MK_120519

mokenamessengerdaily.com SPORTS
the mokena messenger | December 5, 2019 | 35
Roundup
Mokena’s Knight wins MVP, leads Providence to Beecher title
STEVE MILLAR, Sports Editor
RANDY WHALEN
Freelance Reporter
Providence senior guard
Lauren Knight knew it was
going to be a good night
early on in the Beecher
Fall Classic championship
game against the host Ladycats
on Nov. 26.
Knight, a Mokena resident,
hit her first shot, and
the shots kept falling on
her way to a 10-point first
quarter.
“I didn’t score at all in
the first quarter [in a Nov.
25 win over St. Laurence],
so coming out and hitting
those shots right away really
picked me up,” Knight
said. “It felt good to get off
to a good start.”
Knight poured in 22
points and was named the
tournament’s Most Valuable
Player as Providence
topped Beecher 44-33 to
win the Fall Classic for the
second straight season.
“We wanted to win really
bad,” Knight said. “We
wanted to win this again
like we did last year, and
we wanted to be 5-0.”
Knight’s backcourt mate
and fellow senior Claire
McGrath joined her on the
All-Tournament team. Mc-
Grath scored 10 points in
the title game, while freshman
Annalise Pietrzyk
added six points and five
rebounds for the Celtics
(5-0).
“We’ve got a big learning
curve ahead of us, but
I’m very happy for the
girls,” Providence coach
Eileen Copenhaver said.
“They earned it. They did
a nice job this week.”
Griffins boys second at
Joliet West
Naturally a team never
wants to lose. But for the
Lincoln-Way East boys
basketball team, the fact
that it was playing for a
tournament title in the first
week of the season was a
very good sign.
In the end, the Griffins
could not muster enough
consistency and fell 65-40
to the host Tigers in the title
game of the Joliet West
Tiger Thanksgiving Classic
on Saturday, Nov. 30.
With a bevy of returners
and talented juniors stepping
in, the Griffins (3-1)
are expecting big things
this season.
But they were without
a trio of players, including
two top ones, who just
Providence celebrates with the Beecher Fall Classic championship plaque. Steve
Millar/22nd Century Media
happened to be helping the
East football team to an
undefeated season and a
Class 8A football championship
later on that Saturday
evening.
The Griffins were paced
by All-Tournament selections
senior forward Ryan
Sierocki (11 points, six rebounds)
and junior guard
Jhei-R Jones (10 points).
“Obviously we were
missing some of our guys,”
Sierocki said. “Joliet West
is a good team but once everyone
is back, I think we
are going to be able to be
on par with that [2017-18]
regional [champion] team.
That team set the bar and
we want to continue it.”
Knights boys, girls both
finish third
Lincoln-Way Central
had plenty of reasons to be
happy about a 3-1 start and
a third-place finish at the
Joliet West Tiger Thanksgiving
Classic.
Sean Curran poured in
24 points and pulled down
six rebounds, while junior
forward Ryan Kraft added
20 points as the Knights
wrapped up pool play with
a 62-60 win over Rich
South on Friday, Nov. 29.
Central wrapped up the
tournament the next day
with a 60-52 victory over
Plainfield South as junior
guard Nick Tingley
scored 24 points and junior
guard Matt Maloney
added 13.
“We have a lot of guys
that can get going offensively,”
Central coach Bob
Curran said. “We have to
do a better job playing together
and the biggest area
we need to improve is defensively.”
The Knights’ girls team,
meanwhile, rode another
strong defensive effort to
a 45-25 win over Minooka
in the third-place game of
the Lincoln-Way Central
Turkey Classic on Nov. 25.
“Our defense is definitely
really good this
year,” junior Haley Stoklosa
said. “We have really
good help-side defense.
We know who the good
people are on the teams
we’re playing, so we close
out on them and we know
when to help. Our defense
always helps our offense.”
Stoklosa led the Knights
against Minooka with 10
points and six rebounds
in the win over the Indians.
Regan LoConte also
scored 10 points, while
Megan Hutchinson scored
nine points, and Kaitlyn
Veugeler chipped in with
four points and four rebounds
off the bench.
This Week In
KNIGHTS VARSITY
ATHLETICS
BOYS BASKETBALL
■Dec. ■ 5 – hosts Sandburg,
6:30 p.m.
■Dec. ■ 8 – at Ridgewood
Shootout, 1:30 p.m.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
■Dec. ■ 5 – at Lockport, 6:30
p.m.
■Dec. ■ 10 – hosts
Sandburg, 6:30 p.m.
BOYS BOWLING
■Dec. ■ 5 – Andrew at Orland
Bowl, 4:30 p.m.
■Dec. ■ 7 – Oak Forest Invite
at Oak Forest Bowl, 8:30
a.m.
■Dec. ■ 10 – LW East at
Thunder Bowl, 4:30 p.m.
GIRLS BOWLING
■Dec. ■ 7 – Rich East Invite
at Stardust Bowl, 9 a.m.
■Dec. ■ 9 – hosts Plainfield
South at Laraway Lanes,
4:30 p.m.
DANCE
■Dec. ■ 7 – at Minooka
Invite, 8 a.m.
■Dec. ■ 8 – at Naperville
North Invite, TBA
BOYS SWIMMING
■Dec. ■ 6 – at LW West
Warrior Pentathlon, 4:45
p.m.
WRESTLING
■Dec. ■ 5 – at Lockport, 5
p.m.
■Dec. ■ 6 – hosts Bradley-
Bourbonnais, 5 p.m.
■Dec. ■ 7 – at Plainfield
North Mega Duals, 9 a.m
GRIFFINS VARSITY
ATHLETICS
BOYS BASKETBALL
■Dec. ■ 6 – at Andrew, 6:30
p.m.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
■Dec. ■ 5 – hosts Bradley-
Bourbonnais, 6:30 p.m.
■Dec. ■ 10 – at Andrew, 6
p.m.
BOYS BOWLING
■Dec. ■ 5 – Bolingbrook at
Brunswick Bowl Woodridge,
4:30 p.m.
■Dec. ■ 7 – Oak Forest Invite
at Oak Forest Bowl, 8:30
a.m.
■Dec. ■ 10 – hosts LW
Central at Thunder Bowl,
4:30 p.m.
GIRLS BOWLING
■Dec. ■ 7 – Joliet West Invite
at Town and Country, 9 a.m.
■Dec. ■ 9 – Joliet Central at
Crest Hill Lanes, 4:30 p.m.
DANCE
■Dec. ■ 7 – at Minooka
Invite, 8 a.m.
WRESTLING
■Dec. ■ 6 – at Bolingbrook,
5:30 p.m.
■Dec. ■ 7 – at Plainfield
North Mega Duals, 9 a.m.