LP_120618

38 | December 6, 2018 | The Lockport Legend sports
lockportlegend.com
LTHS boys basketball defeats Warriors
Girls Basketball
Porters show fight in loss
Team bumps record
to 4-1 with 56-45
senior night victory
Randy Whalen
Freelance Reporter
The Lockport Township
boys basketball team celebrated
senior night last
weekend.
Then, when things
weren’t going their way in
the second half, the Porters
stepped up and played like
seniors.
Lockport regrouped in the
fourth quarter and pulled
away in a close game to defeat
Lincoln-Way West 56-
45 in a SouthWest Suburban
Conference crossover clash
on Friday, Nov. 30, at Lockport’s
East Campus.
With the victory, the Porters
(4-1) continued their
early season resurgence.
West (1-5) lost to Lockport
by almost the exact same
score (57-46) on Nov. 23
in the final pool play game
at the 23rd annual WJOL
Thanksgiving Classic at the
University of St. Francis in
Joliet.
But last weekend’s game
was a little closer in the second
half than the previous
one. That’s because the Warriors
went on a huge burst
and cut a 17-point deficit to
a single point on four occasions
in the second half. But
they could never tie it or take
the lead.
Although his team was
getting blitzed in that time,
Hespell never called a timeout.
“We’ve got a lot of seniors,
and they’re supposed
to know what to do in difficult
times,” Hespell explained.
“You can’t spoon
feed life to them. They did
what they needed to do.
We’re learning how to win
Jacob Karli drives to the basket for the Porters during his
team’s 56-45 win over Lincoln-Way West on Friday, Nov. 30,
at LTHS’s East Campus. Adam Jomant/22nd Century Media
and knowing that it’s not just
scoring. It’s defense.”
Matt Hatzopoulos, a guard
and one of the Porters nine
seniors, showed that. He finished
with a game-high 22
points, but 17 of them came
in the first half.
“It’s hard to play the same
team twice in a week, but
even after they got close,
we pushed through,” Hatzopoulos
said. “We are a
different team this season.
We’re playing for each other.”
That showed when the
Warriors cut it to a single
point for the last time. That
was at 42-41 on a pair of free
throws by sophomore guard
Jacob Vassalla with 6:04 to
play in the game. West then
had two possessions to take
the lead but turned it over
each time.
In the meantime, Lockport
scored nine-straight
points in a three-minute span
to go up 51-41 with 1:22 to
play in the game. The Warriors
finally ended a nearly
five-minute scoring drought
when junior guard Jackson
Ferree (5 points) scored on
a driving layup with 1:07 remaining.
But it was too little,
too late at that point.
Senior forward Blake Sartin
(11 points, 4 assists, 3
steals) scored eight points,
including going 6-of-6 from
the line, in the fourth quarter
for the Porters.
“When I step to the line, I
have a feeling I’m going to
make them; I clear my head
and relax,” Sartin said. “I
practice free throws all the
time, and I will stay after
practice just to work on them
more.
“This team has a bunch of
seniors, and we have a different
mindset this year. We
want to prove people wrong
and bring Lockport back to
a winning program. We all
have worked on our game
since the season ended last
year. Coach Hespell always
talks about winning is hard,
and we just need to keep our
composure. We lost a little
of that in the third quarter,
and we would not have won
this game last year. But
this is a different team this
year.”
Seniors Tommy Halatek
(10 points, 9 rebounds) at
center, and guards Ioannis
Vassilakis (6 points) and
Jake Karli (7 assists, 3 steals,
2 points) also contributed for
Lockport. The rest of the
Porter seniors are Emmanuel
Allen, Quinn Gardner, Aaron
Grcevic and Eric Keta.
The Porters led the whole
game, jumping out to a 7-0
advantage and leading 10-5
after one quarter. Hatzopoulos,
who was 6-of-10 on
3-pointers in the game, hit
four of them in the second
quarter as they extended to a
28-14 halftime lead.
“It was just a team effort,”
Hatzopoulos said. “We
moved the ball well, and my
teammates found me when I
was open, and I hit the shots.
I had been struggling a little
with 3-pointers, but when I
hit that first one to open the
game, I felt really good.”
