Kays sail to KHT maroon title game; Blue Devils' upset bid falls short to JCA in blue semis

KANKAKEE — When Dunbar’s Justin Howard hit a short jumper with 3:15 left in the first quarter of Friday’s Riverside Orthopedic Specialists Kankakee Holiday Tournament maroon bracket semifinal against host Kankakee, it gave the Mighty Men a quick 8-7 lead with 3:15 left in the first quarter.

That lead was short-lived, as the Kays went back ahead on a Kenaz Jackson jumper just seconds later and never looked back, putting together an unfathomable 33-2 run in the first half to cruise to an 84-46 victory that has the Kays in their fifth straight KHT maroon bracket championship game.

The Kays improved to 9-1 on the year with their second dominant showing in as many nights of the tournament, winning their first two games by a combined 187-87 margin.

“We have a gameplan and we want to stick with it, and when it’s working we stay with it until we have to make a plan B,” Kays head coach Chris Pickett said. “We didn’t have to make a plan B tonight, so it was good for us to jump out on them early, see some things we need to work on. It’s been a good two nights for us.”

Senior guard Jordan Davis led the way for the Kays. He finished the night with a game-high 30 points, including 26 through the first three quarters that gave him his own personal 26-25 lead over the Mighty Men ahead of the fourth.

Davis, who spent his first three high school years at St. Anne, had several memorable performances at the Kankakee Holiday Tournament as a Cardinal, making a pair of blue bracket all-tournament teams over his three seasons in red and yellow.

In Pickett’s eyes, seeing Davis now start to really take his next step with the Kays over the same tournament he’s no stranger to couldn’t be any better timing.

“He’s making his adjustments, and it’s about the time for him to do so,” Pickett said. “We kind of anticipated him coming around during the turn of the year, and an added weapon like that makes us that much tougher.”

Davis became the second Kay to hit the 30-point mark in a game this tournament after Lincoln Williams went for 32 points in Thursday’s 103-41 win over Von Steuben. Williams was sensational again Friday, adding 23 points on 7-of-9 shooting from the field and an 8-for-10 night from the free-throw line.

The 6-foot-6 junior guard is ranked as the top junior in the state by 247 Sports, where he’s classified as a four-star recruit. While it’s easy to see why with the handful of springy slam dunks and smoothness from the field he had Friday, Pickett said that some of the things that don’t show up on a stat sheet or highlight reel are why he’s such a special player.

“He’s making plays that, while they’re difficult for some players, he makes it look easy,” Pickett said of Williams. “As a coach, knowing that you’ve got a player that can do that, it makes us better.

“His all-around floor game and ability to do different things is starting to show more: making the right pass, rebounding the ball, blocked shots, defending,” he added. “We’re not even talking about the offensive side, it’s the intangibles that the coaches love.”

Standing in the way of the Kays' fifth KHT title in a row is the same Lindblom squad they defeated 78-66 in last year’s maroon title game and 85-74 in the 2021-22 title game.

It’s also the same Lindblom program that handed the Kays a 67-64 loss in the 2018-19 maroon semifinals, the last time Kankakee didn’t cut down its own nets. With a trio of respectable matchups against one another under their belts, Pickett knows exactly how competitive of a game Saturday night figures to be.

“We’re excited because we’re at that game,” Pickett said. “They secured their spot early (with a 63-49 win over Rantoul), so it was our turn to do ours. Now we have the opportunity to go out and defend a championship again.”

The Kays will face the Eagles at 6:30 p.m.

STAT BOOK

Davis got his 30 points on 11-for-14 shooting, and he also had four rebounds, four assists and a steal. Williams added seven assists, five rebounds, five steals and a block to his 23 points. Myair Thompson had 10 points, four assists, a rebound and a steal.

Blue Devils stopped in semis despite Velasco’s 30 points

As Peotone tried to take down top-seed Joliet Catholic in Friday’s blue bracket semifinal Friday night, the Blue Devils were handed a blow to that when their top two scorers, seniors Ruben Velasco and Brandon Weiss, both picked up two early fouls.

