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Plano
Saves Best For Last At Wilmington
Jensen’s Tip At The Buzzer Ends Reaper’s Three Game Skid
By Bill Lidinsky - Plano Record
It’s wasn’t a pretty victory by any stretch of the imagination,
but the Plano High School varsity boys basketball team will definitely take
it.
With the score tied at 36 last Friday night at Wilmington, Reaper senior Alex
Jensen tipped in an air ball by junior Brook Bott as time expired to give Plano
a 38-36 victory thus ending their mini three game losing streak in the process.
After dropping their third game in a row at Serena on Tuesday Jan. 10 by the
score of 59-48, the Reapers knew they had some work to do to reverse the negative
trend at Wilmington. Plano figured they’d have a somewhat easy contest
because the Wildcats were winless in Interstate Eight Conference play. That
assumption almost proved fatal for the Reapers had it not been for Jensen’s
heroics.
“I think we might have taken them a little lightly and we thought we could
just go into their place and get an easy win,” Jensen said. “After
the great start to the game it really looked like we’d just blow them
out. But it didn’t turn out that way.”
Plano bolted out to a 14-0 lead as junior forward Eric Nelson scored the first
five points in the ballgame. Those would be Nelson’s only tallies of the
contest but his hard nosed play in the first half got his head coach’s
attention.
“Eric only scored five points but he got us going against Wilmington and
was very aggressive on the offensive glass,” said Plano head basketball
coach Nate Spriggs. “Just recently he’s started to play up to expectation
and that’s been really nice to see.”
The Reapers would take a 14-6 advantage into the second quarter where once again
they had the better of the Wildcats outscoring them 12-10 to take a 26-16 lead
into the locker room at the half.
“Fortunately for us we didn’t allow Wilmington to score for the
first six minutes of the game. We were rolling and playing some great defense
in the first half. Even though we weren’t scoring a lot we were in control,”
Spriggs said. “But in the second half we came out and lacked execution.
We totally looked like a different team in the third quarter and we allowed
them to get back in the game.”
Wilmington outscored Plano 15-5 in the third period to draw the game even at
31 entering the final eight minutes. From there both teams hunkered down defensively
and combined for only 12 total points in the fourth quarter. Fortunately for
the Reapers, Wilmington could only manage five of the 12 while Plano’s
sixth and seventh came off Jensen’s put back that won the game at the
buzzer.
“I thought Brook might have been facing the other hoop when he took the
shot. Our play broke down and he tried to get it real fast and launch it up,”
Jensen said. “I was facing the scoreboard and there were two seconds left.
I ran down for a rebound and I saw it was going to be an airball. I jumped up
behind one of their guys, grabbed it, and threw it up hard off the backboard
and it went in. It was pretty exciting and we escaped with a win.”
With the victory Plano ended their three game skid and raised their overall
record to 8-11 and 2-4 in I-8 play. Jensen tallied 10 points, while junior Obina
Agomo led all scorers with 12.
“I’ve been preaching that our guys go to the front of the rim because
we’ve been lacking offensive rebounds. Al’s move in that direction
proved crucial and that was the game for us Friday because he went to the glass
and we got a win,” Spriggs said. “Obina really helped us tonight
also. He fit in offensively and didn’t try to do too much. He scored when
he was open on the low block and he rebounded well. He’s becoming more
of the complete player we envisioned him to be during the first half of the
season.”
Up next for Plano are two tough I-8 contest. On Tuesday the Reapers play host
to arch rival Sandwich in what will be the third meeting of the year between
the two schools. Plano lost on Nov. 26 at Sandwich 83-77 but they rebounded
with a 63-57 victory over the Indians at the Christmas Classic on Dec. 30. Both
schools are evenly matched, so game three will be a dogfight.
Then on Friday the Reapers will travel to Lisle to take on the Lions who are
currently ranked fifth in the IHSA’s Class A division. On Jan. 3, Lisle
totally dominated at Plano by the score of 73-49. So Spriggs knows a win Tuesday
versus Sandwich could prove to be huge in terms of his teams confidence going
forward.
“It’s important to get the win versus Sandwich because then we go
on the road back to back against Lisle and Seneca. Those will be very tough
games for us. It will definitely be advantageous to go into those two contest
with two straight wins especially a big one against our main rival,” Spriggs
said.
