Boys basketball: Picture-perfect first half sends Streator into Plano Christmas Classic semifinals

PLANO – Streator didn’t play a perfect half of basketball over the final two quarters of Thursday’s quarterfinal of the 60th Plano Christmas Classic against Northridge Prep.

The Bulldogs came close in the first half, however, and that was more than good enough to comfortably move fifth-seeded Streator past No. 4 Northridge Prep 67-46 and into the Christmas Classic’s final four.

“We executed flawlessly, I thought, in the first half against a good team,” Bulldogs coach Beau Doty said. “They’re [9-2 coming in] by dictating what you do, and we had kind of a live walk-through and some film on them and had a plan, but our kids have to go out and execute it.

“I think our kids came in here focused with a mentality that we want to make a deep run in this tournament and see where we’re at as a team. We’ve done that through two games.”

Streator (11-3) plays top-seeded Kaneland in Friday’s 7 p.m. semifinal. Northridge Prep (9-3) slips to the fifth-place bracket, playing Hinckley-Big Rock.

Logan Aukland’s 15 points, three assists and five steals led a Bulldogs attack that outshot the Knights 55.8% (24 of 43) to 36.4% (20 of 55) and recorded assists on 16 of its 24 field goals. Quinn Baker recorded six rebounds and two blocked shots to go with his 12 points, while Christian Benning scored 12 of his own to accompany four rebounds and a game-high five assists. Cade Peterson with 10 points, Matt Williamson with seven and Nolan Lukach with six – all three off the bench – were next on Streator’s scoresheet.

The Bulldogs’ fantastic first half was powered by selfless passing and relentless defense. Streator’s fullcourt pressure had a more disrupting effect – over the opening quarters, anyway – than Northridge’s trap-heavy defense. By the half, the Bulldogs led 40-19.

“We just brought the pressure, and that’s what we’re best at,” said Isaiah Weibel, the point of the Bulldogs defense who also added five points and three assists to his three steals. “We picked them up full court, and I had Landon [Muntz] helping me on their point guard, and that helped us to bring the pressure.

“The best thing for us is being scrappers, effort from everybody.”

The Streator advantage hit double digits at 16-6 on a physical Benning leaner in the closing seconds of the opening quarter, surpassed 20 points (37-16) on Aukland’s three-point play off a steal in the second and as many as 30 points (51-21) midway through the third on an Aukland 3-pointer.

The Knights, led on the night by Javi Christoffel’s 16 points and 10 off the bench from Mark Scherer, whittled down the Bulldogs’ lead much of the second half, forcing 17 second-half Streator turnovers, but never drew closer than 20 points.

“It seemed like [our defense did affect Streator in the second half] a little bit … and I think Streator was a little more conservative, I guess, or tentative, and we were able to capitalize on that, but not enough to really make a dent in their lead,” Northridge Prep coach Will Rey said.

“We played them here last year and beat them, and we knew how good they’d be with another year’s experience … and they controlled the game from the opening tip to the final buzzer.”

The Bulldogs will look to keep things rolling Friday in their quest to bring home the program’s first Plano Christmas Classic title.

“I thought Logan stepped up, Cade made a couple huge 3-pointers in a row, Isaiah’s so much of what we do defensively … and being up 21 at half, we were able to survive some lapses,” Doty said.

“We’re super excited about where we’re at right now in the tournament. It’s a great win, but hey, we’ve got to turn the page and be ready to go tomorrow. We’ve put ourselves in a spot where we can compete for a championship over the next two nights.”