Lockport closer to SouthWest Suburban title with win over Lincoln-Way West

LOCKPORT – There are a couple of big boards right outside the entrance to the Lockport gym that list all the SouthWest Suburban Conference championships the Porters have won since the league formed in the fall of 2005.

There are 133 total SWSC titles listed on there through the end of the spring of 2024.

None of those are for girls basketball.

But there could be now. The Porters put themselves in position to capture their first SWSC girls basketball championship by outlasting Lincoln-Way West 51-47 in overtime on Tuesday evening at Lockport.

With the win, its second over the Warriors this season, Lockport (24-4, 13-2) takes a half-game lead in the league standings. The Porters play one more SWSC game, next Tuesday at Sandburg (21-7, 10-4). Lincoln-Way West has a pair left, at home against Sandburg on Thursday and at Homewood-Flossmoor next Tuesday.

“That was intense,” Lockport junior guard Addie Way said of the win. “I did not know that (the team has never won an SWSC title), so this win means a lot. Especially coming off of last season.”

A year ago, the Porters finished 12-19 and were winless in the SWSC Blue (0-8).

Way hit a 15-footer with 1:28 to play in overtime to put the Porters up for good at 48-46. She finished with five points, none bigger than those.

“That was a very scary moment,” Way said. “But I had the opportunity to take the shot and when you see it you have to be ready. The game was very nerve-wracking. But now I feel very relieved and very excited.”

After the teams exchanged free throws, Lockport clamped down on defense and forced a long 3-point attempt. It hit off the front of the rim but the Warriors grabbed the rebound. But once again surrounded, they traveled. They had 18 turnovers in the game.

Alaina Peetz, one of three seniors on the team, was fouled and hit both free throws with 6.4 seconds to play in OT for the final points. She finished with a team-high 12 points and added five rebounds and five assists. Senior guard Lucy Hynes (nine points, seven rebounds) then made a steal to clinch the victory.

“It was a little pressure but I had the confidence to make them,” Peetz said. “We are unselfish, anyone can score.”

While Way didn’t know the Porters had never won an SWSC title, Peetz did.

“Yes, my sister and I talked about it coming into this season,” Peetz said. “No one expected us to be this good but we’ve raised our expectations. We knew we were good but we didn’t know we were this good. We always try to be the hardest working team out there.”

Katie Peetz, Alaina’s younger sister, finished with nine points and seven rebounds. Fellow sophomore Evelyn Ingram had 10 points and junior Laura Arstikaitis added six points for the Porters.

Molly Finn had 11 of her game-high 17 points in the second half and added six rebounds for Lincoln-Way West. Fellow junior Ava Tisch had 10 points, Caroline Smith, one of two seniors on the team, had nine points and 13 rebounds, and sophomore Reagan McCracken added eight points for the Warriors.

The Porters led 34-26 midway through the third quarter. But Finn floated nine points, including two long 3-pointers, in a 12-2 run as Lincoln-Way West grabbed a 38-36 lead before an Alaina Peetz layup tied it at 38-38 after three.

The fourth quarter was played with intense defense on both sides and there was a lead change and three more ties as Finn tied the game at 44-44 on a short spin move in the lane with 2:17 to play in regulation. Neither team scored again and they both turned the ball over in the final 1.1 seconds and the game went to overtime.

Tisch had a steal and a layup to open the extra session, which was the Porters 16th turnover of the game but that was the only one in overtime. But Hynes hit a 10-foot shot in the lane at the 2:45 mark that rolled in to tie the game at 46-46 and set the stage for the exciting finish.

“We made up the eight-point deficit pretty quick,” Lincoln-Way West coach Ryan White said. “Then it was back and forth from there and we knew that was a danger.

“The flow for us on offense was much better than the first time we played (a 40-28 Lockport victory on January 18). We can still win out and win it. The girls always leave it all on the floor and at the end of the day that’s all you can ask.”

The Warriors had an early 9-2 lead but Lockport rallied to take a 14-13 advantage after the first quarter. Trailing 20-16 midway through the second quarter, Ingram hit the first of her two 3-pointers to spark a 9-1 run and give the Porters a 25-21 halftime lead.

Until this season, the SWSC had two divisions. But now it is down to nine teams. So there are no more divisions, just one big league.

The Warriors have won four SWSC titles in their history, with all of them being in the Red Division. Those were in the 2014-15, 2017-18, 2019-20, and 2020-21 seasons.

“We have another tough game and they have two of them,” Lockport coach Darien Jacobs said of the remaining SWSC schedule. “So it’s too early to celebrate but yes it was important. At this point in the season they’re all important. We want to stay locked in and focused.”

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