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LOCKPORT – It took a while for Lockport‘s girls basketball team to get things going Monday against Joliet Central in the first semifinal of the Class 4A Lockport Regional.
Once they got going, though, the Porters did not stop.
Tied at 3 with a scrappy group of Steelmen after the first four minutes, Lockport (27-4) outscored Joliet Central (16-17) 10-1 in the remaining four minutes of the first quarter and continued to dominate en route to a 57-23 win. The win puts the Porters in Thursday’s title game against Andrew, which beat Bloom Township 58-55 in Monday’s other semifinal.
“We harp on defense all the time,” said Lockport’s Lucy Hynes, who led all scorers with 17 points and added six rebounds. “The coaches say that offense can come and go and that some nights your shots might not fall, but you can always play hard on defense.
“We also did a good job of rebounding. We always want to box out and try to limit the other team to one shot. That always helps when our shots aren’t falling.”
In the latter half of the first quarter, the shots started falling for the Porters and didn’t stop the rest of the night. Hynes led a balanced scoring attack with her 17 points, while Addison Way came off the bench to score 11. Katie Peetz (9 rebounds) added 10 points, while Alaina Peetz (9 rebounds) added seven points and Rowan McCarter had six points off the bench.
After the 3-3 tie, Alaina Peetz made a free throw before Katie Peetz followed with a 3-pointer. Way added another 3-pointer and Hynes scored off an assist from Alaina Peetz to make it 12-3. A free throw by Central’s Navaeh Wright (5 points) and one by Hynes capped the first-quarter scoring.
The Steelmen played even with the Porters in the early stages of the second quarter, and a 3-pointer by Alexis Bradley (team-high 11 points) pulled them to within 22-11. The Porters, though, went on a 7-0 run to close the quarter and take a 29-11 lead into halftime.
Monday marked the 21st time in 31 games that the Porters have held an opponent to 40 points or less.
“Our defense really clamped down,” Lockport coach Darien Jacobs said. “That’s what we have been doing all year.
“We knew what we would have to do against Joliet Central. They are a very scrappy team and they always play hard. We knew we had to box out and to get after loose balls and we did that.”
Central outscored Lockport 4-2 at the start of the second half, but did not score again in the third quarter while Lockport, sparked by seven points by Hynes, closed the third on a 17-0 run to bring the lead to 48-15 at the end of the quarter and invoke the running clock the entire fourth.
“It’s nice that on our team, everyone has the ability to score,” Hynes said. “It makes us really hard to stop. If a team tries to shut one of us down, that leaves someone else open.
“One of the biggest differences from last year is that we are a lot closer as a group. Before the season, we all came to open gyms and played a lot together. We know each other very well on the court and what everyone does best.”
Despite the loss, Joliet Central coach Laura Brumfiel was very happy with her team’s season.
“Lockport’s defense shut us down,” she said. “Our girls played hard, but we had trouble scoring. Lockport took away everything we wanted to do.
“This was a great season for us. We won eight games last year and we doubled that this year. We won our side of the conference for the first time in four years. And, we only lose one senior, so the future looks bright.”