Ottawa Pirates avenge lone loss to Morris, clinch I-8 Conference title

OTTAWA – The Ottawa Pirates had to overcome some adversity Monday evening as they tried to clinch the 2020-21 Interstate Eight Conference championship.

That’s all right, though.

It’s something they’ve proven throughout this pandemic-stricken season they’re really good at.

The Pirates saw Morris, the only team to have beaten them this year, play a fantastic first half of basketball but never allowed themselves to fall too far behind. Ottawa ultimately caught up, took the lead and pulled away for an I-8 Conference-clinching 60-49 victory Monday at historic Kingman Gym.

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Ottawa's Javrius Whitfield (30) grabs a rebound over Morris defenders Monday in Kingman Gym. (Scott Anderson)

“The only thing we had to play for this year was a conference championship, and our guys for the last year have been intolerant to anything that could get in the way of winning,” Pirates head coach Mark Cooper said.

“From Oct. 30 to our first game, we had three days when we were together, one open gym and two practices with our full team due to a quarantine of 11 guys. And our guys refused to let the circumstances define their season.

“This is really hard what they did, to answer the bell night after night in a season where fatigue could be an issue. Our guys just did not give in.”

Ottawa now is 12-1 overall and 10-1 in the I-8 – that lone blemish a 55-46 loss at Morris on Feb. 19.

“We could’ve won a regional or a Christmas tournament or a Thanksgiving tournament, but we couldn’t do that this year. So we really wanted to win the conference. That was our only goal this year.”

—  Ottawa senior Anthony Cooper

Morris, which has suffered through two separate COVID-19 quarantines, now is 3-4 overall, 3-3 in the I-8.

The visitors had the upper hand much of the opening half, riding 13-of-29 shooting over the first two quarters and an eye-popping 12-point second-period performance from junior guard Myles Johnston.

Despite seemingly holding all the momentum, head coach Joe Blumberg’s team found itself ahead only three points, 30-27, at the halftime break.

“You never feel confident at Kingman up three at the half,” Blumberg said.

Ottawa caught its visitors at 32-all on an Anthony Cooper 3 just less than two minutes into the third, then took the lead for good less than a minute later on a putback by fellow OHS senior Zach Vogel.

From there, Ottawa slowly began to pull away – the dagger a 3 with 3:21 to play made by junior Luke Cushing.

Cushing had a stellar 17-point, six-rebound, five-assist performance, Anthony Miller added 10 tallies off the bench, Vogel finished with 10 points and three assists and Anthony Cooper had a 17-point, six-rebound showing of his own to pace the conference champion Pirates.

“[The conference championship] is the only thing we could get,” leading scorer Anthony Cooper said. “We could’ve won a regional or a Christmas tournament or a Thanksgiving tournament, but we couldn’t do that this year. So we really wanted to win the conference.

“That was our only goal this year ... and we had two games to spare, even.”

Morris, whose biggest lead was seven, 26-19, during Johnston’s run of 10 straight points in the second quarter was paced by Johnston’s game-high 22 points to go with three assists. Henry Hansen pitched in eight points and five rebounds, with Nathan Jepson scoring seven points on a night Colin Cummings was uncharacteristically limited to just two fourth-quarter free throws.

“I was just proud of our guys for the way they battled,” Blumberg said. “It’s certainly not ideal conditions [playing so many games so close together due to the two previous quarantines], but I thought we played hard for four quarters.”

Morris is scheduled to close its season at home Wednesday, Thursday and Friday against Rochelle, Sandwich and Sycamore, respectively.

The Pirates visit Kaneland on Wednesday before returning to Kingman to close the season Saturday against Rochelle.