The New Lenox-Jolit West Boys Basketball team decided 17 points for the Rich Township in mid-January.
Although all the same players were involved in that loss, the Joliot West team hit the floor against the same rich township team on Friday night, which was clearly a separate animal in the Championship Game of Class 4A Lincoln-Vay West Regional.
Jolit West played a completely different brand of basketball compared to the first, which displayed the necessary physicality as it gathered a 65-57 victory over Rich Township to earn its place in the next week’s Rich Township sectional, where this section will take place on Tuesday on Tuesday. Homewood-FloSmore defeated Stag 64-56 at Stag Regional.
“So as we go and play a prime-time shootout game in TF North in January and with their size, it is worrying. As they are made like older men, ”Jolyte West Coach Jeremy Craer said about the first meeting with Rich. “So I think our youth went out and they were as they were, I do not know, man. These people were strong. They are big.
“So we were preparing for the game that he was watching the film against Kankeke and watching the film against Bloom, [similar] anti. And what I have to do what we said, they have to bother them as bolhandlers and dare to shoot them and if we can neutralize the paint touch that will allow us to stay in the game. ,
Jolit West (22–9) managed to neutralize those rich township paint tactions mainly due to the presence of 6-foot-9 Senior Drew King. The king ended with 12 points and more importantly, 17 rebounds and five blocked shots. If Rich Township tried to go into basketball, it was to be obtained through the king to do it, and clearly it did not do enough work for the raptors (23-8).
“Physics,” the king said what was the biggest difference between the two meetings. “In the first game, we did not just come in and as we needed, she did not play physically. But this time we were able to flip it around. Now we just have to keep walking. ,
Jolit West appeared on its way to jump into the sections as low-use guard Billan Townsend gave the tigers a huge lift to start the fourth quarter, buried a pair of 3-pointers and extended the lead to 13–46 to 13-46. The contribution of players such as Townsand may have surprised some casual supervisors of Jolit West, but it was no surprise for the Crear and the rest of the tigers.
“I think it was very big,” Cragar said about the contribution of many people, including Townsand to win. “We play all our people in crunch time, for such moments. The crowd may be surprised and ‘which is number 4?’ But we see him every day in moments like this. ,
Rich still managed to push back back once again after eight consecutive points after the second Townsand 3-Pinter within 59-55. Probably reducing the problem was the fact that the team’s leading scorer Justus Macnaire excluded with 3:35 to play in the competition. Macnaire led the Jolit West with 24 points, but more significantly serves as a floor stabilizer for tigers. But all Valpariso could have committed the rest of the way.
“I was simply worried,” Macnaire accepted. “You sometimes know as a human, you have feelings. you worry. But our team is very good to handle it without me. ,
And after pulling the richs with 59-55, Maccare’s comrades can take it out, which proved to be a big basket from the Seion Gross (16 points) and the couple of Split Free Throw from King and Corey Nobles pushed back to eight and gave the tiders enough to secure the last four posts in their third area.
“Honestly, it just means more as the other two,” said Kregar. “When I had the opportunity to come back to my community and coach, I never expected a win. They were all going to mean what our community means and what it represents in terms of basketball. We are always known as a basketball city.
“So to win it, it feels good just to win beyond him, in particular, it matters to these people to see it. Because everyone has heard the whole year that there was doubt. You graduate seven seniors. Jeremy [Fears] Leaves for Michigan State. Jeremiah [Fears] Leaves for AZ compass. But they have each other and the way we wanted to do coach, it allows such moments to happen. ,