But despite his early foul trouble, Velasco was able to explode for a game-high 30 points and keep the Blue Devils within striking distance for a majority of the night, but the Hilltoppers' hot shooting from deep allowed them a 63-51 win that Joliet Catholic (6-4) to Saturday’s championship game against defending Manteno at 5 p.m. Saturday.

The Blue Devils (4-8) will face St. Anne at 2 p.m. in the blue bracket third-place game.

The Hilltoppers were able to gain some separation by the end of the first quarter, taking a 21-13 lead in the first stanza before a late push in the second, when they started to hit up from the 3-point line, gave them a 37-22 halftime lead that would prove to be too large a mountain for Peotone.

Peotone head coach Ron Oloffson said that he felt his Blue Devils could challenge for the win Friday night, but the Hilltoppers' 12-for-26 (46%) night from deep negated any chances they had of getting close enough to make a run.

“We let them get going a bit and didn’t guard, but they made 12 3s,” Oloffson said. " … I think we had higher expectations than just playing them close like that. I felt like we could put ourselves in the position to win, but never quite got there. Our defense at the start and some critical turnovers, that was really it."

Velasco went wild in the third, where he scored 12 of his 30 points, including a personal 5-0 run to end the third quarter just as the Hilltoppers were starting to pull away, cutting the deficit to 48-37 to start the fourth.

A Daily Journal All-Area and All-Illinois Central Eight Conference pick a year ago, the 6-foot-4 senior forward has taken his game to another level early in 2024-25, where he has five double-doubles on the season through 12 games. His 30 points and 13 rebounds Friday gave him his second double-double with at least 25 points.

“His 2-point game is improving,” Oloffson said has led to Velasco’s development. “He shoots the 3 a lot, but overall he’s scoring inside and outside, so that’s creating issues for the other team. I’m really pleased with him.”

STAT BOOK

Velasco’s 30 points came on 12-for-23 shooting. Weiss had eight points and two assists. Nick Cronin had six points and a rebound.

Manteno 60, St. Anne 57 (OT)

The Panthers will look to defend their blue bracket championship after outlasting St. Anne in an instant classic KHT matchup. Ray Lee had 26 points and five rebounds to lead Manteno (8-6). Andrew Norred added 15 points, seven rebounds, four assists and a steal. Braden Campbell and Cooper Monk each had 10 points, with Monk hauling in a game-high eight rebounds.

St. Anne’s Chris Link was one of three players to score exactly 30 points in Friday’s semifinal round. He also had seven rebounds, three steals and a block. Grant Pomaranski added 17 points, five rebounds, three assists and a steal. Jaqorri Wyatt added 10 points, two rebounds, two assists and four steals. The Cardinals (10-5) had their five-game winning streak snapped.

Momence 60, Grant Park 56

After facing a six-point halftime deficit, Momence (6-5) was able to prevail in the second half to advance to Saturday’s fifth-place game against Herscher at 4 p.m. Nic Charbonneau had 19 points as one of three scorers in double figures for Momence. D’Angelo Hundley had 13 points and Erick Castillo added a dozen.

Grant Park’s Blake Brown led the second day of the tournament with a 35-point explosion for the Dragons (5-6), who will face Central in the seventh-place game at 1 p.m. Brown also had 11 rebounds for a double-double. Ethan Barnas tallies seven points.

Herscher 53, Central 44

The Tigers (3-9) rebounded from Thursday’s two-point heartbreaker to St. Anne to and advanced to Saturday’s fifth-place game against Momence. Jacob McCree tallied 18 points for the second time in as many nights to pace the Tigers, and he also grabbed eight rebounds. Austin Buckley added 16 points and four boards, followed by seven points from Gavin Hull and six apiece from Alek Draper and Tanner Jones.

No individual stats were immediately available for the Comets (8-6).

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