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44 | January 19, 2017 | The Mokena Messenger sports mokenamessenger.com Boys basketball Sandburg free throw sinks Griffins in fourth quarter Jon DePaolis Freelance Reporter For elite athletes, all that matters — all that can enter their mind at a given moment — is the next play or the next shot. For Sandburg’s 6-foot-8, junior center Barlow Alleruzzo, that meant putting behind a fourth quarter against South- West Suburban Conference foe Lincoln-Way East Tuesday, Jan. 10, during which he missed all three of his previous free throw attempts. In that moment — with exactly 17 seconds left in the game and the Eagles down 40-39 — Alleruzzo stepped to the charity stripe and focused on his next shots. “After I got done missing like three free throws, I kind of just took a deep breath and realized I [needed] to have a good amount of confidence and just do what I used to do in my backyard as a kid — knock them down,” he said. Alleruzzo sunk both shots, and the Eagles held on to earn a hard-fought, comefrom-behind 42-40 win in Orland Park to improve to 9-5 overall and 1-1 in conference play. He was one of two Eagles players in double figures, scoring 11 total points and grabbing three rebounds. Sandburg senior forward Edmond Mila led the team (and the game) with 16 points and six rebounds. Eagles junior forward Jack McNulty added eight points, four rebounds and two assists, while junior guard Jake Pygon had three points and four rebounds. Lincoln-Way East (10- 5, 0-2) was led in scoring by 6-foot-6 senior forward Dorian Aluyi, who had nine points and six rebounds. Teammate Zach Parduhn, a junior guard, had nine points and one rebound, while 6-foot-6 junior guard Sam Shafer added seven points, three rebounds and two assists. Alleruzzo said his team’s conditioning played a big part in their success against East — particularly down the stretch. “We can be a gritty team, and we also can get down the floor hard,” he said. “We’re not the biggest team, so we have to be able to play hard, play good defense, rebound and do the little things every time to win the game. “We have a major amount of confidence in ourselves. Everybody trusts and loves each other, so we trust that when we are on the court, we believe we can come back from anything. We’re a gritty team. We believe we can do anything.” But early on, it looked like East would ride a hot start to victory. The Griffins never trailed in the first half after scoring the first basket of the game. Max Shafer, a 6-foot- 4 senior forward for the Griffins, grabbed an offensive rebound and put in the shot to make it 2-0 about 30 seconds into the contest. A little more than a minute later, Sandburg tied it on a twopoint jumper by Alleruzzo, and the teams traded baskets to make it 4-4 with 5:01 left in the opening quarter. But then the Griffins closed out the quarter on a 9-5 run to lead 13-9. During that stretch, Aluyi hit backto-back 3-pointers. East hit back-to-back 3-pointers to start the second, as well, with Parduhn and senior forward Dan Mulhollan (5 points, 2 rebounds) knocking down the shots to give their team the 19-9 lead. Sandburg’s Mila followed with a 3-pointer from the left side, but then Parduhn streaked through the paint and made a shot while taking a foul. He sunk the free throw to complete the threepoint play. Then, Aluyi made 1-of-2 free throws on East’s next possession to give the Griffins a 23-12 lead with 4:09 left in the half. That was as big a lead as the Griffins would have the rest of the way, as the Eagles began to claw their way back. With under four minutes to play in the half, Mila sunk back-to-back 3-pointers to get his team within 5 points. “We were just running our offense,” Mila said of his scoring spurt in the second quarter. “The team saw I was hot, and they did a good job of getting the open guy a shot. I just did my part and knocked the shot down.” Then, after East got backto-back buckets, Sandburg’s McNulty drove the paint and scored. Sandburg junior guard Jason Pygon then hit a free throw, followed by a two-point jumper to make it 27-24 East with 1:32 left in the half. After a few failed possessions and some fouls by the Eagles, East got the ball inbounds with 2.5 seconds left in the half, and junior guard Sam Coverick nailed a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give his team a 30-24 halftime lead. But foul trouble would soon spell doom for the Griffins. “Our two best