Top-seeded Kaneland pulls away from No. 8 L-P in Plano Christmas Classic

PLANO – Evan Frieders stole the ball from beyond half court and took it the distance, jamming it home with 1:54 left in the first half of Kaneland’s quarterfinal game against La Salle-Peru in the 61st annual Plano Christmas Classic.

Perhaps the passer should’ve known better than to make such a pass against a team like Kaneland, but the No. 1-seeded Knights are making a lot of big plays defensively, as well as offensively these days, as they showed in a 71-40 victory over the No. 8 Cavaliers.

“It starts with defense,” Frieders said. “On the steal and the dunk, we needed a little boost of energy. Our shots weren’t falling. We weren’t scoring as much as we wanted to. After the dunk, it got the crowd going, got the bench going, and we picked it up from there.”

The Knights (10-1) will play No. 5 Streator on Friday in the semifinals.

The Knights shot 55% (28-of-51) from the field compared to 29% (16-of-55) by the Cavaliers.

La Salle-Peru (6-5) only trailed 13-11 early in the second quarter after a nice move inside from Jameson Hill for two points.

Nick Olivero led the Cavaliers with 16 points.

“Especially in the first half, I thought we did a good job of defending them,” Olivero said. “They had their runs for sure, and in the fourth quarter they had a little run there and a few dunks and that kind of spaced it out a bit.”

Marshawn Cocroft answered Hill’s basket with a quick drive to the hoop that started a 14-0 run. The run culminated at 1:54 with a fantastic bounce pass from Luke Reinert to Connor Kimme for a layup and 27-11 lead.

Marion Persich finally ended the run when he scored with 39 seconds remaining before half. Persich had 11 points for the Cavaliers. He also had nine rebounds.

Reinert’s baseline jumper with 3:20 left in the third quarter extended Kaneland’s lead to 38-18.

La Salle-Peru committed 16 turnovers.

“When we get up and pressure it makes it really hard for them,” Frieders said. “After we go down and score we come back and play just as hard on defense. It’s a challenge.”

Olivero said Kaneland’s size is key to its success, but just a part of the Knights' reason for success.

“It’s definitely a big factor,” he said. “A well coached team. They were fast and athletic as well as tall and strong. They are definitely a tough team.”

Freddy Hassan led the Knights with 23 points. He also had eight rebounds and four blocks. Some of his points came via a pair of thunderous dunks in the fourth quarter.

“It’s extremely fun to play like that, especially when you get the ball in your hands when you’re hot,” he said. “With Marshawn (Cocroft) and Jeffrey (Hassan) you never know what can happen. Sometimes Marshawn is pushing it and just drops it off to my brother for a crazy dunk. We just love transition and running, running, running.”

Cocroft had 19 points and six assists. Frieders snagged nine rebounds, Isaiah Gipson scored eight points, Kimme scored seven points and Reinert had four assists.

“Every guy here and on our bench, one through 20, all can play,” Frieders said. “We all play hard and love to be here.”

https://www.shawlocal.com/kane-county-chronicle/2024/12/27/top-seeded-kaneland-pulls-away-from-no-8-l-p-in-plano-christmas-classic/