Boys basketball: L-P responds to early deficit to beat Pontiac for Dean Riley title; Streator third

OTTAWA – The La Salle-Peru boys basketball team took an immediate punch from Pontiac during the Dean Riley “Shootin’ the Rock” Thanksgiving Tournament championship Saturday.

The Indians scored the game’s first eight points, forcing L-P coach John Senica to call a timeout.

“We went down because they just had wide open shots, and we weren’t aggressive enough and doing what we were supposed to do,” Senica said. “Our game plan was to force them to drive and not hit the 3.

“In the timeout, we said, ‘We need to get in their face. We still have to help, but you have to get in their face. I don’t want open 3s.’ It carried from there.”

The Cavaliers responded.

L-P only allowed two more 3-pointers the rest of the game after giving up two in the first minute and a half, while the Cavs drained 10 3s of their own to beat the Indians 64-60 and claim the plaque.

“It means a lot because the kids have really worked so hard, the coaching staff has worked so hard, and it’s just nice to see that something is starting to come from it,” Senica said. “I’m proud of every one of them, the whole staff and the kids.”

Josh Senica scored on a layup on an assist from Jack Jereb to get the Cavaliers on the board, and L-P closed the deficit to 16-12 by the end of the first quarter.

Eric Sotelo, Josh Senica, Seth Adams and Jereb drained 3s in the second quarter to get the Cavs close, and Mikey Hartman drove to the basket for a bucket to give L-P its first lead at 28-27 with 2:30 left in the second quarter.

“We just had to keep fighting and go from there,” Adams said about responding to the early deficit. “We turned the intensity up and made them take tough shots.”

L-P led 32-27 and extended the lead to 43-33 midway through the third quarter. The Cavs took a 54-46 lead into the fourth quarter, but the Indians rallied.

Pontiac pulled within two on three occasions in the final eight minutes but never tied the game or took the lead.

Hartman and Adams each hit a pair of free throws in the final 10.7 seconds to help L-P seal the win.

“We just had to believe in ourselves and keep going all game,” Adams said. “We got down a couple times in the tournament, but we just have to keep fighting.

“It feels great [to win the title]. We finished .500 in last year’s tournament. We’re happy to get the season going on a good foot and start undefeated.”

Josh Senica finished with 20 points and 13 rebounds, Adams scored 19 points, and Jereb hit 4 of 7 attempted 3-pointers en route to 14 points.

Riley Weber scored 28 points for Pontiac.

Streator 50, Ottawa 36

The Bulldogs learned a lesson during Friday’s loss to Oak Forest, and they took that into the third-place game.

“I think we maybe by accident figured out an identity in the second half against Oak Forest. Against a team that’s got quickness and athleticism on us, we were able to pressure them in the full court man-to-man, turn them over and create a little havoc,” Streator coach Beau Doty said. “We challenged our guys to do the same today. If you sit back and let Ottawa run its offense, you’re going to get picked apart.

“[Ottawa’s Huston] Hart’s off to a great start. [Isaiah] Weibel has been really solid for us off the bench. We tasked him with the ability to start on Hart and try to take the ball out of his hands, and make him play the entire length of the floor, and not let them get into their flow and try to be physical.”

The Bulldogs forced Ottawa into 22 turnovers, limited the Pirates to 36.7% shooting and beat Ottawa in Kingman Gym for the first time since a Class AA regional semifinal March 3, 2004.

“It’s always nice to finish [a tournament] with a win, and it’s something Streator hasn’t done in a long time, beating Ottawa at Ottawa,” Doty said. “We’ve had a lot of heartbreak, a lot of close games that didn’t go our way.

“Hopefully, the kids can build off of it and see all the positives and negatives from this tournament, shore up those weaknesses and are ready to attack the season.”

The Bulldogs led 11-6 after the first quarter and pushed it to 18-8 with 5:21 left in the second. Ottawa pulled within 23-19 at halftime and got as close as 28-27 on a drive to the basket by Keevon Peterson with 4:06 left in the period.

“Streator dictated play from the opening tip,” Ottawa coach Mark Cooper said. “Their physicality on both ends of the floor was a factor throughout. We never played with any sort of comfort offensively. Their pressure bothered how we wanted to run offense. That was the story of the game.

“We got a couple buckets in transition [during the rally]. We were rebounding the ball better. We didn’t alleviate the stress of the game as well as we needed to, and they hit a couple tough, contested 3s at that time, and all of a sudden it’s eight or nine. They’re a veteran team, so trying to chase them with a young group, it was going to be difficult.”

Logan Aukland, Zander McCloskey and Christian Benning each knocked down 3s to help Streator take a 39-31 lead after three quarters. The Bulldogs started the fourth on a 7-0 run to push the lead to 46-31.

Benning led Streator with a game-high 23 points. Cooper Knoll had 11 points and 13 rebounds for Ottawa.

Princeton 59, Plano 56 (OT)

The Tigers trailed by a point entering the fourth quarter and by four in the final eight minutes of regulation but responded to force overtime in the fifth-place game.

Daniel Sousa scored with 1:57 left to tie it at 50, and Korte Lawson followed with a bucket to give Princeton a lead. Plano’s Christ Keleba scored to tie it and was fouled with less than five seconds left but missed the free throw to send the game to OT.

The teams traded baskets in the extra session before Noah LaPorte muscled up for a bucket in the paint with 48.7 seconds left and followed up with a steal. He was fouled on a pull-up, making the first of two free throws to give Princeton a 59-56 lead with 33.7 remaining.

The Tigers called a timeout on a tie-up for the ball but had no timeouts left and were assessed a technical foul. Plano missed both free throws, and the Tigers escaped with a win.

“The grit and the guts they showed in the second half, because they’re not in basketball shape yet, was pretty remarkable,” Princeton coach Jason Smith said.

LaPorte led the Tigers with 32 points.