Sterling tops Princeton for third place in Dean Riley Shootin’ the Rock tourney

OTTAWA – The score remained close throughout the Dean Riley Shootin’ the Rock Thanksgiving Tournament third-place game Saturday.

But in the end, the dribble penetration of Sterling was too much for Princeton to overcome as the Warriors came away with the 56-51 in Kingman Gym.

Princeton started out strong with Jordan Reinhardt and Noah LaPorte connecting on driving layups to take an early 6-2 advantage.

The Warriors responded with a 10-0 run led by Kaedon Phillips, who grabbed the rebound and pushed ahead to Kody Bell for a layup, and then after a Maddux Osborn stick back, Phillips picked up a steal and layup to help Sterling take a 12-6 lead.

“We haven’t had many practices together with the long football playoff run,” Princeton coach Jason Smith said. “So the things I’m seeing out there like the tired legs and flat shot are all things we’re going to see improve as the season goes on.”

Reinhardt connected on a spin move in the lane to end the drought for the Tigers, who trailed 12-8 heading into the second quarter.

Jayden Fulkerson drained a 3-pointer in the second quarter that cut the Warriors’ lead to 14-13, but the dribble penetration and bounce pass from Osborn to Bell and a step back 3-pointer from Nico Battaglia made it 19-15 Sterling.

Great ball movement by Sterling once again led to an easy bucket as Quincy Maas found Bell to push the lead to 21-15.

Sterling was off and running after a LaPorte missed turnaround jumper, which led to a Battaglia fast break layup. He followed that with a floater in the lane to cap off a 10-2 Sterling run as the Warriors took a 25-19 lead into the break.

In the third quarter, Asa Gartin got a putback off a Reinhardt miss, but the Warriors responded with a Battaglia floater in the lane for a 27-21 edge.

The Tigers answered right back with a Gartin 3-pointer and a corner 3 from LaPorte to tie the game at 27.

The fouls started to mount for Princeton and Sterling took advantage at the charity stripe and also used aggressive play to go on a 7-0 run with Battaglia hitting a 3-pointer and then Bell making a bounce pass to Phillips for a bucket and a 34-27 lead.

“I told the kids the things like the fouls are things we can’t control,” Smith said. “Life ain’t fair sometimes, but it’s how you respond to things and I thought we did that well.”

LaPorte did just that with a turnaround jumper, but Phillips took the inbound pass and drove straight down the floor for a layup.

Moments later, Reinhardt drained his only 3-pointer of the game from the corner and then Gavin Lanham got an offensive rebound and dished to LaPorte for a layup that cut the deficit to 41-38 heading into the final quarter.

With 7:05 left, Sterling big man Osborn picked up his fifth foul and the Tigers wasted little time taking advantage as LaPorte drove to the basket for a layup that tied the game at 42.

But as quickly as the momentum shifted to Princeton, it swung right back to the Warriors, who went on a 9-0 run with Phillips hitting a pair of free throws and then a fast break layup from Maas before a 3-pointer from Battaglia made it a 51-42 Sterling lead.

“That 9-0 run just killed us,” Smith said. “I think some of it is not having our legs under us, but again the things I saw tonight are easily fixable. I’m really excited about this team.”

Reinhardt hit a pair of free throws that ended the Sterling run and then Lanham drained a pull-up jumper before Reinhardt drove and cut the Sterling lead to 51-48.

But in the end, the Warriors hit the majority of their free throws to come away with a 56-51 victory to claim third place.

Princeton was led by Reinhardt with 19 points and La Porte with 18, while Sterling was led by Battaglia and Phillips with 19 each.