players got into foul trouble — Dorian Aluyi had two, and Sam Shafer had two,” East coach Rich Kolimas said. “We had to take them out of the game, and [Sandburg] was able to creep back into the ballgame at that point.” Kolimas also pointed to the defensive intensity of the game perhaps taking a toll on his players. “I don’t know if it was the fast pace but [rather] the intensity of the defense,” he said. “That was so high today that both teams were fatigued [late]. “Another thing is that we haven’t played a game in 12 days. We’ve been trying to simulate game situations in practice, but it’s hard. I think both teams were affected by the intensity of the defense, and it affected our shooting.” Sandburg came out firing in the third quarter, with Alleruzzo putting in a 3-pointer from the left side to start things off. After Sam Shafer put in two free throws a half-minute later, Sandburg went on a 9-0 run — with a 3-pointer (5 points total during the run) by McNulty and baskets by Mila and Jake Pygon — to take its first lead of the game at 36-32 with 1:25 left in the third. But East closed out the quarter on 5-0 run — with baskets by Parduhn and 6-foot-6 senior center Zach Zivo (5 rebounds) — to retake the lead at 37-36 After a sloppy first four minutes of the final quarter, Sandburg retook the lead on a basket in the lane by Mila. With 3:22 left in the game, Jake Pygon hit 1-of-2 free throws to push the lead to 39-37. Mila said Sandburg’s team chemistry helped late. “We really like each other, and we trust in each other — and that’s a big key,” he said. “We know that when we pass the ball to the open man, that guy will knock down the shot.” Less than 20 seconds later, Sam Shafer hit one of his free throws after a foul by Jake Pygon to make it 39-38 Sandburg. Then, after a foul by Jason Pygon on Sam Shafer with 1:33 left, Shafer hit both of his free throws to give East its last lead of the game at 40-39 — setting up Alleruzzo’s late heroics. Alleruzzo said the win was important for the Eagles, especially after a loss at home earlier in the season left a bad taste in their mouths. “It was huge, because we haven’t played a home game in about two weeks,” he said. “It was big for us to come back and win at home, because we lost one of our home games to Stagg, which is a big conference game.” Dance From Page 46 effort was paramount. “We danced 150 percent on that floor, and the rest of it was in the judges’ hands,” she said. “We did the best we could. We’re proud of our performance. We’re glad that the judges saw our performance like we did.” It marked the second consecutive year that Andrew won conference. They finished with a 91.7. Lincoln- Way West (88.03) and Lincoln-Way Central (78.73) were the other top finishers. “It’s so exciting to be conference champs,” Andrew coach Julie Mattix said. “We were trying to uphold the title, and they were able to do it. They’re a super-awesome group of hard-working girls. They’re like a little family.” Andrew lost nine team members to graduation, so while they had some returnees, they also had some newcomers that needed to step up. “They lived up to the challenge,” Mattix said. “I’m just really proud of them.” Lincoln-Way West, which placed 8th in the state in Class 2A last year, took second place at both levels. “I am very pleased with the performances of both teams,” Warriors coach Melissa Sweeney said. “Each year, the goal of our program is to produce an athletic and entertaining routine. Both teams exceeded my expectations for their performance, and I am extremely proud of every dancer and the West dance coaching staff.” The Warriors will now focus on moving on to sectionals. “We have been the sectional champions for the past two years and have had great success at the state level,” Sweeney said. “This is what we’ve been working toward all year.” Lincoln-Way Central followed right behind the Warriors to take third place. “We’re very happy,” Knights JV coach Niki Orseno said. “Our JV got first, and the varsity got third, which we’re very happy with. We’re just anxious to see the scores to see where we fell in terms of place.” As long as the Knights continue to progress, Orseno will be satisfied wherever the team lands in the standings. “You always wants to do better than the last time, and I think the girls understand that,” she said. “We’re just going to make sure our score keeps going up, and if that happens, we’ll see if we move up in places, and we’re hopeful for that.”
