A funny thing happened on the opening day of play at the Pontiac Holiday Tournament. In a day of blowouts Thursday, No. 1 West Aurora struggled.
But the Blackhawks averted a major upset, slipping past a deceptive Oak Park team 53-49.
West Aurora (8-0) appeared to have the game in control, looking sharp and aggressive in using a 16-2 second-quarter run to establish a 32-16 cushion in the first half. But the Blackhawks were crippled by foul trouble to seniors Jamaal Thompson and Derik Hollyfield. Trailing 39-22 early in the third quarter, Oak Park (1-9) awoke from its slumber, using an effective array of traps, zone and man pressure to force 16 West Aurora turnovers in the second half.
Behind the inspired play of Chris Newell (14 points) and Darryl Fife (12 points), the Huskies methodically worked away at the deficit, eventually forging a 43-43 tie on two free throws by Phil Semon with just under three minutes remaining.
But with college scouts from Illinois, Marquette and Ball State watching, Thompson took control. He hit a floating 15-footer on the left wing to put West Aurora up two. Thompson, who finished with 12 points, converted 4-of-4 free throws in the final minute to secure the victory, part of his team’s 8-of-8 shooting from the line in the final 2:12.
“We completely lost our poise in the second half,” West Aurora coach Gordie Kerkman said. “We made terrible decisions offensively, missed a lot of easy shots and didn’t play very good defense.”
In the lower bracket, second-seed Joliet Township (9-3), ranked No. 13, destroyed Waukegan 91-51 behind 29 points from Roger Powell Jr. The Steelmen opened the game with a 23-0 run, shutting out the Bulldogs for the first seven and a half minutes of the game. Fifteen different Joliet players scored.
No. 16 Curie (9-0) fought off a sluggish start to hammer the host school 68-52. Pontiac jumped out to an early 7-2 lead, and then Rome Sanders entered the game. The 6-7 junior scored a career-high 29 points on 13-of-15 shooting, collecting nine rebounds and eight blocked shots to power the Condors. Brandon Kendricks (11 points) scored the team’s first nine points and Sanders had 14 in the first half as the Condors led 33-24 at the break.
Warren (8-2) limited Bloomington to 29 percent shooting in its convincing 62-27 victory. Aaron Moore scored 10 of his 12 points in the first half, as the Blue Devils used a 17-6 second-quarter run to race out to a 28-10 halftime lead. Reserve forward Steve Ckrebo led the Blue Devils with 14 points.
In an overtime thriller, Plainfield surprised Simeon 65-59. The Wildcats led 38-27 with seven minutes remaining, though Simeon (4-4) stormed back behind the play of Kurtis Ellison (18 points), Albert Heathington (17 points) and Darnell Coleman (16 points).
In the overtime, the momentum turned following a technical on Ellison, pushing Plainfield’s lead to 56-51 with 1:56 remaining. Simeon closed within 61-59, though the Wildcats’ Chris Lewis (14 points) scored on a driving layup with 29 seconds to pull out the win.
Downstate power Danville (9-1) smothered Benet Academy 67-42.
Patrick Z. McGavin.
Bloomington/Normal: No. 2 Thornwood (9-1) got 15 points and nine rebounds from Eddy Curry and 14 points and 12 rebounds from Melvin Buckley in a 62-35 rout of Galesburg. Galesburg was led by Jordan Watson’s 13 points. No. 4 Marshall (7-0) defeated Peoria Notre Dame 76-60 in a late game.
In consolation action, Andre Senegal tallied 19 points and eight rebounds as St. Rita defeated Buffalo Grove 63-46.
Centralia: Sean Dockery paced Julian with 33 points, 12 assists, six steals and six rebounds as the No. 3 Jaguars got past Alton 87-75. Julian faces defending champion Peoria Richwoods, which defeated Quincy 62-47.
“I think [Sean’s] the best player in the state,” said Julian coach Loren Jackson. “As long as this tournament goes on, I think he’ll continue to prove that.”
Anton Palmer scored 15 points for Julian, which shot 67 percent from the floor for the game. . . . No. 7 Carver bounced back from its first loss of the season to take a 73-56 decision from McEachern (Ga.). Taran Lee led the Challengers (7-1) with a tournament-best 36 points.
East Aurora: Darnell Rawls scored 15 points and made four three-pointers as Von Steuben (6-3) edged St. Francis 60-57 in the other semifinal. . . . Zach Jeanes had 24 points as Naperville North downed Bolingbrook 60-55. . . . Jon Nielson and Jim Fortosis had 22 points apiece as Wheaton Academy dropped Fenton 64-52.
Jacobs: Donte Frazier scored 24 points to lead Bartlett (10-4) to the title in a 64-51 victory over Barrington. Bartlett went on a 32-12 run over the second and third periods to put the game away. Anand Pattani led the Broncos (9-4) with 13 points. In the third-place game, Pat Kalamatas scored 20 points as Huntley (11-2) escaped with a 65-63 victory over Elk Grove in overtime. Terry Evans had 25 points and five three-pointers for Elk Grove (7-6).
Kankakee: In Class AA games, Donnie Reynolds poured in 20 points and grabbed nine rebounds as Argo defeated Bremen 52-43. . . . Chad DeLuca’s 12 points and eight rebounds and Ryan Knowles’ 11 points led Bradley-Bourbonnais to a 53-33 win over Dixon.
