Fieldcrest holds off Princeton, takes another step toward defending their title at Colmone Classic

SPRING VALLEY - The Fieldcrest Knights used a fast start and a lockdown finish to take another step toward defending their crown in the 50th Annual Colmone Classic at Hall High School.

The Knights jumped out to an 18-3 lead on Princeton and when the Tigers made a comeback, Fieldcrest senior Jordan Heider made a steal and a layup to put the finishing touches on a 47-43 win.

“It was exciting. I like those kind of situations,” Fieldcrest coach Jeremy Hahn said. “I think it’s good for the guys to grow to and be able to have that kind of experience. That bodes well for us to learn from this week. That’s why you come to tournaments like this to run into great programs and great coaches like that.”

With the win, the Knights moves into Friday’s crossover round for a 8 p.m. matchup against Eureka looking to move into Saturday’s championship game.

Eureka locked up the Red Pool with a 58-52 win over Hall in the nightcap.

The Tigers and Red Devils will meet at 5 p.m. Friday with the winner to advance to Saturday’s fifth-place game.

Also Tuesday, Kewanee beat IVC 56-52 in its first game in the Gray Pool.

The tournament resumes Wednesday with Mendota vs. Rock Falls at 5:30 p.m. followed by L-P vs. Kewanee at 7 p.m.

Fieldcrest 47, Princeton 43: Down nine early in the fourth quarter, the Tigers charged back within one with a 3-pointer and two free throws by Jordan Reinhardt, a pair of free throws by Jackson Mason and a layup by Asa Gartin to pull the Tigers within 44-43 with 1:50 left to play.

Heider stepped up defensively, picking Reinhardt’s pocket for a steal and layup which proved to be the play of the game, putting the Knights ahead 46-43 with 1:11 remaining.

“That tip there and led to an easy 2 going the other way was big. Our offense is a little stagnant right now,” Hahn said. “I’ve got to figure out a way to uncork them a little bit. We’re just kind of missing some stuff in terms of ball movement and understanding the flow at this point. It was good to get something easy and gave us a little margin there to work with because we were struggling a little bit.”

It was just the kind of play Hahn said he looks for from Heider.

“He does a great job for us in terms of bringing a lot of energy. He’s seen a lot of basketball and is a spectacular athlete on top of that. He’s quite the asset,” Hahn said.

Heider, whose father Eric was the 2002 Colmone Classic MVP, led the Knights with 14 points and Eddie Lorton added 13.

Reinhardt finished with a game-high 22 points and Gartin added 13.

The Knights came out red hot, their first three baskets coming on 3-pointers and hitting another to take an 18-3 lead. A Reinhardt 3 accounted for all of Princeton’s scoring in the first 6 1/2 minutes as the Tigers scrambled without starters Noah LaPorte (injury) and Jayden Fulkerson (ill) available.

“We came out feeling sorry for ourselves because we were missing a couple players,” Princeton coach Jason Smith said. “You’ve got to go out and compete. They outcompeted us in the first quarter and that’s where the game was won and lost. They score 20 points in the first quarter, it was 20-7 and we lost 47-43.

“I’m proud of our guys the way they battled back. I really am. But I’m more disappointed in the first quarter than I’m impressed with the second, third and fourth quarter. That’s not Tiger basketball in the first quarter. They have to play with energy, discipline and passion. It’s effort and attitude on the court.”

Gartin gave the Tigers a spark off the bench, hitting two late free throws to close the first quarter out and starting the second quarter with a 3-point play, making it 20-10. The southpaw shooter added a 3-pointer from the left corner and Reinhardt hit 3-4 free throws late to draw the Tigers within 27-18 at the end of the second quarter.

Eureka 58, Hall 52: The Red Devils fell behind 30-18 at halftime and 45-28 at the end of third quarter. They used their press and some hot fourth-quarter shooting, outscoring the Hornets 24-13 to pull as close as one.”

Braden Curran followed up a 3-pointer by Noah Plym with a pair of treys to draw the Red Devils within 49-48 with 2:00 left to play.

The Hornets made 6 of 6 free throws in the final minute to hold on for the win.

“We were proud how they didn’t give up,” Hall coach Mike Filippini said. “I think we were down 17 or 18 in the third quarter and we went to that press. We’ve been working on it in practice and it looks really good, but we haven’t used it in a game yet. It looked awesome.

“There were a lot of positives tonight. We got beat, big deal. We’re 4-3 and it’s the seventh game of the season. Wasn’t like it was a regional final. The kids played really hard. We were really happy with their effort, we just came up a little bit short.”

Curran scored 12 of his game-high 22 points in the fourth quarter. West chipped in 16 points while sinking four 3-pointers.

Eureka did it most damage behind the 3-point strip, sinking 12 on the night. Cohen Alstat scored 20 points, including four 3-pointers and 4-4 free throw shooting while Teagan McClaughlin added 16 points, helped by three treys and 3-3 from the charity stripe.