Boys basketball: Red-hot start sends La Salle-Peru to regional title past Sterling

STERLING – A red-hot shooting night, a huge rebounding advantage, and making every hustle play count as a great recipe for winning in the postseason.

La Salle-Peru had all of those ingredients cooking Friday night in the Class 3A Sterling Regional championship game, and the result was a 68-54 win over host Sterling.

“I’m not going to lie; when we played Dixon [Wednesday], we weren’t moving the ball well, we weren’t playing well as a team, but we ended up getting the win. So we kind of figured that tonight was going to be our night,” senior Josh Senica said. “We warmed up to the rims and the atmosphere, and I think that paid off. We came out ready and we came out hot.”

[ Photos from La Salle-Peru vs. Sterling in 3A boys basketball regional final ]

It’s the Cavaliers’ first regional title since back-to-back crowns in 2015 and ‘16, and earns them a berth in the Pontiac Sectional semifinals Tuesday against defending state champion Metamora.

“We hit shots, hit the boards, and showed a lot of heart. Our kids were diving all over the place for the ball, and our kids just didn’t give up on anything,” coach John Senica said. “Our kids did what they had to do. We have very good continuity on the team, we distribute the ball pretty well, we seem to handle the pressure pretty good.”

Fifth-seeded L-P (24-8) never trailed, jumping out to a 12-2 lead in the first 3:17. The Cavs led by at least six points the rest of the way, stretching it to double-digits on a few occasions. The final nails in the coffin were back-to-back-to-back 3-pointers from Jack Jereb, Eric Sotelo and Michael Hartman to give L-P a 60-43 lead with 3:57 remaining.

“We just wanted to come out with fire, get on them early, get a little momentum. It’s loud in here, and we couldn’t let their momentum rock us, so we had to come out hot,” Hartman said. “It was huge to get that lead. We stopped the crowd from getting into it, and we carried that momentum throughout the whole game.”

Second-seeded Sterling (24-9) never gave in, despite fighting an uphill battle the entire night. Senior Lucas Austin scored 12 of the Golden Warriors’ 25 points in the first half, then classmate Andre Klaver scored 22 of his game-high 27 points in the second half.

Klaver repeatedly drove to the basket for layups in the third quarter, but every time it looked like Sterling would seize some momentum, it found itself trading 2s for 3s, as the Cavs held the Warriors at arm’s length.

“I think that’s a big testament to not only the offense that they run, but we were just a step behind on defense. I feel like they always had the answer for our defensive rotations. They always hit one more pass and hit the open shots,” Klaver said. “And those 3s are detrimental. When you see your own shots go in and you’re making layups, then they come down and just hit a contested 3, it’s really demoralizing. But we should have found ways to fight through it.”

Kaver hit a pair of 3s around a layup in a late 11-3 run, but Sterling still trailed 63-54 after the surge with 2:15 to play, and the Cavs hit enough free throws down the stretch while holding the Warriors scoreless the rest of the way.

Josh Senica led L-P with 19 points, seven rebounds and five assists, and Hartman had 15 points and four assists. Seth Adams added 13 points, three rebounds, three assists and two steals; Sotelo finished with 10 points and five rebounds; and Jereb chipped in eight points, seven rebounds and three assists. The Cavaliers shot 53.1% (26 for 49) from the field, including 47.6% (10 for 21) from beyond the arc, five players hit 3s; and they assisted on 18 of their 26 baskets. L-P also hit the boards hard, outrebounding Sterling 34-16.

“We’re not really an offensive team. We were pretty good tonight, but we usually get all of our points off defense and rebounding, so that’s a big part for us,” Josh Senica said. “And it’s nice when you don’t just have two guys, but a whole team playing through a full game. It’s nice we had a lot of guys come up big for us tonight.”

Klaver nabbed five steals and dished three assists to go with his 27 points, and Austin finished with 14 points and seven rebounds. Maddux Osborn hit a pair of 3s and added eight points and three rebounds.

“They’re making shots, and we felt like they were getting the 50-50 balls as well, and they doubled us up on the rebounds, so they beat us in those three categories, and that hurt us,” Sterling coach Ryan Vasquez said. “We tried to give the best fight we could to battle back, but it seemed like every time we made a shot or two, they’d come back with an answer.

“I give our guys credit; we felt like we were connected tonight, and the guys did everything we asked them to, but we didn’t make as many shots, we didn’t get as many rebounds, and we didn’t get as many 50-50 balls. L-P was just the better team tonight.”