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42 | January 23, 2020 | the mokena messenger sports mokenamessengerdaily.com Boys Bowling Knights looking for another state trip after taking fourth at regional Four LW East bowlers also advance RANDY WHALEN Freelance Reporter For Lincoln-Way Central, the mission heading into the Joliet West Regional was simple: survive and advance. That is exactly what the Knights, who have made it to state the past two seasons, did. Central took the fourth and final advancing spot out of the regional Saturday, Jan. 18, at Town and Country Lanes in Joliet. The Knights (6,184 pins over six games) held off Bradley-Bourbonnais (6,009) for fourth. They finished behind champion Joliet West (6,402), Lincoln-Way West (6,333) and Minooka (6,282). Those four teams will be at what is probably the toughest sectional in the state, the Lockport Sectional on Saturday, Jan. 25, at Strike and Spare. The state finals are set for Friday, Jan. 31, and Saturday, Feb. 1, at St. Clair Bowl in O'Fallon. Lincoln-Way East (5,952) placed sixth but qualified four individuals for the sectional. Providence (5,833) was seventh and had three of the 10 qualifying individuals. Lincoln-Way West’s Cameron Jablonski (1,420) was the individual champion. "You can be fourth [at the regional] and then [the next week] be first [at the sectional]," Knights coach Coley O'Connell said. "We went with our starting five for the first five games but then we subbed in Jack [McCabe] in the last game and he came through with a 202. "All season, we've been bowling for the playoffs. The kids battled through some things and prevailed. It feels good." Seniors Tyler Misch (5th, 1,304) and Alex Nolan (9th, 1,273) led the Knights. Freshman Ryan Marszalek (1,256) and senior Tommy Martini (1,186) also bowled all six games for the Knights, and Lincoln-Way Central’s Alex Nolan, seen bowling at the SWSC meet, finished ninth at the Joliet West Regional on Saturday, Jan. 18, and helped the Knights advance to the sectional round as a team. 22ND CENTURY MEDIA FILE PHOTO senior Austin Zaker (963) bowled the first five. Then he was replaced by Mc- Cabe, who finished out with a 202. "It feels good to make it back to sectional," Misch said. "We've done that every year I've been here on the varsity. "Personally, I made a couple of adjustments, After the second game, I switched to my new thug life bowling ball and got a 250 in the third game. Our fifth and sixth games were down for us. But, as long as we bowl over a thousand in every game at the sectional, we should be good." Lincoln-Way East is still looking for its first trip to the state finals since 2012. The Griffins didn't find it this season either. But they are sending four bowlers to the sectional. They are all seniors: Luke Mittler (12th, 1,248), Anthony Bria (1,234), Nick Signore (1,225), and Demitri Przybylinski (1,206). While it was nice to get most of the team through, the Griffins were right there after the morning session. They were tied for the fourth and final qualifying spot with Minooka at 3,083 pins. But a 928 in the fourth game, coupled with a 1,130 score for Minooka, dropped East to sixth and 155 pins out of qualifying. "We finished off the morning session tied with Minooka," Mittler said. "We got on it and tried our best, we just couldn't keep up [in the afternoon]. There's not much you can do. "I just continued to try my hardest to make it through. I did and I'm glad I got three other teammates with me." All three of East's morning games were at least a 992, and a 1,050 in the second game was the high mark. A 2,869 afternoon total was not enough to get the Griffins through, however. "We were right there," East coach Dan Galligan 4 said. "We got off to a great start. We just weren't able to maintain that pace. After the fourth game, we realized we weren't going to make some of those scores and get out as a team. So, we wanted to qualify as many as we can. "Of course, the goal was the entire team, but to qualify four guys out of a loaded regional is great." Providence, which has only had a varsity team for the past five years, qualified three guys for the sectional. They are junior Sean Fitzgibbon (1,262, 10th overall), junior Carson Pass (1,238), and senior Andrew King (1,205). Also bowling for the Celtics were juniors John Ruppel (1,065) and Cain Headrick (1,063). The Celtics were consistent all day, shooting a 2,922 which placed them seventh in the morning, and following that up with a 2,911 in the afternoon to stay in seventh. They had a high game of 1,021 in the fourth but followed that up with a low of 939 in the fifth game. This Week In KNIGHTS VARSITY ATHLETICS BOYS BASKETBALL ■Jan. ■ 24 – at LW West, 6:30 p.m. ■Jan. ■ 28 – hosts Hinsdale Central, 6:30 p.m. GIRLS BASKETBALL ■Jan. ■ 23 – hosts Stagg, 6:30 p.m. ■Jan. ■ 28 – at Bradley- Bourbonnais, 7 p.m. BOYS BOWLING ■Jan. ■ 25 – Lockport Sectional at Strike and Spare, 9 a.m. GIRLS BOWLING ■Jan. ■ 25 – SouthWest Suburban Conference meet at Bowlero Woodridge, 9 a.m. CHEERLEADING ■Jan. ■ 24 – hosts SouthWest Suburban Conference meet, 5 p.m. ■Jan. ■ 25 – at Fremd Invite, 9 a.m. DANCE ■Jan. ■ 25 – at Normal Sectional, TBA BOYS SWIMMING ■Jan. ■ 24 – at Lockport Invite, 4 p.m. ■Jan. ■ 25 – at Lockport Invite, 9 a.m. WRESTLING ■Jan. ■ 24 – Tom Lahey Invite at Stagg, 5 p.m. ■Jan. ■ 25 – Tom Lahey Invite at Stagg, 9 a.m. ■Jan. ■ 29 – at T.F. South, 5 p.m. GRIFFINS VARSITY ATHLETICS BOYS BASKETBALL ■Jan. ■ 24 – hosts Homewood-Flossmoor, 6:30 p.m. ■Jan. ■ 28 – at Shepard, 7 p.m. GIRLS BASKETBALL ■Jan. ■ 23 – hosts Sandburg, 6:30 p.m. ■Jan. ■ 28 – hosts Bolingbrook, 6:30 p.m. BOYS BOWLING ■Jan. ■ 25 – Lockport Sectional at Strike and Spare, 9 a.m. GIRLS BOWLING ■Jan. ■ 25 – SouthWest Suburban Conference meet at Bowlero Woodridge, 9 a.m. ■Jan. ■ 27 – hosts Downers Grove South at Thunder Bowl, 4:30 p.m. CHEERLEADING ■Jan. ■ 24 – SouthWest Suburban Conference meet at LW Central, 5 p.m. DANCE ■Jan. ■ 25 – at Normal Sectional, TBA BOYS SWIMMING ■Jan. ■ 23 – at Homewood- Flossmoor, 5 p.m. ■Jan. ■ 28 – at Sandburg, 5 p.m. WRESTLING ■Jan. ■ 24 – Tom Lahey Invite at Stagg, 5 p.m. ■Jan. ■ 25 – Tom Lahey Invite at Stagg, 9 a.m. ■Jan. ■ 29 – hosts Joliet West, 5 p.m. LINCOLN-WAY CO-OP ATHLETICS GIRLS GYMNASTICS ■Jan. ■ 29 – SouthWest Suburban Conference meet at Andrew, 5:30 p.m.
mokenamessengerdaily.com sports the mokena messenger | January 23, 2020 | 43 Boys Basketball 4 Romeoville edges LW Central in overtime STEVE MILLAR, Sports Editor Lincoln-Way Central coach Bob Curran is a veteran whose head coaching experience goes back to 2002 and includes stops at Thornwood and Lincoln- Way North prior to Central. He coached in a state championship game in his first season at Thornwood, finishing as the state runner-up. Still, there is always room for anyone to learn, and Curran said he took a lesson away from the Knights’ 66-62 overtime loss to Romeoville. Central, which fell to 12-6, had the ball and a 62- 61 lead in the final minute when Curran’s son, Sean, got trapped and was called for travelling. “That was my fault,” Bob Curran said. “I should have called a timeout. I was sitting on four timeouts. Sean got the ball in the corner, they’re yelling, ‘Trap,’ and I don’t know, I froze. “I told the guys in the locker room that it was my fault. I should have called a timeout, started fresh with the ball out of bounds, because nothing good was going to happen there.” On the ensuing possession for Romeoville, Destin Whitaker buried a goahead 3-pointer with 11 seconds left. Sean Curran was off the mark on a 3-pointer on the other end, and Whitaker hit two free throws with three seconds to go to seal the win for Romeoville (13- 10). Before his 3-pointer, Whitaker drew a foul on a 3-point attempt and hit all three free throws to cut a four-point Knights lead down to one. “The kid made a good shot,” Bob Curran said, “It’s tough because he kicks his feet out, so he gets the foul call if you’re up on him, and then you give him space so that doesn’t happen and he makes the shot.” Whitaker finished with 24 points. Junior guard Nick Tingley led the Knights with 19 points and 11 rebounds. Sean Curran added 14 points, while James Ogrodnik (six rebounds) and Matt Maloney scored 11 points each. Tingley said Central executed defensively in the final minute and tipped his cap to Whitaker. “The kid hit a good shot,” he said. “We contested it, did what we wanted to do defensively, and it just didn’t go our way. “In