Christ the King explodes in second half for comeback win at McNamara

KANKAKEE — Coming into Friday’s Chicagoland Christian Conference battle, the Bishop McNamara boys basketball team knew exactly what it would have to do to defeat a Christ the King team that’s spent most of the season regarded as one of the most legitimate IHSA Class 2A State title contenders.

The Fightin' Irish knew they had to force turnovers and would have to hit open looks that would come on the perimeter as the Gladiators focused on keeping point guard Willie Felton out the paint and center Callaghan O’Connor from getting touches inside of it.

They did that in the first half, which resulted in a 30-26 lead at the break. But the Gladiators came out of the halftime break reinvigorated, outscoring the Irish 24-5 in the third to sail comfortably to a 67-49 win in a matchup of CCC teams that received votes in the latest IHSA Class 2A AP Poll.

The Gladiators improved to 14-7 and 3-0 in the conference as the Irish dropped back-to-back games to slide to 17-4 (1-2).

“This group right now, we’re not handling adversity as well as we need to, which is fine,” McNamara head coach Adrian Provost. “We just need to keep having adversity to get through it.”

Karter Krutsinger’s early bucket got the Irish on the board first at 2-0 before the Gladiators looked like they were taking early control with a 12-2 run. But just as they started to get comfortable with a 12-4 lead, Cole Czako’s back-to-back 3-pointers quickly made it a 12-10 game with just over three minutes left in the first, the first two of three 3-pointers he hit in the first that helped the Irish cut back to a 16-15 margin by the end of the first.

They took their second lead of the night when Krutsinger scored his first two of eight second-quarter points to put them ahead 17-16 90 seconds into the frame and then again 20-18 30 seconds later, a lead that became a 30-26 tally by the break.

As the Gladiators focused on putting a stop to Felton and O’Connor, who entered the game tied for a team-high 12 points per game, totaling six in the first half, Krutsinger had 10 first-half points and Czako had nine to leave the Irish in a good position at the half.

“In the first half, Karter had a good matchup and was getting to the paint, getting his guy on his back,” Provost said. “The fact Willie was playing downhill, and they were trying to pressure him, he did a nice job multiple times of getting around the free-throw line and hitting Cole for a wide open step in. Because of those two (Felton and O’Connor), their abilities, the way they’re playing and the fact they’re our leading scorers, they made those two guys better in the first half.”

But as quickly as the Irish pulled ahead, so did the Gladiators in the third. They scored 17 of the first 20 points of the second half, thanks in large part to their primary mix of 1-2-2 zone and man-to-man defense forcing eight Irish turnovers in the third quarter.

“That’s really been my coaching philosophy since I started coaching,” Christ the King head coach Troy Caldwell said. “We actually run six defenses, and so we do them in multiple settings, we do them based on personnel, based on the opponent we’re playing. We drill that and our kids are pretty sound with that, so I think that’s one of our calling cards.”

As their offensive woes increased, Provost noticed that side of the floor negatively impact their performance on the defensive end, especially inside. The Gladiators' dynamic frontcourt duo of Darien Green and Aaron McClure combined for 17 second-half points. Green led all scorers with 22 points on the night, with McClure in double figures with 11.

“For us, we let everything impact our defense,” Provost said. “If we have a bad play, have a technical, struggle on offense and can’t get a basket for multiple possessions, we surrender on defense. We let it negatively affect us on defense. Whatever we can’t do on offense at a certain time, we let it affect us at the other end of the floor.”

Not only did he see his Gladiators impress down the stretch for a key conference win, but Caldwell also got to celebrate with friends and family Friday. A 1992 Kankakee High School graduate, Caldwell had plenty of friends and family in the stands to cheer on his Gladiators.

“It was a great environment, good to be back home,” Caldwell said. “Props and a lot of respect to coach Provost and coach [Alex] Renchen. Bishop McNamara is a very formidable team and we respect them.”

STAT BOOK

Krutsinger and Czako each finished with 13 points to lead McNamara’s scoring, with Czako shooting a perfect 5-for-5 from the field and 3-for-3 from deep. Krutsinger added four rebounds while Czako had a rebound, a block and drew a charge. Felton finished with eight points, six assists, two rebounds, two steals and a block. O’Connor, who battled foul trouble and fouled out early in the fourth, had five points, two rebounds, two assists and four blocks, with all four blocks coming in the first quarter.

Green’s robust statline included 22 points, eight rebounds, an assist and five steals. Aramis Currin had 14 points off the bench. McClure and Mike Thomas each had 11 points, with McClure adding a dozen boards for a double-double.

UP NEXT

After a trip to St. Edward Saturday night, the Irish are off until they host Chicago Christian at 7 p.m. Friday.

https://daily-journal.com/sports/boys-basketball-christ-the-king-explodes-in-second-half-for-comeback-win-at-mcnamara/article_458b35f8-dada-11ef-8a3f-ebc6b78e7fa5.html