mokenamessenger.com sports the Mokena Messenger | January 19, 2017 | 45 Boys basketball Knights keep it close before losing tight game to Bloom Frank Gogola Freelance Reporter The Lincoln-Way Central boys basketball team missed a pair of shots while trailing by one point in the final minute and committed a costly defensive foul, dropping a non-conference road game in Chicago Heights. Central failed to pull out another close game this season as it lost 58-54 to Bloom on Jan. 10. The Knights caught fire after a poor first quarter, but a fourth-quarter drought and missed shots dropped them to 4-12 on the season. Trailing 55-48, senior Aaron Michalak scored a layup with 1 minute and 32 seconds to play, then poured in a corner 3-pointer on the next possession to pull the Knights within 55-53 with 44 seconds left. After a Bloom timeout, Michalak (12 points) stole the ball near midcourt and was fouled going the other way. He made the first shot of a 1-and-1 to pull Central within a point 55-54 with 23 seconds left, but he missed the second free throw. “I felt it right away that I had left it short,” Michalak said. Senior Brian Ponton grabbed the rebound in between four Bloom defenders in the lane and got off a lefthanded jumper that hit the back left corner of the rim and bounced out. Bloom rebounded, and Austin Richie (16 points) took an outlet pass, drove to the basket, drew an and-1 and sunk the free throw to make Central’s deficit 58-54 with 12 seconds to play. The Knights missed a layup, and Bloom ran out the clock. “The worst thing to happen was the 3-point play, because now we don’t have a chance,” Central coach Bob Curran said. “It turned quickly.” Curran and his players were disappointed with their record in games decided by one or two possessions, such as the four-point loss to Bloom and a loss to Joliet West, one of the top teams in the state, on a buzzer-beater. Bloom (11-3) picked up its seventh win in nine games, which included an upset of Joliet West, then 11-0 and the No. 5 ranked team in the state, at the Pontiac Holiday Tournament. The Knights have shown they can compete with top teams. The focus now is on hitting a high point in time for the postseason, and improvements in rebounding, passing and free throws will help them better close out games. “For us seniors, we’re getting more ready for the playoffs,” senior Bryan Ross said. “These games are important, but we’re really focusing on the playoffs because I think we can do big things in the playoffs this year. Even though our record doesn’t show it, I know we [have] potential and talent.” Against Bloom, the Knights fell in a 12-2 hole with the only points coming on a pair of Ross free throws. They missed their first 14 shots from the field until junior Chris Robinson hit a 3-pointer to beat the first-quarter buzzer. Central used a 17-7 run in the second quarter to take its first lead at 22-21 with just under 2:00 left in the half. Junior Jake Blount hit a pull-up jumper for the lead, capping the run that included baskets from six different players. Down 34-29 in the third quarter, Ross scored nine Lincoln-Way Central guard Brian Ponton goes up for an easy layup during a 58-54 loss to Bloom Jan. 10 in Chicago Heights. PHotos By Adam Jomant/22nd Century Media Knights guard Luke Handley fights up a shot against Bloom. straight points to put Central up 38-34 midway through the quarter. He made a pair of corner 3-pointers with assists from Michalak, and he drained a trio of free throws after drawing a foul. Junior Luke Handley (9 points) hit a pair of free Aaron Michalak leaps around the defense to make a pass during Central’s loss. throws to give the Knights a 47-43 lead with 7:20 to play. However, they were held scoreless for 5:08, as their next five possessions went turnover, offensive foul, missed 3-pointer, a pair of missed free throws and traveling. Bloom used a 10-0 run during that span to go up 53- 47 with 2:50 remaining. Central would only get as close as one point. “[The loss] hurts because we know they’re a good team,” Michalak said. “We think we’re a good team, too. We’ve played a lot of close games this year. Our record could be a lot different. We just [have] to work on finishing.”
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