Lockport defense stifles Plainfield North to earn INSERT Southwest Suburban Conference victory

LOCKPORT – More and more, the 3-ball tends to be everyone’s favorite shot these days at all levels of basketball, and the Plainfield North boys team has given opposing squads fits this season with their lights-out range from downtown.

Until Friday night when it went up against Lockport.

The Porters held a Plainfield North team that averages a dozen 3-pointers a game to just eight – four of which came in the final quarter. Lockport held the Tigers without a field goal for a seven-minute stretch in the first half and managed to fend off a furious comeback attempt to get a Southwest Suburban Conference win, 61-49.

Lockport (8-7, 4-2) led by as many as 18 in the second half, its offense consistently managing to stay in front thanks to Collin Miller and Co. Miller managed to score 18 points, while Trace Schaaf finished with 11, but it was the defensive effort that secured victory for the Porters.

“We try to change our defense up as much as possible,” head coach David Wilson said. “(Plainfield North is) a very talented team offensively. When they get into a rhythm, they’re able to get off some really good shots. We didn’t want to let them sit out on the perimeter and get comfortable, so we wanted to change it up on defense as much as possible.”

The Porters only needed nine seconds to get on the board thanks to a 3-pointer by Anthony Kosi. While Pierre Pointer countered with a contested layup, the Porters were in control for most of the quarter. A second triple by Kosi made it 10-3 midway through the period. While a Pointer three cut it to 12-8 later, the Porters made it 16-8 at the end of the first quarter thanks to a a layup by Nathan Munson late.

The defense of the Porters was the story early on. That Pointer 3 to make it 12-8 was the last field goal for the Tigers from the 2:48 mark of the first until 3:41 remained in the second. While they managed four free throws, the Porters made their shots count., building up a 21-12 advantage.

Another Pointer triple ended the Tiger drought with 3:41 until halftime. Lockport continued to put the ball in the basket. Munson hit a 3 right after Pointer to make it 24-15 before Trace Schaaf made it a double-digit lead with 1:57 left before halftime. A Munson layup with 1:25 extended it to 29-15 just 33 seconds later, but Pointer closed the half on a 5-0 run to shave the disadvantage to 29-20 at the midway point.

Neither team could score the first 90 seconds of the second half until Collin Miller hit a triple to get the Porter lead back to double-digits. Thirty seconds later, Miller scored on a finger roll to extend the edge to 34-20. A Pointer layup was answered by a Bryce Miller triple to give the Porters a 15-point lead with 3:29 let in the period.

While Darin Ashiru scored for Plainfield North with 30 seconds left in the quarter, the Tigers still trailed 50-34 entering the final period of play.

The Porters built the lead to 18 in the fourth, but Plainfield North cut that down to just 10 with two minutes to go. Lockport managed to to make their free throws down the stretch and kept the Tigers off the board enough to get out with the win.

“Everyone can shoot on this team,” Collin Miller said. “The biggest thing is everyone is unselfish, which helps us all score a lot.”

Plainfield North was led by Pointer with 19 points and Quintin Wiencek with 14 points.