Boys basketball: Streator celebrates seniors with running-clock win over Coal City

STREATOR – With the exception of one 12th-grader being unable to play because of an ankle injury, senior night Friday was just about perfect for the Streator Bulldogs.

Pops Dale Gymnasium was rocking, every senior who took the floor contributed statistically, and the Bulldogs dominated Coal City from the opening tip on their way to a 59-23 Illinois Central Eight Conference victory.

Although Noah Colter was unable to take the floor, the rest of Streator’s seniors did in style – Sean McGurk (three points, two rebounds, game-high four assists, two steals), Alexander Ward (two points), Tyler Luckey (three rebounds, two assists), Blake Ewing (three points, one rebound, one steal), Nolan Barr (four points, three rebounds, two assists), Dane Winterrowd (two points, three rebounds, one assist, one steal), Davey Rashid (two points, two rebounds, one steal), Jack Starkey (10 points), Cade Stevens (five points, three rebounds) and Jack Haynes (game-highs of 15 points and 13 rebounds, two assists, one steal, one crowd-pleasing blocked shot).

“The environment was great tonight,” said Haynes, whose third-quarter blocked shot received the night’s second-biggest ovation behind junior reserve Austin Taylor’s 3-pointer in the closing minutes. “It’s always fun when we have a great student section and a great fan base.

“Me and the other guys worked hard so we could get the other eight [players on the active roster] in who usually don’t get to play as much. It feels great when someone hits a 3 or makes a layup that doesn’t usually get to. The crowd and the bench just go wild.”

Stevens started the fun by connecting on a 3-pointer 23 seconds in to open the scoring. The Bulldogs’ advantage reached 10 points (14-4) on Starkey’s left-handed layup just over five minutes in; 20 points (31-10) on a pair of free throws from sophomore Christian Benning 2:57 before halftime; 30 points (40-10) just over two minutes into the third on a Starkey corner 3 off a Luckey assist; and its zenith at 36 points in the closing seconds of the third period, making for a fourth-quarter running clock and a happy Bulldogs crowd.

“The environment was great,” Streator coach Beau Doty said. “We really appreciate the community support – it’s always good, in the good years and the lean years. We have 11 seniors, and I feel bad Noah turned his ankle a week and a half ago and couldn’t get the start, but we still started the game the right way.

“It was great to see the energy. We had a great vibe tonight.”

While Streator (13-6, 8-0 ICE) led throughout, the nail-in-the-coffin stretch for Coal City (4-18, 2-8) didn’t begin until the second quarter. After Carson Shepard connected on the front end of two free throws to open the second-quarter scoring and cut the Coalers’ deficit to 17-10, Coal City did not score again until nearly five minutes into the third when Cason Headley nailed the second of two free throws, ending a 25-0 Bulldogs run.

Headley finished with eight points and three steals to lead Coal City. Colin Hart added six points, while Carter Garretts pulled down a team-best five rebounds to go with his two points.

Streator – which also received 10 points from Benning despite the point guard playing only in the second and third quarters – finished shooting 48.8 % (20 of 41) from the field to Coal City’s 30.3% (10 of 33) and outrebounded the Coalers 33-15.

Coal City is scheduled to host Plano on Saturday afternoon before playing host to Streator on Tuesday.

Before returning the visit to the Coalers on Tuesday, the Bulldogs will visit Washington on Saturday with a 5:15 p.m. varsity tip.