close games, we have to stay together, play good team defense. I thought we did that. It’s good experience for the future. Closing out games is something we need to do.” Down 27-26 at halftime, the Knights heated up with a 21-point third quarter as they jumped to a 47-41 lead. Tingley scored seven points in the third, while Maloney knocked down a pair of 3-pointers. Central led 53-47 with four minutes left in regulation, but Romeoville went on an 8-0 run to take the lead in the final minute. Sean Curran tied it 55- 55 on a drive to the basket with 38 seconds left, and both teams missed shots in the closing seconds to force overtime. “We have guys that didn’t play their best game, so we have some more out there,” Bob Curran said. “Guys missed some wide-open shots that I know they can make. It was a good game. It could have gone either way.” The Knights beat Bradley-Bourbonnais 67-59 in their SouthWest Suburban Red opener Jan. 14. Tingley scored 13 points, while Ogrodnik and Sean Michalak added 12 each. Boys Basketball Griffins’ nine-game winning streak snapped by Bolingbrook 5 STEVE MILLAR, Sports Editor Lincoln-Way East executed its offense beautifully early on in a hostile environment at Bolingbrook on Friday, Jan. 17. All five starters got in on the scoring as the Griffins put up 19 first-quarter points. As good as East looked at the start, though, it was the opposite at the start of the second half. Bolingbrook’s pressure defense took over, and the Raiders pulled away for a 79-66 win in the SouthWest Suburban Blue opener for both teams. The loss snapped a ninegame winning streak for East (12-3, 0-1) and was its first defeat since falling to Andrew on Dec. 6. “We look at this game, the start of conference play is almost like the start of a new season,” East coach Rich Kolimas said. “We had been playing fairly well, and it was surprising that when we saw a little pressure that we didn’t handle it better.” Ty Slager led the Griffins, pouring in 20 points. Myles Olagbegi added 14 points and five rebounds, Jhei-R Jones had eight points and five rebounds, and Ryan Sucha chipped in seven points. “I have to credit everybody [for his 20-point performance],” Slager said. “It was tough for Jhei-R to bring up the ball with the heavy press they were bringing. Sean [McLaughlin] and Nate Lincoln-Way East’s Ryan Sucha throws a pass during the Griffins’ 79-66 loss to host Bolingbrook on Friday, Jan. 17. Steve Millar/22nd Century Media [Seputis] were setting good screens. Guys did a good job cutting, creating space for everybody else.” Bolingbrook star senior guard Darius Burford continued a huge start to 2020 with 31 points for the Raiders (15-4, 1-0). Burford is averaging 29 points over five games in January. After a frenetic, backand-forth first half, Bolingbrook led 31-29 and the game had all the makings of one that would come down to the wire. Slager scored nine firsthalf points and Sucha scored all seven of his points before halftime. In the third quarter, though, the Griffins got sloppy as the Raiders turned up the defensive intensity. East turned it over 10 times in the period, and Bolingbrook consistently made the Griffins pay with easy buckets on the other end. Bolingbrook outscored East 21-11 in the third to take command. “Bolingbrook played really good defense,” Slager said. “We kind of got frazzled by it. We weren’t really playing as a team. It was stuff we haven’t been doing lately. “We’ve been playing really well together on our nine-game winning streak, so I’m not really worried about it going forward. We’ll get it fixed.” Looking forward Slager said taking on a team as talented as Bolingbrook will help the Griffins down the line. “Seeing this early in the season definitely helps,” he said. “In our sectional, we have Bloom, [Homewood- Flossmoor], teams like that. We have to be ready for that. I think we’ll be prepping for that and we’ll be more prepared next time we face Bolingbrook.” East has another big test Friday, Jan. 24, as it hosts H-F (14-2). The rematch with Bolingbrook is set for Feb. 11 in Frankfort. “We’ll have an opportunity to see them again,” Kolimas said. “Let’s hope by that time we’ll have some things together.”
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