Boys basketball: Joliet Central tops Romeoville in OT to win WJOL Thanksgiving Classic title

JOLIET – In his first season playing on the varsity team as a sophomore, Joliet Central’s Zion Kostyra saw his team win just three games. Last season, Kostyra was a junior as the Steelmen won eight games.

As a senior, though, Kostyra’s time has come, and apparently, so has the Steelmen’s.

Kostyra scored 17 points and pulled down eight rebounds Saturday as Joliet Central (4-0) picked up a 63-60 overtime win over Romeoville to win the championship of the 27th WJOL Thanksgiving Classic.

It was the fifth tourney championship for Joliet Central, and the first since 2015. Kostyra etched his name in school history by winning tournament MVP and was named all-tournament alongside teammate JaMarcho Holman.

Other all-tourney selections were EJ Mosley, Jr. and DJ Porter, Jr., of Romeoville, Ryan Runaas, of Lemont, and Nicholas Allen, of Bradley-Bourbonnais.

“I can’t put it into words,” Kostyra said after the Steelmen won the title. “My sophomore year, we won three games all year, then eight all of last year. Now, we won four in our first tournament this year. All of that work that Coach [Lawrence] Thompson [Jr.} and Coach Duane {Edmon] have put into us has paid off.”

Both teams ran through their pools undefeated by employing a similar style of play, using a tight, pressure defense to force turnovers and create easy points in transition.

They continued that style Saturday with Joliet Central gaining the early edge. The Steelmen forced seven Romeoville turnovers in the first quarter and parlayed that into a 12-10 lead at the end of the quarter. Kostyra scored eight in the quarter with Holman (13 points) and Jay’lin Murphy (14 points) each adding two.

Romeoville (3-1) tied it early in the second on a bucket by Kendall Cutler, but Murphy - who went 8 for 8 from 3-point range Friday in a win over Bradley-Bourbonnais - sandwiched a pair of 3-pointers around a fast-break bucket by Holman to give Central a 20-12 lead en route to a 27-20 halftime advantage.

“We didn’t take good care of the ball early,” Romeoville coach Marc Howard said. “And, we didn’t shoot well. We dug ourselves a hole and went into halftime down seven. We played better in the late third and early fourth quarter, but we had too far to come back.

“Give credit to Joliet Central. They played a very good game and they deserved to win. I knew they would be better this year, and I don’t think they are sneaking up on anyone this year. They did a good job of spreading us out and negating our height.”

The Spartans trailed 37-27 late in the third quarter, but got back-to-back baskets from Mickeis Johnson (15 points) and AJ Ivy at the end of the period cut the lead to 37-33 entering the fourth.

Romeoville used the momentum from the end of the third to score the first seven points of the fourth and take a 38-37 lead. The Spartans led 42-39 after a pair of free throws by Porter (18 points) before Central got a basket by Holman and two straight by Danny Thompson (9 points) to take a 44-42 lead with 46 seconds left.

Porter scored with 23 seconds left to tie it at 44, and Thompson’s short jumper at the buzzer was off the mark, forcing overtime.

In the extra period, it was all about Central in general, and Deven Triplett specifically. Triplett came in off the bench and hit a 3-pointer and a floater in the lane on successive trips down the floor and later added another 3-pointer to put the Steelmen up 55-49. The Steelmen went 8 of 8 from the free throw line down the stretch to keep Romeoville at bay.

“My goodness, Deven Triplett in overtime,” Kostyra said. “He comes in off the bench to hit a couple 3-pointers and another shot in the lane. That was amazing.

“We are seeing the fruits of the last couple of years and it feels good.”

Thompson, Jr. was all smiles afterward.

“I feel like a proud parent,” he said. “We played a well-coached, skilled, aggressive team in Romeoville. All last year, when we would play a team like that, it didn’t go very well. I was very impressed with the way our guys battled tonight.

“We’ve been being positive with our guys and telling them they can get it done. They are believing they can get it done. They know their roles and they aren’t trying to do too much. They are playing as a team and there aren’t any singletons out there.”