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44 | January 25, 2018 | The Homer Horizon SPORTS
homerhorizon.com
Girls Basketball
Balanced scoring leads to decisive LTHS victory over Morton
Teams inspired by
military members
present for Veterans
Night recognition
Randy Whalen
Freelance Reporter
After seeing its promising
season fade back to the .500
mark, the Lockport Township
girls basketball team
needed something positive.
The Porters got it last
weekend. Treasure Thompson
led a balanced attack
with 13 points and eight rebounds
as Lockport toppled
Morton 60-41 in a nonconference
clash on Friday, Jan.
19, in the opening game of
a girls/boys basketball doubleheader
at Lockport East.
The game kicked off a
nice evening during which
Lockport honored 98 local
veterans in a salute to military
service night between
games. The Porters girls
team was happy to be a part
of that.
“It was awesome,” Lockport
assistant girls coach
John Ford said of being part
of the evening. “This was a
big crowd for us, and it’s always
great to come out and
play for the veterans.”
Ford was filling in for
Lockport coach Dan Kelly,
who was out with a family
situation. The Porters came
out and put their third-year,
normally assistant coach at
ease for the night. Morton
(8-12) took an early 2-0
lead on a bucket by senior
guard Jazmin Tapia, who
finished with a game-high
24 points. But then junior
forward Jacqueline Maka
(12 points) nailed back-toback
3-pointers to spur an
11-0 run. Lockport led 11-2
midway through the first
quarter, and the Mustangs
never got closer than six
points the rest of the way.
“You miss all the shots
you don’t take,” Maka said.
“[Her early scoring] helped
give us a confidence boost.
Then, we didn’t lay off. We
showed our intensity and
depth. We were down from
losing to Stagg [on Jan.
17], but because of that, we
knew what we had to do.”
Lockport led 15-5 after
the first quarter, and the
Mustangs never got the
margin below that in the
second quarter. Some of
that was due to the play
of freshman post player
Elena Knebel (6 points, 11
rebounds), who scored the
Porters final four points of
the second quarter and had
a half-dozen rebounds in
that period.
“Elena has been excellent
on the sophomore level, and
she’s been able to transcend
that on varsity now,” Ford
said. “It was all about executing
our stuff. I told the
Finley Travis prepares to take a free throw for the Porters
in her team’s 60-41 victory over Morton on Veterans Night
on Friday, Jan. 19, at LTHS’s East Campus. Photos by Julie
McMann/22nd Century Media
girls we needed a win, and
we brought our intensity
level up. We had to focus on
that.”
The Porters were up 28-18
at halftime. While the Mustangs
were able to cut the
deficit back to single digits,
thanks to Tapia scoring 10
points in the third quarter,
they never really threatened
to make it a game. Lockport
led 43-32 after three and
coasted to the win.
Junior guard Finley Travis
(10 points) and senior
forward Taylor Shingler
(9 points, 6 rebounds) also
contributed for the Porters,
who got good news that senior
guard Taylor Hopkins
is expected back this week.
Hopkins, a four-year varsity
player, has been out since
late December with a hip
flexor.
“Sometimes, it can be
Taylor or Treasure, or someone
else with 20 points,”
Maka said. “We still have a
lot (5) of conference games
coming up in the next week.
We just have to work hard
on defense to get some
wins.”
Maka and her teammates
were happy to be part of the
veteran festivities, too.
“It’s a great cause,” Maka
said. “Just to thank the
veterans for what they’ve
done.”
Earlier in the week, on
Jan. 17, Lockport lost to
Stagg 40-36 in a SouthWest
Suburban Conference game
in Palos Hills.
The Chargers (13-6, 2-3)
rallied from a 19-12 halftime
deficit and tied the
Lockport forward Sawyer Hollatz attempts a shot from the
corner against the Mustangs.
The girls basketball game kicked off the Veterans Night,
which honored military service, with the boys basketball
team playing the second game of the evening to complete
the doubleheader.
game at 32-32 after three.
With two minutes to play
and the game tied, junior
forward Nicole Vacha (9
points) scored on a layup to
give the Chargers the lead
for good. Senior guard Destiny
Davis (8 points) and
Travis (8 points) paced the
Porters (0-5 in the SWSC
Blue) in that game. Senior
guard Jaime Ryan (11
points) and junior guard
Kelsey Kelley (9 points) led
Stagg.
bowling
From Page 46
would advance downstate
for a sixth-straight season.
Except it wasn’t. An otherwise
outstanding season,
which included a South-
West Suburban Conference
championship and a regional
title for Lockport, came
to a sudden end. The Porters
were ninth overall with
a total of 5,578 pins. That
was 84 pins behind sixthplace
finisher Oswego East.
Lockport’s top individual
was senior Alec Buchhaas,
who made it to state with an
at-large bid.
“We struggled here [at
Laraway Lanes] in the
past,” Buchhaas said. “It
was tough for us, but it was
tough for everyone.”
Buchhaas, one of Lockport’s
two senior starters,
finished with a total
of 1,235. He had a trio of
games of 210 or higher, including
one of 257 in the
fifth game. He and Plainfield
South’s Austin Griffith
tied with a 1,235 score.
Junior Caleb Derrig
(1,170) and senior Keith
Pintoy (1,110) also bowled
all six games for Lockport.
Junior Evan Pleshar
(713) and senior Mitch Gajda
(709) both rolled four
games, junior Andrew Bean
(346) bowled two games,
and sophomore Ray Bufka
(167 in Game 1) and junior
Jimmy Rozhon (128
in Game 2) each fired one
game for the Porters.
“We didn’t have it all
day,” Lockport coach Ron
Davis said. “We never
broke 1,000 in any game
[team high of 988 in Game
3]. The guys just couldn’t
figure [lane conditions]
out. It is what it is. All
good things must come to
an end.”
Entering the season, the
Porters weren’t sure how
good the team would be.
While they will miss the seniors,
especially Buchhaas,
they had a lot of underclassmen
perform well. That will
only help them next season.
“We had a hard time picking
the team this year,” Davis
said. “We will have a
good team next year.”