A 3-pointer by Vassilakis
just over a minute into the
third quarter gave Lockport
a 31-14 lead. The Warriors,
however, embarked on a
19-3 blitz over the next 3:34
to close within 34-33 on a
3-pointer by junior guard
Micah Schnyders (team-high
14 points) with 2:49 to play
in the third quarter. Lockport
led 38-35 after three.
Junior forward Andrew
Pyles (12 points) and senior
guard Nate Clendenning (9
points) also contributed for
West.
Eric Lantero, one of the
West varsity assistants, is a
2010 Lockport graduate and
played point guard for the
Porters. A previous assistant
coach at Plainfield South,
it was his first trip back to
Lockport as a coach for a
varsity game.
Lockport was to host
Plainfield North on Tuesday,
Dec. 4, in a nonconference
clash. Then, the Porters are
off for a week before traveling
to Yorkville for a 7 p.m.
game on Tuesday, Dec. 11.
That is followed by a
special Alumni Night game
against Joliet Catholic Academy
at 7 p.m. Saturday, Dec.
15, at the old “pit” at Lockport’s
Central Campus.
Knebel leads Porters
with 17 points, 11
rebounds in defeat
Randy Whalen
Freelance Reporter
After having a game with
a bad first quarter earlier
in the week, the Lockport
Township girls basketball
team wanted to make sure it
came out with a better start
in its second game later in
the week.
The Porters did that, but
it was a poor second quarter
that proved to be the difference
as they lost to Minooka
52-41 in a nonconference
matchup on Saturday, Dec.
1, at Lockport’s East Campus.
Elena Knebel scored a
game-high 17 points and had
11 rebounds for the Porters
(4-4), but it wasn’t enough
as they fell back to the .500
mark on the season. Minooka
(6-1) was led by senior
guard Cierra Bachmann (16
points, 10 rebounds).
The 17 points from Knebel,
a sophomore guard/
forward, were the highest
amount by a Lockport player
so far this season.
“For me, it was the best
game of the year, but everyone
can contribute,” Knebel
said. “I feel we play better
when we hype each other up,
encourage each other.”
That showed to start, as
the Porters never trailed in
jumping out to early leads
of 2-0, 5-2 and 10-4 on an
old-fashioned 3-point play
by senior guard Payton
Grcevic (7 points) with 2:25
left in the first quarter. Lockport,
however, had committed
eight fouls at that point,
and it soon caught up, as the
Indians were in the bonus,
and Bachmann scored sixstraight
points to end the
quarter with a 10-10 tie.
Knebel scored on a layup
to start the second quarter.
Then it was all Indians, as
they went on an 18-2 blitz
en route to a 31-17 halftime
lead.
A Bachmann basket made
it 40-20 midway with 5:08
left in the third quarter. But
there was no quit in the Porters,
as they clawed back
within 44-32 after three.
That continued into the
fourth quarter, and Lockport
got as close as 49-41 on a
free throw by junior guard
Sawyer Hollatz with 1:57 to
play in the game. But about
30 seconds later, a 3-pointer
that would have cut it to five
rolled off the rim, and the
Indians hit three of four free
throws in the final 1:11 to
polish it off.
Senior forwards Jackie
Maka (6 points) and Kaeli
Ford (5 points), along with
freshman guard freshman
guard Elizabeth Sochacki
(5 points), also contributed
for the Porters. Minooka,
which has a new head coach
this season in Jeff Easthon,
received nine points apiece
from both junior guard Allison
Bugajski and senior
center Kailey Kinzler. Junior
post player Sophie Darden
(8 points, 9 rebounds) was
also big for the Indians.
On Nov. 28, the Porters
hosted Downers Grove
North in another nonconference
game and were doubled
up by the score of 46-23.
Lockport had trouble scoring
all night as the Trojans
(5-2) jumped out to a 20-5
lead after one quarter and led
25-7 at halftime.
This week, Lockport was
to host Lincoln-Way West on
Tuesday, Dec. 4, in a South-
West Suburban Conference
crossover. On Saturday, Dec.
8, they are scheduled to open
play in the Oak Lawn Spartan
Holiday Tournament that
continues next week.