Adoni Vassilakis grew up going to Lockport basketball games, watching his four older brothers all play for the Porters.
When it was his turn to go to high school, though, Vassilakis took a different path and headed to Marist.
With a last chance for postseason glory at stake, his hometown team stood in the way. And the senior guard looked at it as the ultimate must-win.
“This game meant everything,” Vassilakis said. “I couldn’t lose or I’d hear it for the rest of my life.”
Vassilakis won’t have to listen to any smack talk from family or friends.
He produced a well-rounded effort Wednesday night with eight points, six rebounds and six assists as Marist rolled to a 59-33 win over Lockport in a Class 4A Joliet West Sectional semifinal.
Stephen Brown, a North Carolina State football recruit, led the second-seeded RedHawks (29-5) with 18 points and 13 rebounds. TJ Tate and Charles Barnes added seven points apiece.
Barnes also contributed 10 rebounds for Marist, which plays at 7 p.m. Friday against top-seeded Homewood-Flossmoor (29-3) in the sectional final..
“This was awesome,” Vassilakis said. “It’s definitely nice to get that weight off my shoulders that I had coming into this game. I think we played a great game. Lockport is a good team still.
“Our size just outmatched them. You can’t teach that.”
Nedas Venckus finished with eight points and seven rebounds for Lockport (27-6), which was playing in a sectional game for the first time in 15 years. Nojus Venckus chipped in six points.
Marist shut out the Porters in the first quarter and led 24-1 five minutes into the second quarter.
Brown confirmed the RedHawks were extra fired up to play for Vassilakis.
“We had some beef with them before the game,” Brown said. “Our teammate, Adoni Vassilakis, this is his neighborhood school. So we knew we were going to go out there and dominate those guys for him. We wanted to go out there and play for him.”
Vassilakis acknowledged it was a tough decision to go elsewhere after his family developed such a connection with Lockport basketball.
Ultimately, he knew he needed to go his own way.
“Going to Lockport games and watching my brothers, it was always my thing,” he said. “When they heard I wasn’t going there, they were pretty upset.
“I knew I had to do what was best for me at the end of the day. Obviously, you see which school is the better school.”
Vassilakis still has close relationships with some of the Lockport players, including the Venckus brothers.
“The twins, I work out with them all summer, so I know them pretty well,” Vassilakis said. “I know their games. That helped me when I was guarding them because I know their tendencies and what they want to do with the ball.”
That knowledge certainly paid off as Marist’s defense frustrated the Porters all night. Lockport missed its first 16 shots.
The Porters got going in the third quarter, however, scoring 19 points and pulling within 41-28. But the RedHawks scored the first 11 points of the fourth to erase any doubts.
Marist coach Brian Hynes felt his team played inspired basketball.
“We were lucky enough to get Adoni to come to Marist,” Hynes said. “For what that kid has meant to this program and me and his teammates, to say that we were going to do this one for Adoni, you saw how hard they played that first half.
“I’ve never seen my kids play that hard. It was unbelievable. It was all for Adoni.”
Vassilakis certainly appreciated it. Bragging rights are all his now.
“A lot of my friends go to Lockport,” he said. “They were talking before the game. Now I can be like, ‘I told you.’ I told them this was going to happen.
“I finally was able to go out and show it to them.”