In the Class A bracket, Mike Grimes tallied 17 points as Reed-Custer rolled past Peotone 71-48. . . . Ben Stephens scored 19 points and Evan Patchett scored 17 points and grabbed nine rebounds for Herscher in its 66-56 win over St. Anne. . . . Adam Cox scored 22 points to lead Bishop McNamara to a 60-49 win over Milford.
Lemont: In Class AA, Keelan Ameliaovich scored 16 points and Henry Davis added 15 as Neuqua Valley (7-3) defeated Thornton Fractional South 73-64. Tom King’s 29 points led T.F. South (6-5). . . . J.R. Logan’s 34 points carried Romeoville (9-1) past Providence 85-73.
In Class A play, Pierre Pierce poured in 46 points as Westmont (10-1) defeated Montini 82-72. Pierce broke his own tournament record of 44 points, set Wednesday.
Luther North: Walther Lutheran rallied from a 16-point deficit entering the fourth quarter by scoring 42 points to force overtime and defeat Mather 110-104. Joel Zielke, who scored 22 points for Walther, tied the game at 90 with a three-point play and again at 92 with a layup with 10 seconds left in the fourth quarter.
“We usually don’t score 42 points in a half, but the kids were aggressive and attacked the basket and it paid off,” said Walther coach Bill Koehne, whose team did not hit any of its three three-point shots.
Bo Flowers led Walther (9-1) with 21 points. Ryne Richardson added 21 points and David Vasser chipped in 20. Bojan Jouvanovic and Allen Aguada scored 25 points each for Mather (7-4).
In other action, Brian Person scored 19 points, including the game-winning layup with three seconds left as Zion-Benton held off Chicago Latin 67-65. The Zee-Bees led by as many as eight points in the fourth quarter before Latin’s Abe Sandoval, who scored 10 points, hit a pair of three-pointers in the fourth quarter including one to tie the game at 65-65 with 58 seconds left. Andre White led Zion-Benton (10-1) with 26 points, while Mike Rudoy and Max Meyers each scored 15 points for Latin (9-1). . . . Victor DeBoer’s 22 points paced Holy Cross (7-4) in a 63-53 victory over Holy Trinity.
Northside Prep: Erik Wicklund scored 18 points and Dave Padilla made two key free throws as Northside Prep (4-7) edged Near North 35-34. . . . Marquintice Davis poured in 25 points as Steinmetz (7-3) pounded St. Gregory 80-46.
Pekin: Deandre Williams tallied 27 points and eight rebounds as St. Francis de Sales (6-5) edged Peoria Woodruff 68-67. . . . Bernard Middleton poured in 23 points as Lake Zurich (9-0) downed Ottawa 61-52. . . . Darius Glover scored 24 points and grabbed eight rebounds as Westinghouse (2-3) rolled over Bartonville Limestone 62-35.
Plano: Phil Endress had 27 points and seven three-pointers as Bureau Valley (13-0) rolled past Coal City 79-47. . . . Yorkville (7-5) downed Somonauk 76-69 as Reid Burel poured in 33 points. . . . Kaneland (5-4) downed Aurora Christian 54-44 as Wayne Shaw scored 21.
In consolation games, Aaron Rankin scored 15 points as Earlville (1-10) edged Spring Valley Hall 61-57. . . . Dennis Lueken’s 29 points carried Sandwich (2-8) past Newark 57-38. . . . Andy Donaldson tallied 24 points as Byron (7-5) downed Newark 65-51. . . . Clint Baker had 22 points as Serena (5-5) defeated Indian Creek 63-49.
Prosser: Jeff Johnson scored 18 points as Quigley knocked off Phillips 66-64. Johnson hit two free throws in the final 45 seconds to give Quigley the win. . . . Charles Washington scored 15 points as Olive Harvey (9-3) beat Prosser 79-67. . . . Giovani Roldan scored 27 points as Northridge Prep (9-4) whipped Jones 86-35.
Rockford: De La Salle held Rockford Auburn to 11 second-half points in a 57-32 win. Eldridge McClatchey led the Metors with 13 points, while Michael Brown and Ben Wonzer each scored 12. Nate Newson scored 11 for Auburn. . . . Joshua Davis led a balanced Orr attack with 13 points in a 56-42 win over Sterling. . . . Aaron Robinson’s 17 points led Rockford Guilford past McHenry 75-68. Jay Althoff had 21 points for McHenry. . . . Jermane Robinson had 22 points to lead Rockford East past Grayslake 70-56. . . . Adrian White tallied 17 points as Orr nipped Rockford Lutheran 40-39.
Wheeling: Justin Funk scored 18 points as No. 17 St. Viator rolled over Prospect 72-41. The undefeated Lions led by two after the first quarter, but outscored Prospect 24-5 in the second quarter.
Andy Schaeffer scored 17 points for St. Viator, while Brian Hare scored 11 and Chris Zwiercan and Ken Peters had 10 apiece. Dan Johnson and Adam Schuessler each scored eight for Prospect (5-4).
In another quarterfinal, Notre Dame (7-3) defeated Naperville Central (8-3) 64-58 in overtime. John Bowler led Notre Dame with 17.
