Noah LaPorte wins it for Princeton with record-setting basket

PRINCETON – Noah LaPorte couldn’t have written a better script if he tried.

The Princeton senior all-stater scored the game-winning shot with 2.5 seconds left to lift the Tigers to a 53-51 win over Byron, also breaking the Tigers’ all-time scoring record set by former teammate Grady Thompson on that basket.

LaPorte now has 1,470 career points. Thompson in 2022-23 broke the 68-year mark held by the legendary Joe Ruklick (1,306), finishing with 1,468 career points.

“A lot of people were waiting for me to get that bucket, but to win the game ?... I love winning. That’s the cherry on top with that basket,” LaPorte said. “That was crazy.”

Princeton coach Jason Smith couldn’t have been prouder of a young man he greatly admires.

“It was a storybook ending, wasn’t it?” he said. “I don’t think people realize what that kid goes through on a daily basis, and to be as humble as he is, to be as good as a kid that he is. To be a darn near perfect role model the way he is. I don’t know if there’s a better human being out there.

“He’s just a really, really good kid. They don’t make them like that.”

Smith said he had told LaPorte to just embrace the moment as he approached the record.

Princeton (14-12) led as many as six points at 28-22 on a pair of free throws by LaPorte early in the third quarter. Byron (18-7) rode the scoring of Cason Newton, who scored 12 of the visitors 18 points in the third quarter, to grab a 37-34 lead at quarter’s end.

Jordan Reinhardt hit back-to-back 3-pointers from the same spot deep on the right wing to put Princeton back in the lead by one at the 5:30 mark, and LaPorte slammed home a breakaway dunk to make it 44-41.

Newton scored a layup and drilled a 3-pointer to put Byron back on top at 48-46 with 2 ½ minutes left. After Reinhardt sank two free throws with 1:41 left to tie the game, JJ Edmonson scored on an inbounds play to regain a Byron lead at 50-48.

Senior Asa Gartin cashed in a 3-pointer from the left corner for a 51-50 Princeton lead with 1:07 left, but Newton tied it back up with 1 of 2 free throws at the 41.4 mark.

Princeton called timeout with 9.3 seconds remaining to hold the ball for a final shot. Reinhardt inbounded the ball to Jayden Fulkerson across half-court, who passed to LaPorte at the right wing with 6.3 seconds. He drove in from the left wing, and with Princeton superintendent Kirk Haring imploring from the stands to take it “all the way, all the way,” spun around Byron’s Edmonson as he approached the lane and took the ball to the basket for a reverse layup – the game-winner and record-breaker.

The key, LaPorte said, was for PHS to play its game, not Byron’s.

“We played at our pace because they like to speed things up, full-court passes, stuff like that,” he said. “We just had to take the fast-break points when they were there and slow down in half-court offense when they were. They’re physical, so we had to rebound the ball. We did those things and capitalized.

“They kind of took it to us last year. They just beat a tough Dixon team last night. We knew they were coming off a high, but so we are. We’re putting wins together and playing good together, and it’s feeling great.”

The win couldn’t have come at a better time for Princeton, which is playing its best ball of the season ahead of the postseason seedings that are coming out this week.

“It means a lot. We’re getting right for postseason, won five straight. Just got to keep cruising and play hard,” Reinhardt said.

“Hopefully, it puts us in a position for coaches to seed us correctly,” Smith said. “If they look at over our track record and what we’ve done when I’ve had everybody available, we’re a pretty dangerous team.”

Reinhardt chipped in 15 points for Princeton.

Newton finished with a 28 points for Byron.

Princeton also won the JV game 56-54 in overtime. Jack Oester and Hayden Sayler each scored 17 points for the Kittens.