Princeton beats Seneca for fourth straight regional title

PRINCETON – The Princeton Tigers stood 9-12 on Jan. 27 after losing to Dixon.

There may have been some doubters outside the Tigers' camp believing they would not go far in the postseason, and Princeton’s regional streak would come to an end.

Look at them now. The Tigers have not lost since, stringing 11 straight wins including Friday’s 59-53 triumph over Seneca to claim the Class 2A regional championship on their home floor.

“I think we had a lot of hope. We all knew we play together good, and we’ve done it in the past years, so we knew we could do it,” Princeton senior Jayden Fulkerson said.

“I always believed,“ Princeton senior Asa Gartin said. ”Toward the beginning, we didn’t have that chemistry set. As we continued to build in practice and games we’re winning, our chemistry got better, and we were confident after that. We were like, ‘We got this.’

“We had that burning in our hearts and that chip on our shoulder.”

“I think after last year, coming in .500 or below, we knew it was possible. We knew what we’re capable of,” senior all-stater Noah LaPorte said. “We battled some injuries early in the season. We got everyone back and healthy and started playing good.

“We’re on a streak right now, and it’s a great feeling. Having everyone being a part of it is great.”

Tigers coach Jason Smith was always a believer.

“I believed in these guys. I never once doubted them,” he said. “I thought once we got consistency, they got it rolling really quick.”

The streak of four straight regionals matches the run of four from 1992-95 as the most in PHS history.

“Senior year, you’re on a three-year regional win streak, you want to get that fourth,” Princeton’s Jordan Reinhardt said.

The Tigers (20-12) advance to the Marengo Sectional to face No. 2 Byron (21-9) at 7 p.m. Wednesday. Byron beat Rockford Lutheran 64-51 at the Woodstock Regional. Princeton beat Byron 53-51 on a last-second basket by LaPorte on Feb. 8.

The Tigers led by as much as 14 points (43-29) late in the third quarter and by 10 when LaPorte gave them a 47-37 lead on a putback with 6:48 left in the game. LaPorte followed a 3-pointer by Seneca’s Paxton Giertz with a spin move in the post to keep the Tigers up by nine at 49-40 with six minutes to play.

The Irish kept charging back. Grant Sigel scored on a putback, James Zydon hit a 3-pointer, and Giertz scored again to cap a 7-0 Irish run to make it 49-47 with 4:24 left.

Zydon connected for another trey to draw Seneca within 51-50.

LaPorte scored in the post and missed his free throw, but Asa Gartin hustled after the rebound. He passed to Luke Smith, who was fouled and swished two free throws. Reinhardt and Fulkerson each followed with a pair of charity tosses to run the Tigers to a 59-50 lead.

“I don’t know which (regional championship) is sweeter than the next. Maybe this one feels better because it was at home,” Smith said. “Lot more pressure than I thought it was going to be. Seneca’s a heck of a ball team. We knew we were in a battle, but our kids fought, had heart and grit and fight like they always do and had that determination that they don’t want to lose and they’re winners. Those kids are winners.”

The Irish (26-7) forced the Tigers' hand with defensive pressure at times, helping them use a 11-4 run to close within 26-23 at the half.

“We wanted to press and wear them out. I thought that worked to an extent, but you can’t press if you don’t score,” Seneca coach Russ Witte said. “We had too many long stretches where we couldn’t put the ball in the hole. We had open looks. We just couldn’t consistently knock anything down.

“I thought our kids played outstandingly hard. You get a stop and a conversion on the other end, now you flip the switch.”

LaPorte poured in 27 points, including 16 in the second half, to lead all scorers, with Reinhardt adding 11.

Giertz netted 26 points in his last game in the Irish Green and White, finishing with 2,506 career points as their all-time leading scorer.

The Tigers knew they had their hands full with Giertz.

“We just had to play really hard,” Reinhardt said. “13 (Giertz) is a great player. He was obviously the main guy we focused on, but we stuck to our plan and it worked out.”

“He’s a great player. He can score from anywhere,” Fulkerson said.