Jensen gets
Plano the win at buzzer
FROM STAFF REPORTS-Beacon News
Plano senior Alex Jensen had just two field goals in the Reapers' game with
Wilmington on Friday night, but his second bucket was the biggest of the game.
Jensen, who finished with 10 points, grabbed an offensive rebound off of a missed
3-pointer by Brook Bott and put back the carom at the buzzer for the game-winner
as the Reapers beat Wilmington, 38-36. Jensen also had a team-high seven rebounds,
while Obina Agomo come off the bench to lead the way with 12 points.
Aurora Christian 55, Westminster Christian 31
— Aurora Christian trailed 17-11 after one quarter but held Westminster
to just 14 points the rest of the way for the Private School League win. Jonathan
Boyd had 12 points to lead ACHS (6-8, 3-2 PSL), while Wesley Harper added 11,
and Marcus Barnes 10.
Serena 67, Indian Creek 54 —
Nathan Yaggie led Indian Creek with 18 points, while Chris Tidwell added 16
and Jake Swanson 12.
Sandwich 63, Coal City 61 —
Lance Futrell had 15 points to lead Sandwich, while Mike Meyer and Nate Roach
added 13 points apiece.
BOYS
BASKETBALL: No. 1 Irish remain unbeaten (From Ottawa Daily Times)
Seneca 65, Reed-Custer 33
At Braidwood, the Class A top-ranked Fighting Irish improved to 18-0 overall
and 6-0 in the Interstate Eight Conference with a 32-point victory over the
Comets.
Robert Rexroade led the way for Seneca with 18 points and seven rebounds. Garrett
Callahan added 16 points and eight assists. Griffan Callahan had 13 points,
five rebounds and four steals.
Plano 38, Wilmington 36
At Plano, the Reapers picked up their second Interstate Eight Conference win
with a buzzer-beating victory over the Wildcats.
With the game tied at 36-36 Plano's Brook Bott missed a 3, but Alex Jensen put
back his miss to end the game.
Obina Agomo led the Reapers (8-11, 2-4) with 12 points, to go along with 10
from Jensen.
WILMINGTON (36) -- Tafoya 0 0-0 0, Blidudzius 0 1-2 1, Sweeney
4 2-2 12, Welps 3 0-2 6, Russell 2 0-0 5, Busch 1 0-0 2, Lacy 4 0-0 10, Mitchell
0 0-0 0. Totals 14 3-6 36.
PLANO (38) -- Campisi 0 0-0 0,
Bott 1 0-1 3, Nelson 2 0-0 5, Brown 2 0-1 4, Jensen 2 6-7 10, Priesman 2 0-0
4, Goldsmith 0 0-0 0, Agomo 5 2-3 12, Green 0 0-0 0. Totals 14 8-12 38.
Wilmington 6 10 15 5 -- 36
Plano (8-11, 2-4) 14 12 5 7 -- 38
3-point baskets -- Wilmington 5 (Sweeney 2, Lacy 2, Russell), Plano 2 (Bott,
Nelson).
Sandwich 63, Coal City 61
At Sandwich, the Indians evened up their I-8 mark at 3-3 after a two-point win
over the Coalers.
Sandwich led 31-30 at the half before outscoring Coal City 32-31 after the break,
including 19-12 in the fourth quarter.
Lance Futrell led a balanced Sandwich team (8-9, 3-3) with 15 points, followed
by 13 each from Mike Meyer and Nate Roach.
COAL CITY (61) -- Watts 0 1-3 1, Smith 7 0-0 15, Shetina 5
3-4 13, Darling 5 0-0 14, Bakiu 0 0-0 0, McDowell 3 0-1 8, Watters 5 0-0 10.
Totals 25 4-8 61.
SANDWICH (63) -- Ritchie 2 0-0 6, Futrell 6 1-1 15, Meyer 4
5-6 13, Weismiller 1 0-0 2, Roach 6 0-0 13, VanPelt 2 1-1 5, Weinlader 1 0-0
2, Heibel 3 0-0 7. Totals 25 7-8 63.
Coal City
20 10 12 19 -- 61
Sandwich (8-9, 3-3) 16 15 20 12 -- 63
3-point baskets -- Coal City 7 (Darling 4, McDowell 2, Smith), Sandwich 6 (Ritchie
2, Futrell 2, Roach, Heibel).
Newark 36, Earlville 27
At Earlville, the Norsemen improved to 4-1 in the Little Ten Conference with
a road victory over the Red Raiders.
