. Saints guard Ryan Schmit, who scored eight points, then nailed a three-pointer with 1:02 left.
The Knights ran about 40 seconds off the clock during a pass-and-catch exchange between Menard and White. With 17.1 seconds left, Menard hit 1-of-2 free throws and then grabbed the key rebound on the other end.
“We feel like we’re on a roll right now,” Menard said. “We want to keep going until March and we want to make it down to Peoria.”
Ken O’Brien.
Centralia: Peoria Richwoods tipped No. 3 Julian 60-55 behind Steve Turner’s 19 points. Sean Dockery had 19 points for Julian. . . . Demetrius Coley had 21 points, including five three-pointers, to help Carver top Champaign Centennial 71-60 for the consolation title.
East Aurora: Von Steuben turned the tables on host East Aurora.
The visiting Panthers avenged a four-point loss in last year’s championship game as they claimed a 69-60 title victory over the Tomcats to win their first East Aurora holiday tournament crown.
“We always thought about that [loss],” said Von Steuben coach Vince Carter, whose team improved to 7-3. “Last year, we became a little unglued with a couple of calls at the end. This year we stayed more focused.”
Darnell Rawls had a game-high 21 points while Luke Rogers added 19 for the winners. Tournament most valuable player Raymond Anthony had 20 points, including six three-pointers, for East Aurora. Demone Williams added 18 points for the Tomcats (8-3).
Glenbard East (5-6) claimed third place with a 69-54 victory over St. Francis (7-4) in a rematch of last year’s third-place game. The Rams’ Jason Fisher led all scorers with 27 points.
Kankakee: In Class AA action, Bradley-Boubonnais edged Argo 56-54 as Ryan Knowles led four players in double figures with 17 points. Donnie Reynolds’ 20 points led Argo. . . . Cerron Pritchett scored 22 points to go with Myron Burts’ 19 as Bremen rolled over Dixon 73-44 in the consolation semifinals.
In the Class A winner’s bracket, Herscher slipped past Reed-Custer 42-40 as Ben Stephens scored 13 points. Mike Grimes led Reed-Custer with 13 points. . . . Bishop McNamara downed Iroquois West 43-28 to earn a title matchup with Herscher. Tim Keller led all scorers with 14 points for the Fightin’ Irish.
Lemont: In the Class AA bracket, Jason Reiter poured in 31 points as Lemont (3-7) pounded Oak Lawn 59-40. Brian Hardt scored 13 for Oak Lawn (2-9). . . . Reavis (9-2) cruised past Joliet Catholic 57-45 behind Michael Shimkus’ 27 points. . . . Allen Matuszewski and Michael Thompson scored 27 and 22 points, respectively, for Providence (4-7) in a 83-60 rout of Thornton Fractional South. . . . Keelan Amelianovich scored 18 points for Neuqua Valley (8-3) in a 72-56 win over Romeoville to advance to the championship game.
In Class A games, Timothy Misener’s 17 points lifted Seneca (7-5) over Gardner-South Wilmington 47-44. . . . Momence (5-4) knocked off Chicago Christian 60-50 as John Gilbert scored 21 points. . . . Montini’s Justin Mamula had 23 points to lead four players in double digits in an 84-70 victory over Burlington Central. Jake Fuller had 26 points for Central (7-4). . . . Pierre Pierce led all scorers with 31 points for Westmont (11-1) in a 55-46 defeat of Lisle. Tom Buchholz had 16 for Lisle (9-1).
Luther North: Quienton Dennis netted 27 points to pace Zion-Benton’s 71-58 defeat of Walther Lutheran. Jerrell Smith added 11 points for the Zee-Bees (11-1), who advanced to the title game. Bo Flowers’ 16 points led Walther Lutheran (9-2). . . . Matt Barajas had 16 points to spark Holy Cross (8-4) to a 68-57 victory over Luther North. Shalimar Jacobs, who passed the 1,000-point mark for his career earlier in the tournament, had 30 points and seven rebounds for Luther North (6-5). . . . Deon Smith’s 20 points led four players in double figures as Holy Trinity (9-3) bested Immaculate Conception 68-64. Tony Ratini had 21 points for Immaculate Conception (5-9). … Chicago Latin got past Mather 64-57 behind Max Meyer’s 20 points. Mike Rudoy pitched in with 18 for the Romans (10-1). Allen Aguada led Mather (7-5) with 21 points. . . . Morton crushed Francis Parker 73-33 behind Manny Barrera’s 15 points. . . . North Shore Country Day slipped past Amundsen 55-51 as Brendan Kolton and Brian Jessen scored 18 points apiece. Maurice Richardson had 17 points for Amundsen. . . . Christopher Cobbs scored 14 points to lead Taft (10-3) to Saturday’s consolation championship with a 53-31 win over Elmwood Park. . . . Hirsch topped St. Benedict 60-48 as Terrance Rush and John Moore scored 16 and 15 points, respectively.
Northside Prep: Erik Wicklund poured in 32 points to go with Paul Wrenn’s 12 as Northside Prep (5-7) edged Steinmetz 57-56 for the tournament title. Trailing by eight with less than a minute to go, Wicklund scored Northside’s final nine points, including the winning three-pointer at the buzzer. Marquintice Davis led Steinmetz (7-4) with 16 points. . . . St. Gregory (4-11) nipped Near North 72-68 in overtime behind Chris Icho’s 18 points and Harley Stone’s 14.
