Waubonsie Valley senior Chris Karkazis was very patient for half of Saturday’s game against Oswego East in the Ernie Kivisto Hoopfest Shootout at East Aurora.
His even-tempered play paid off in a big way after he scored 19 points in the first half. He then served as more of an offensive decoy in the second half, letting his teammates make big baskets in a 57-56 victory.
“If my man’s going to be four feet off of me, I’m going to shoot a three,” he said. “If the shot’s not there, I’m going to be patient.”
Waubonsie Valley (8-14) took a 30-29 lead into halftime after Brian Phillips’ 3-pointer with 1:03 left.
“I thought we came out and played really well in the first quarter,” Wolves coach Steve Szymanski said. “We knew Karkazis was tough, and he really took it to us, but we were able to hang with them. Where we had trouble was the third quarter, and that’s been a problem for us all season.”
Oswego East (4-17) really made it difficult for Karkazis to get his hands on the ball in the third quarter, but the Wolves also had a tough time doing anything with it themselves.
“I’m sure they were a little bit bigger and faster than we expected, but once we settled down, we started playing good half court defense,” Warriors coach Chaz Taft said. “That’s what really won us the game. Our half court defense forced them to take quick shots.”
The Wolves led 33-31 late in the third quarter before Phillips (16 points) drained back-to-back threes. Karkazis then followed with a difficult, twisting layup at the buzzer to give the Warriors a 39-33 lead.
“Brian Phillips his those two big ones and you have to realize that you can take your time to make things happen,” Karkazis said. “I’m a team player and love these guys. That was awesome of Brian to hit those and for Logan (Yanisch) to find him with great passes.”
Karkazis shot 11-for-13 from the field and 3-for-4 from the free throw line.
“He just let the game come to him,” Taft said. “When they were getting real physical with him and trying to deny him the ball, he did a nice job of seeing the cutter and where everybody else was.”
Phillips split two free throws to give the Warriors a 57-54 lead with 10.6 seconds left.
Rather than go for the tie, Trevor Ross (22 points) settled for a layup for the Wolves.
“We wanted him to shoot the three, but he had a wide open lane to the basket,” Szymanski said. “It was probably the easiest one he had all game but too much time ran off.”
Jalen Williams added 14 points for the Wolves, while Yanisch had a game-high 13 rebounds for the Warriors.
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“It’s been a roller coaster for us this season, but it’s like that for a lot of people,” Karkazis said. “You just have to figure out ways to win games and once you win one you get the confidence to win another one.
?We haven’t been able to do that, but I’m glad, because there are teams that start sparking come playoff time and I think that can be us.”
Chris R. Walker is a freelance writer.