Princeton’s ‘Comeback Kids’ rally past Byron

MARENGO - You can call them the Comeback Kids.

Princeton trailed by 12 points late in the third quarter before a defensive change sparked the Tigers with a 17-0 run, holding Byron scoreless for nearly eight minutes.

That run gave Princeton a 38-33 lead with 3:41 to play and the Tigers held on for a 46-42 victory over Byron in Wednesday’s Class 2A Marengo Sectional semifinals.

“We know our defense is our specialty. We know if we fight on defense we can come back and that’s exactly what we did,” Princeton senior Jordan Reinhardt said.

“We feed off our defense. We want to get some stops and the crowd picks up and we feed off that,” Princeton senior Noah LaPorte.

The win sends Princeton (21-12) back to the sectional finals for the third straight year, riding a 12-game win streak to face Rock Falls (24-8) at 7 p.m. Friday. The Rockets beat Winnebago 42-40 on Ryken Howard’s game-winning shot with less than a second left on Tuesday.

The Tigers beat Rock Falls 60-52 on Jan. 4.

“Let’s try to get one, right? See what we can do,” Princeton coach Jason Smith said. “Rock Falls is tough. It’s going to be a battle. Got them once at their place. Coach (Zach) Sandrock does a great job and we’ll have our work cut out. I can assure you our boys will be ready to play.”

“It’s a blast getting there, but it’d be even more fun if we win,” Reinhardt said. “It’s kind of like football we get to the quarterfinals every year and we get knocked out.”

“It’s one thing getting to the final. We’ve got to get past it,” LaPorte said.

It was a change to its 1-3-1 zone that provided Princeton the spark it needed.

“We had to go to the 1-3-1 a little bit just to get them sped up a little bit and turn them over,” Smith said. “Went back to our matchup zone and I think working both of them helped us out.”

Princeton got a pair of free throws each from Asa Gartin and LaPorte and a 3-pointer at the buzzer by Luke Smith, scoring the final seven points of the third quarter to close within 33-28.

The Tigers from Princeton were just getting started. Reinhardt and Gartin, who converted a three-point play, scored on putbacks to tie the game at 33. LaPorte hit a 3-pointer from the right corner and added two free throws and suddenly it was 38-33 Princeton with 3:41 left.

Reinhardt drove and dished to LaPorte for a thunderous dunk to give PHS a 40-37 lead. Ben Hively tied it with a 3-pointer for Byron only to have Reinhardt answer with a scoring drive to put PHS back on top 42-40.

“I kind of like the ball in my hands at the end,” Reinhardt said. “The whole team wants me to have it. They all have confidence in me. I know I have to step up.”

“Jordan’s done it all year,” Smith said. “He’s a leader out there. He wants the ball in his hands. Creates shots for himself.

“And any time you get a dunk by Noah builds the fire a little.”

LaPorte is ready to oblige with a dunk at all times.

“That was electric. The whole crowd is waiting for it,” he said.

Jayden Fulkerson got loose on a runout pass from Smith to give PHS a 44-41 lead with 12 seconds left. Byron’s Cason Newton was fouled by LaPorte on a 3-point shot, sent to the line needing a trifecta for the tie. He missed the first, swished the second and intentionally missed the third, but did not draw iron, turning the ball over to Princeton.

Reinhardt sank a pair from the charity stripe to put Princeton up for good at 46-42 and a date with Rock Falls on Friday.

“Lot of unsung heroes. Lot of grit and a lot of fight out of these guys. I can’t be more proud of them,” Smith said.

LaPorte led Princeton with 19 points and Reinhardt added 12.

Newton paced Byron with 12 points

Princeton last won a sectional championship in 2009 at Chillicothe defeating Peoria Manual 71-65. The Tigers have won sectional championships in 1954, 1955, 1992, 1994, 2003 and 2009.