Pekin: Darius Glover scored 17 points to lead Westinghouse 58-47 over Lake Zurich to hand the Bears their first loss of the season after nine straight wins. Jamaal Brown added 15 points and Richard Russell 13 points for the Warriors (3-3). . . . Joe Peterson scored 25 points to lead Hersey to a 67-58 victory over Freeport. Matt Robertson added 14 points for Hersey. Lamar Townsend scored 18 points to lead St. Francis de Sales over Lake Zurich 51-49, handing the Bears their second loss in as many games on Friday. . . . DeAndre Williams scored 17 points for de Sales in its 57-38 loss to Springfield Lanphier. . . . Westinghouse picked up its second win of the day with a 55-46 decision over Lanphier. Jamal Washington led the way for the Warriors with 20 points and 15 rebounds.
Plano: Ruben Flock’s 20 points lifted Bureau Valley (14-0) into the finals with a 66-38 win over Kaneland. . . . Yorkville (8-5) earned a berth in the finals with a 71-57 defeat of Plano. Reid Burel had 32 points for Yorkville. Hugo Lopez and Clinton Perrot each had 14 points for Plano (7-4). . . . Dennis Lueken scored 19 points as Sandwich (3-9) topped Earlville 70-59. Joe Anderson had 30 points for Earlville (1-11). . . . Jeremy Henderson’s 28 points gave Aurora Christian a 60-59 victory over Coal City. Kreischer Davis put in the game-winning layup at the buzzer and finished with 10 points for the Eagles (5-6). Aaron Hines led Coal City (6-5) with 18 points. . . . Mike Phillips and Nate Viland scored 13 points apiece for Hinckley-Big Rock (9-3) in a 59-51 defeat of Somonauk. Matt Grandgeorge’s 21 points led Somonauk (5-7).
Rockford: Luke Berry scored 24 points for Rockford Christian Life in a 65-56 title-game defeat of Orr. Joshua Davis had 17 points and 17 rebounds for Orr. . . . Jeremy Pritchard tallied 22 points to give McHenry a 63-60 win over Rockford East in the ninth-place game.
Wheeling: Andy Schaeffer hit 1-of-2 free throws with 1 second left to give No. 17 St. Viator a 54-53 decision over Loyola. Schaeffer finished with 12 points to go with Justin Funk’s 18 as the Lions (12-0) advance to the finals. Colin Falls scored 18 points for Loyola (9-3), which tied the game at 53-53 with 1:20 to go on Mike Neville’s three-pointer. . . . Ruben Trotter notched 17 points and five rebounds to go with Greg Zimny’s 15 points as Stevenson (8-4) earned a spot in the finals with a 46-39 defeat of Notre Dame. . . . John Vigna’s 18 points and seven assists, and Jeremy Arbuthnot’s 16 points and nine rebounds led Maine South to a 59-51 victory over Prospect (5-5). Craig Anderson’s 15 points and eight rebounds led Prospect. . . . Pat Spaeth scored 13 first-quarter points for Naperville Central in the Redhawks’ 80-66 victory over Lake Park. Spaeth hit all three of his three-point attempts in the first quarter and finished with 26 points for the game. Michael Wilson also scored 26 points for Naperville Central (9-3), while Matt Odumuyima led Lake Park (2-9) with 26 points and 12 rebounds. . . . Matt Schaefer scored 30 points and grabbed seven rebounds to lead Libertyville (7-5) in a 78-52 rout of Carmel.
York: Lyons Township advanced to the final with a 49-34 victory over Stagg, using a smothering defensive performance in the first half to overcome offensive struggles in the second half.
The No. 20 Lions (11-1) held Stagg to one field goal in the first 12 minutes, building a 31-8 lead late in the second quarter.
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“In my opinion, we were playing to take time off the clock,” Lyons coach Conte Stamas said. “When we were up [31-8] we were playing to win. I think after we got the big lead we got complacent.”
Lyons reeled off two separate 8-0 runs in the first quarter to take a 16-1 lead. Stagg (8-5) got within 12 on a pair of free throws by David Genslinger with 6 minutes to play but got no closer than 11 the rest of the way. Jim Maley led Lyons with 15 points and six rebounds. A.J. Allodi and Cortez Forte added 10 points apiece.
Jon Womack led the Chargers with 15 points and a game-high 10 rebounds.
Regardless whether they come away with the York tournament championship or not, the sharp-shooting Crusaders of Brother Rice will have left their mark in the tournament’s history book.
Brother Rice knocked down 11 three-pointers in an 83-65 semifinal win over Catholic League rival Gordon Tech (7-4). That gave the Crusaders 34 three-pointers in three tournament games, two short of the mark they set a year ago with one more game to play: Saturday’s final against Lyons.
All five Brother Rice starters scored in double figures, led by Marty Masterson’s 18-point, 10-rebound effort. John Sexton added 15 for Brother Rice (9-3). Julian McElroy led Gordon Tech with 19 points.