Boys Basketball: Alex Tollefson carries underdog Newark past Somonauk to regional title

SOMONAUK — There was no quit in Newark senior Alex Tollefson Friday.

Facing his team's biggest game of the season against Little Ten Conference rival Somonauk in the championship game of the Class 1A Somonauk Regional final, Tollefson took the bulk of the weight on his shoulders and delivered big time.

Tollefson broke open a tense, one-point Newark lead after three quarters with nine points during the final quarter that helped boost the Norsemen to a 57-52 victory over the Bobcats.

It is Newark's 19th regional title in program history and 10th since 2009 under the guidance of Alex's father, head coach Rick Tollefson.

Tollefson tallied a game-high 19 points including a 3-pointer, a deuce and 4-of-4 shooting from the free-throw line throughout the final eight minutes of play that ultimately was the linchpin for No. 5-seeded Newark (17-17), which collected another regional plaque despite a .500 record.

"Tonight my 3s weren't falling, but I managed to hit one early in the fourth quarter that got me energized," Alex Tollefson said. "From there I started to go to the hole, and those drives to the bucket got me some nice chances, and I was able to convert one and then some free throws.

"This is an amazing feeling, especially coming in here as an underdog and winning another regional for our school even though we weren't expected to as a No. 5 seed. I'm just so happy right now."

Tollefson received some great help from senior teammates Jacob Chapman and Nate Christian, who tallied 11 and 10 points, respectively, as well as eight points off the bench from sophomore Austin Tollefson.

Newark moves on to face state-ranked No. 9 Chicago Leo next Wednesday in the semifinals of the Class 1A Ottawa Marquette Sectional scheduled for a 7 p.m. tip at Marseilles Elementary School.

"I'm so proud of these kids, because they've been counted out all year with our record under .500 for most of the season," Rick Tollefson said. "But tonight we just hung in there, and Alex really showed what he was made of down the stretch, as did the rest of the guys.

"We've won a lot of championships over the years here at Somonauk throughout many big-time games, and tonight was another one I'm so proud of."

No. 2-seeded Somonauk (19-12) received a team-best 16 points from sophomore Brendan Roberts, while senior brother Liam Roberts posted a double-double with 15 points and a game-high 15 rebounds. Sophomore Alex Krejci added 11 points.

But the Bobcats turned the ball over 20 times on the night against only six for the Norsemen, and that proved to be the home squad's ultimate undoing as Somonauk actually outrebounded Newark to the tune of 27-16 while holding fairly even in shooting from the field, trailing only 21 of 46 (46%) for the Norsemen to just 17 of 40 (43%) on the night.

"We've turned the ball over a lot this season, and we thought that would be the key to the game. Unfortunately, we just couldn't manage to keep the turnovers at a minimum against a very solid Newark defense," said Somonauk coach Curt Alsvig. "We did our jobs in every other area of the game, but we didn’t take care of the ball, and credit to the (Alex) Tollefson kid for coming through late when they needed him.

"We had a fine year, but it's disappointing knowing we could've won this championship if we'd handled the ball better."

After a neck-and-neck first quarter, the clubs battled tooth-and-nail in the second quarter. Krejci's pair of left-baseline 3-balls at 6:35 and 4:15 gave the Bobcats a 16-15 lead.

Alex Tollefson tallied on a three-point play with four seconds to go to put Newark ahead 20-18, but Brendan Roberts took a baseball pass and put in a bucket at the buzzer that put the game even at 20-apiece going into the locker room at the half.

After the break, Somonauk forged out a 36-30 lead before Alex Tollefson came alive. He'd nail a left-baseline triple at 2:05 and a free-throw-line jumper with 25 seconds left to put his team up 37-36 entering the final frame.

From there, he'd add his fourth-quarter heroics along with five points from Chapman, which included a trey and two free throws with 46 seconds to play, that helped seal the deal for the Norsemen.

"This is what we wanted, and that was to prove to ourselves and win a regional championship," Chapman said. "We played great defense, and I was proud of that, and when I hit the free throws at the end I knew we had it.

"Just an amazing feeling for all of us."