Kaneland, Yorkville Christian survive semifinal tests to advance to championship at Plano

PLANO – Saturday’s 8 p.m. championship game is set at the 61st Plano Christmas Classic, as top-seeded defending champion Kaneland pulled away from scrappy No. 5 seed Streator Friday night after sixth-seeded Yorkville Christian survived overtime to knock off No. 2 Northridge Prep in the semifinals.

Kaneland 70, Streator 44

For the second consecutive season, Kaneland managed to pull away from Streator in the semifinals to advance to the championship, outscoring the Bulldogs 34-15 in the second half to turn a hard-fought, close game at the half into a near running-clocker.

“[Streator is] a good team, and they executed really well in the first half,” Kaneland coach Ernie Colombe said. “We felt like we had to tighten some stuff up, especially defensively, and the guys responded in the second half.

“Here we are. Not too many teams have been in this position [to repeat as champions at Plano]. It’s a great opportunity for us. Yorkville Christian is a talented team, we feel like we’re talented, so it should be a great matchup.”

Dynamic point guard Marshawn Cocroft (18 points, five assists, seven rebounds), sharpshooter Evan Frieders (15 points) and 6-foot-7 senior big man Freddy Hassan (12 points, eight rebounds, five blocked shots) led the Knights, now 11-1 heading into Saturday’s title game against Yorkville Christian.

“It’d mean everything, man,” Hassan said of the prospect of repeating. “Sophomore year we lost. Last year we won, and I got the MVP, and this year we’re in the championship again.

“I think we can definitely make some more noise tomorrow, come out with the dub.”

Hassan, 6-9 sophomore Jeffrey Hassan and 6-5 Jake Buckley were among the key defenders the Knights sent at 6-4 Streator center and leading scorer Nolan Lukach, who was limited to nine points and seven rebounds.

Tristan Finley (nine points), Blaize Bressner (seven points), Jake Hagie (six points, three steals) and Matt Williamson (10 points) were also leaders for Streator, 10-3 heading into Saturday’s 6:30 p.m. third-place matchup with Northridge Prep.

“We’ve been playing catch-up all season,” said Streator coach Beau Doty, whose Bulldogs rallied from a double-digit deficit against fourth-seeded Lincoln-Way Central to make it to the semis. “But against a team of this caliber, we knew we couldn’t play catch-up and let it get to double digits.

“Credit them, they’re extremely talented and explosive. They’ve had a lot of scores that’ve looked like this all season long. Unfortunately for us, we just weren’t able to keep it close.”

The Knights led 36-29 at the half and finally began pulling away on a Cocroft 3 that put them ahead 41-29 just over a minute into the second half. Kaneland finished outshooting Streator 50.9%-36% from the field and outrebounding the Bulldogs 32-20.

Yorkville Christian 73, Northridge Prep 68 (OT)

In Friday’s early semifinal, a technical sparked Northridge Prep to a late lead, Noah Aguado’s left-all-alone dunk with 1:10 remaining in regulation tied it to force overtime, and Zach Marini’s 3-pointer to open the extra four minutes gave the Mustangs a lead they would not relinquish.

Jayden Riley and Aguado scored 16 points apiece to lead Yorkville Christian (11-3), with both playing the end of the fourth quarter and entire overtime with four fouls. Nine of Riley’s 16 points came in overtime, including three free throws over the final 0:14.1 to seal it and send Yorkville Christian on to face defending champion Kaneland.

“It was a body punch there with [Aguado and Riley] both getting their fourth [fouls], and it was an emotional game,” Yorkville Christian coach Aaron Sovern said. “Northridge is always so well-prepared and keep coming at you relentlessly, so we had to be smart. ...

“[Northridge] hit some uncharacteristic 3s in the first half and we didn’t shoot it very well, but I’m proud of my guys. We made plays when we had to and just showed that growth. ... Now we’re winning these games as opposed to, ‘Oh, man, we almost had them.’ ”

Tray Alford added 13 points for the Mustangs.

Northridge Prep, which advanced to play Streator in Saturday’s third-place game, was paced by 18 points from Bo Arnold and 17 more courtesy of Mark Scherer.