Boys basketball: Jalen Falcon takes flight, leads Lockport past Joliet Central

JOLIET – Throughout the years, Lockport and Joliet Central have enjoyed many thrillers at the Joliet Central gym.

The two renewed hostilities Monday night in a nonconference game that was tight early until Lockport’s Jalen Falcon triggered a spurt in the second quarter that provided the impetus for the Porters’ 58-28 win.

Both teams struggled to score in the first quarter and most of the second. Joliet Central (6-21) took a 13-11 lead when Robert Williams hit a 3-pointer midway through the second. Adam Labuda answered with a 3-pointer of his own, his only basket of the game to go with six assists, which started a 15-0 run by the Porters that swung the momentum in their favor.

Falcon, who had a game-high 22 points to go with five rebounds, was fouled on consecutive trips down the floor and went 4 of 4 from the free-throw line before Quinton Hunter added a 3-pointer. Then, off a turnover by Joliet Central, Hunter lobbed an alley-oop to Falcon, who slammed it home with authority. Falcon then scored in the lane again for a 25-13 lead for Lockport (15-10).

Joliet Central ended the run on a basket by Isaiah Molette. Falcon then delivered a play just as, if not more, spectacular than his dunk, just before halftime. Labuda launched a 3-pointer, and from his position on the left wing Falcon swooped in and tipped the missed shot in from the right side of the rim to give the Porters a 27-13 lead at halftime.

“They were playing us scrappy and tough early in the game,” Falcon said. “I wasn’t getting any calls going to the rim, so I had to kick the ball out to my teammates. Then we got some turnovers and I got the alley-oop and the tip-in. Those got my teammates hyped, and we kept it up the rest of the game.

“It’s fun to play them. [Joliet Central] Coach [Lawrence] Thompson teaches at our school and he roots for us, too. He’s a cool guy, and I see him in the hallways a lot.”

Thompson, who was the head coach at Lockport for 16 years before moving to Joliet Central, had high praise for Falcon and the Porters.

“A lot of turnovers we had were self induced,” Thompson said. “But you have to hand it to Lockport, they mixed up their pressure. We like to pressure, too, but they do it differently than we do with their length. I have to do a better job of teaching our guys to see it and to realize that dribbling is not the only way to get through that pressure.

“Jalen Falcon is a real good athlete. He is quick and he gets into the passing lanes.”

Zion Kostyra led Joliet Central with eight points, while Williams and Jamarcho Holman each added three.

The Porters continued to shut down the Steelmen in the third quarter, limiting them to only seven points. Meanwhile, Lockport scored 14 of its own, getting 3-pointers from Hunter (8 points) and Falcon, as well as four points from Caden Schoolcraft, who finished with six points, as the Porters took a 41-22 lead into the fourth.

In the fourth, Falcon put the game away with a pair of 3-pointers for a 47-22 lead and both teams emptied the benches.

“It’s always great to play against Coach Thompson,” Lockport coach Brett Hespell said. “He was my coach when I was in high school at Lockport, and he helped me get my start in teaching and coaching. He was a mentor to me then, and still is, really.

“We were struggling offensively in the first half, but then we got some offense off of our defense and that picked things up for us. Once we got the alley-oop, the ball seemed to move faster and our offense was cleaner. We also did a good job of getting offensive rebounds, which is a big key when you are struggling to score.”