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LA SALLE – In the final game of the day in the La Salle-Peru Midwinter Classic, the host Cavaliers took on the Grey Ghosts from Illinois Valley Central.
The Cavs were able to earn a hard-fought, 49-41 victory in a game that was close until L-P was able to pull away in the final few minutes.
L-P coach Jim Cherveny was happy with his team’s performance.
“We are looking for combinations that are successful on the court, and we had three of our top guys go down with injuries, and other guys filled in and played well,” Cherveny said. “I thought our defense played hard, and a big part of the win tonight was the patience we used in breaking their press and finding good shots against their zone.
“I was also pleased with our free-throw shooting down the stretch. That’s what won this one tonight.”
La Salle-Peru junior Josh Senica, who led the Cavs with 26 points, agreed.
“We played well as a team tonight,” he said. “I got the points tonight, but it was because the guys were able to break the press and get me the ball in good position. We had to have a couple of guys step up when we lost guys, and I thought Bob [Baldin] and Brady [Romagnoli] played big parts in this win, even though it doesn’t show in the scorebook.”
The game began when Jack Jereb lofted the ball toward the rim, and Senica got free on a backdoor cut and completed the alley-oop play with a thunderous two-hand slam to bring the crowd to life.
“We tried it at Hall, and I have been waiting to get another chance and was pretty excited to hear Coach call it, and it worked great. I think it got the boys fired up and gave us some early energy,” Senica said.
L-P led 11-8 after one period.
The Ghosts started the second stanza off strong with a 7-2 run powered by an Adam Wenzelspratt 3 and buckets from Colten Lopotko and Stephan Braun, with only a Seth Adams lay-in to counter, and suddenly the Ghosts held a 15-13 lead. But the Cavaliers answered with a 7-2 run of their own, with Senica, Adams and Maalik Madrigal all contributing hoops leading to a 24-24 tie at halftime.
The second half saw the Cavaliers jump out to a three-point advantage with Senica doing the bulk of the work, leading 31-28 with three minutes to play before IVC’s Brynden Coventry scored the next three points to tie up the contest. The Ghosts would get a pair of hoops each from Bryce Radcliff and Brady Ward, with L-P countering with a Nolan Van Duzer 3-pointer to make the score 35-34 in favor of IVC heading to the final period.
The Cavaliers looked to their big man early in the fourth, and Senica delivered with four quick points. L-P led by three, and after the Cavs’ Jereb and IVC’s Ian Gilliespe traded hoops, Van Duzer struck again from deep. Senica would bury a couple of free throws to put L-P up 45-39. Senica and Jereb sank their late free throws, and La Salle-Peru salted away a 49-41 victory.
Leading the way for L-P was Senica with 26 points, Jereb adding eight and Adams kicking in seven. For IVC, Yates lead the way with eight.
Earlier in the day, La Salle-Peru defeated Sherrard 34-31. Senica scored 22 of the Cavaliers’ 34 points, with Adams adding 10.
Sherrard will take on IVC at 3 p.m. Wednesday, and L-P will face Geneseo in the final game at 4:30 p.m. to conclude the round-robin tournament.