Ottawa, Streator score in final minute to win openers at Dean Riley tournament

OTTAWA – The Dean Riley “Shootin’ the Rock” Thanksgiving Tournament got off to an exciting start Monday in Kingman Gym with two down-to-the-wire games to end the night.

Host Ottawa edged Pontiac 44-42 on a last-second layup, while Streator scored in the last minute to beat La Salle-Peru 58-57.

Sterling beat Plano 80-68 in the opener.

Ottawa 44, Pontiac 42: Evan Snook got the ball with less than 10 seconds left and dribbled across the half-court line.

“We had a couple different options if they were in zone or man,” Snook said. “They came out in man, so the play was I was going to get the ball up top and I was going to get a ball screen. I came up, I refused it. The play was to hit Aric Threadgill in the corner because we know he can hit that shot. But I saw the lane and I just took what I had.”

Snook had a path all the way to the basket.

He laid it in with 1.6 seconds left right in front of the Ottawa student section to lift the Pirates to a season-opening win.

“It feels good,” Snook said. “It’s a good momentum builder.”

Ottawa led by seven with 5:42 left but then suffered a 3 1/2 minute scoring drought that allowed the Indians to rally to take the lead at 40-38 on a 3-pointer by Cam Fenton with 2:24 left.

The Pirates responded with a jumper from Kyler Arajo to tie it on the next possession.

Pontiac’s Riley Johnson got a steal and layup with a minute left to give the Indians a 42-40 lead, but Snook answered with a drive for a layup on the next possession to set up his last-second heroics.

“It was an exciting opener,” Ottawa coach Mark Cooper said. “Obviously, both teams aren’t in midseason form, but we’re happy to get out of here with a win.”

The Pirates started the season slowly, as they did not score for over 2 1/2 minutes and managed only five points in the first quarter.

But Ottawa got its offense going in the second quarter and took its first lead of the game on a 3-pointer by Deklan Gage with 2:04 left in the first half. The Pirates led 20-19 at halftime.

“I just thought we had a lot of nerves,” Cooper said. “They kind of got into us defensively, and we were uncomfortable running offense. I thought as the game went on we got a little bit more comfortable offensively, but still not at the level consistently we’re going to need to be.”

After Gage’s 3, the Pirates led until Pontiac’s 9-0 fourth quarter run.

“We got in the lane against their zone, which was helpful,” Cooper said about how Ottawa responded to the Indians’ run. “Then defensively, we turned up the pressure a little bit and forced a couple turnovers.”

Snook led Ottawa with 14 points, while Owen Sanders had nine points and eight rebounds, and Threadgill added eight points.

Cayden Masching led Pontiac with 18 points, while Riley Johnson added 14.

“We played a little sloppier than we wanted to, but overall we got the win, so we’ll clean it up throughout the season.”

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Ottawa's Evan Snook reacts with teammates after hitting the winning shot against Pontiac during the Dean Riley Shootin' The Rock Thanksgiving Tournament on Monday, Nov. 25, 2024 in Kingman Gym at Ottawa High School. (Scott Anderson)

Streator 58, La Salle-Peru 57: With less than a minute left, the Bulldogs got the ball to Matt Williamson in the paint.

The senior made a move, split a pair of Cavaliers defenders and scored with 30.4 seconds left for what proved to be the winning basket.

On the other end of the floor, the Bulldogs ended the Cavs’ final chance when a pair of Streator defenders ripped the ball away from L-P freshman Marion Persich.

“That was a big-time move,” Streator coach Beau Doty said. “That’s what you want seniors to do is step up in a big moment. He stepped up in a big moment, and our whole team stepped up on defense at the end.”

The Bulldogs trailed by 10 points less than three minutes into the game. The Cavs came out hot offensively, and Streator did not hold a lead until Tristen Finley drained a 3-pointer with 2:22 left in the third quarter to put the Bulldogs up 42-40.

“It just feels great,” Doty said about winning a close one on opening night. “It was a great back-and-forth game. We showed a lot of resilience. We’re senior laden. Some of them have experience, and some of them are in roles for the first time. We were really bad at times defensively. L-P always plays with toughness. They’re always well organized. It’s always going to be a dogfight.

“Our execution down the stretch was really good. We got to the spots we needed to get against good pressure. We got the ball inside when we needed. We made some big, timely 3s.”

The Cavs scored on their first four possessions of the game on a three-point play by Nick Olivero and three straight baskets by Erick Sotelo, including back-to-back 3s, to take an 11-1 lead.

L-P led 21-16 after the first quarter and had another surge to start the second, scoring on its first five trips down the floor to push the lead to 32-21 with 5:14 left in the first half.

However, L-P’s offense slowed after that as the Cavs led 35-32 at halftime and trailed 45-42 after three quarters.

“We were moving the ball and running the offense,” L-P coach John Senica said. “It’s the first game of the year. I don’t know that we have our legs yet. I think we kind of slowed our tempo on offense because we were getting tired. Hopefully, we’ll be able to rectify that moving forward.”

Doty said he thought the Bulldogs improved defensively as the game went on.

“I thought we didn’t give much resistance at all for a good part of the first half,” Doty said. “They ran their stuff. They’re physical. They were patient. I just didn’t think we had on-ball pressure. Our contests were bad. We weren’t chasing the ball. Those things started to pick up a bit. Our stance off the ball got a little better. We got through screens a little bit better.

“We stepped up when we needed to and made plays.”

Nolan Lukach led the Bulldogs with 19 points and seven rebounds, while Williamson scored 13 points and dished out four assists and Finley added 11 points and four assists.

Sotelo led L-P with a game-high 20 points to go with seven rebounds, while Olivero and Persich scored 15 points each. Persich also had six assists.

“I thought we played pretty well for a team that hasn’t played together,” Senica said. “I know what we need to work on now. This was a good gauge to see where we’re at.”

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Streator's Isaiah Weibel sinks a three point basket over L-P's Mikey Hartman during the Dean Riley Shootin' The Rock Thanksgiving Tournament on Monday, Nov. 25, 2024 in Kingman Gym at Ottawa High School. (Scott Anderson)