Earlville led 12-11 at the half, but Newark came back to outscore the Red Raiders
25-15 after the intermission, including 18-8 in the fourth quarter.
"I thought that our boys fought through a very bad shooting night to earn
the win," Norsemen coach Dale Skelton said. "Earlville played well
defensively, and give Coach (Jim) Farrell a lot of credit for having his team
ready to play."
"We played hard, but we came up short in the fourth quarter," Earlville
coach Jim Farrell said. "We have to keep plugging away and good things
will happen for this team."
Ivo Gentchev paced Newark (7-9, 4-1) with 13 points. Tom Belinski added 10.
Kurt Mattson and Austin Cartee both scored 10 points to lead the Red Raiders.
NEWARK (36) -- Janssen 0 2-6 2,
Gentchev 4 3-5 13, McGrath 0 8-10 8, Monkemeyer 1 0-0 3, Thanepohn 0 0-0 0,
Belinski 4 2-11 10, Marcley 0 0-0 0, Tollefson 0 0-0 0. Totals 9 15-32 36.
EARLVILLE (27) -- Gast 2 0-0 6, Mattson 4 0-0 10, Stein 0 0-0
0, Lane 0 1-2 1, Aguire 0 0-0 0, Cartee 4 1-310, Stockley 0 0-0 0. Totals 10
2-5 27.
Newark (7-9,
4-1 7 4 7 18 -- 36
Earlville (1-13, 1-4) 4 8 7 8 -- 27
3-point baskets -- Newark 3 (Gentchev 2, Monkemeyer), Earlville 5 (Gast 2, Mattson
2, Cartee).
Leland 34, LaMoille 32
At Leland, the Panthers picked up a narrow two-point LTC win over the Lions.
Chris Bickel led Leland with 11 points. Jared Sawyer added seven.
LAMOILLE (32) -- Fahs 3 1-2 9, Callison 0 0-0 0, Faber 1 1-2
3, Callison 1 0-2 2, Czajka 0 0-0 0, Monroe 2 0-1 4, Kruse 5 4-8 14. Totals
12 6-15 32.
LELAND (34) -- Shumway 0 1-3 1, Barnes 2 2-2 6, Tucker 2 0-0
5, Bickel 3 4-8 11, Sawyer 2 3-6 7, Crawford 0 0-0 0, Johnson 2 0-1 4, Adkins
0 0-0 0, Grube 0 0-0 0. Totals 11 10-20 34.
3-point baskets -- LaMoille 2 (Fahs), Leland 2 (Tucker, Bickel).
Somonauk 64, Paw Paw 55
At Somonauk, the Bobcats pushed their record over the .500 mark in the LTC with
an 11-point victory over the Bulldogs.
Paw Paw led 21-14 after one quarter and 34-28 at the half, but Somonauk outscored
the Bulldogs 36-21 in the second half.
Matt Hochstatter paced the Bobcats (5-12, 3-2) with 15 points. Scott Powers
added 12 points. Paul Prawdzik led Paw Paw with 23 points. Chase Sellers added
11.
PAW PAW (55) -- Murrell 0 0-0 0, Sellers 3 5-6 11, Marks 0
5-6 5, Strigel 0 0-0 0, Mergen 1 4-4 6, Wiley 1 0-0 2, Prawdzik 5 9-13 23, Bakes
0 0-0 0, Iverson 3 0-0 6, Grzesiakowski 0 0-0 0, Wolgast 1 0-0 2, Chresaidos
0 0-0 0, Dodaro 0 0-0 0. Totals 14 23-29 55.
SOMONAUK (64) -- Snyder 0 0-0 0, Smith 1 2-3 4, Adrian 1 1-1
3, Holcomb 1 0-0 2, Geisholt 2 2-4 7, Powers 4 2-2 12, Enoch 4 1-2 9, Duffield
2 1-2 5, Hochstatter 4 7-11 15, Champion 0 0-0 0, Heiden 2 3-5 7, Zeko 0 0-0
0, Carretterro 0 0-0 0, Hash 0 0-0 0, Kauffman 0 0-0 0. Totals 21 19-30 64.
Paw Paw
21 13 10 11 -- 55
Somonauk (5-12, 3-2) 14 14 20 16 -- 64
3-point baskets -- Paw Paw 4 (Prawdzik), Somonauk 3 (Powers 2, Geisholt).