— Lyons has traveled a long way since its season-opening 32-point loss to Stevenson, which was coming off a third-place finish in the Class 4A state tournament.
Twenty-six games later, the Lions wrapped up a sensational regular season on Feb. 25 night with a 63-54 victory over Morton in the showdown between West Suburban Conference divisional champions.
Lyons (22-5), which has won 10 of 11 games, proved that a opener doesn’t always set the tone for the season.
“When you play Stevenson in the first game, you’re going to learn a lot and the kids did learn a lot,” Lyons coach Tom Sloan said. “Mostly it was just confidence on the offensive end of the floor, the ability to make shots with multiple people and just understanding who to defend in what way. We had guys that got better all year long and we needed everyone to play better and they did.”
Lyons senior stars Harrison Niego and Jaquan Phipps conceded that the season-opening blowout loss to Stevenson might have been the best thing to happen to the Lions.
“Stevenson was playing at a state championship level and that’s where we wanted to be,” Niego said. “Playing a team at that level really showed us what we need to do to get to that level and I feel we’ve been building ever since that game. It’s been big for us.”
Phipps added: “No one wanted to lose the season opener but playing against a team at that level taught us a lesson.”We have to be prepared and we have to show up day in and day out no matter who we’re facing. Since then I feel like everyone has given 110-percent effort.”
The Lions got off to a fast start against Morton (15-11), which brought along a large cheering section. The Mustangs showed up to the north campus fieldhouse with 13 buses packed full of students.
“This game was getting pumped up over social media all week long,” said Phipps, who finished with 16 points. “It was a big game and I really loved the environment. They had good support and I think this will prepare us for the playoffs. We played well under pressure.”
Lyons raced out to a 15-6 lead by the end of the first quarter. Trailing 20-11, Morton put together a run to pull within 21-19, but the Lions took a 29-21 advantage into halftime and that was with Niego still scoreless at that point.
“We had guys contribute early and that’s what we’re all about,” Niego said. “It’s not just about me. I know when my shots aren’t falling I have to get the ball to other guys. We have a bunch of guys that stepped up in big spots and that’s what gave us the lead.”
The flow of play in the second half was more of the same. The Mustangs put together little spurts but never got closer than four points. Meanwhile, Niego started taking over offensively and finished with a game-high 18 points. Danny O’Malley and Connor Riordan added eight apiece for the Lions.
Morton’s Netfali Ramirez finished with 18 points while Harvard-bound Weisner Perez had 15.
Capturing the West Suburban Silver was the first goal that Lyons checked off this season and the win over Gold Division co-leader Morton helped achieve the second, claiming the unofficial West Suburban championship.
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Lyons is seeded No. 1 in the East Aurora Sectional and was set to open the Proviso West Regional at 6 p.m. Wednesday against the winner of Tuesday night’s regional quarterfinal game between No. 15-seeded Proviso West and No. 17 Glenbard East. The regional final is 7 p.m. Friday.
The regional was pushed back a day after water was discovered on the gym floor due to a leaking roof.
Rob Valentin is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press