Sandwich Thanksgiving Tournament

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4th Round  Friday , November 25, 2005

5:00 Streator        60, Plano 61

6:30 Aurora Central  vs LaSalle-Peru

8:00 Sandwich        vs Oswego East

SANDWICH THANKSGIVING TOURNAMENT: Plano holds off Streator to reap victory

Plano 61, Streator 60

There is no instant replay in high school basketball. But even if there was, the play that clinched Plano's win over Streator in Friday's early game wouldn't be reviewable.

The Streator Bulldogs (1-3) made a valiant run late but came up one point short, as the Plano Reapers (2-2) held on to record a 61-60 edging of the 'Dogs.

The controversial no-call which all but clinched the Reapers' triumph came with 6.4 seconds left and Plano holding a 59-57 lead. Streator leading scorer Brandon VanDuzer drove the lane, then lost the ball out of bounds after what appeared to be some contact in the paint. But the whistle which sounded wasn't for a foul, it was for the ball going out of play, and the referees awarded the ball to Plano. After a quick foul, Plano's Alex Jensen swished home two free throws to secure the win and make SHS swingman Brooks Martin's 3-pointer at the buzzer academic.

"I'd have to look at the tape," Streator High coach Brandon Creason said of the no-call on VanDuzer's turnover. "But I thought there was some contact there."

Of course one play never truly decides a basketball game, and in this one the Reapers simply made more plays to notch the victory.

Plano jumped out to a 9-0 lead to open the game on three quick threes from Matt Priesman, Brook Bott and Jensen, and never trailed all night, outshooting Streator from the field (50.0 percent to 36.8 percent) and outrebounding the Bulldogs by a 34-25 margin. SHS stayed in the game because of an uncharacteristic 24 turnovers by the Reapers, though, and finally got back to within one possession late in the fourth quarter thanks to a 9-3 run sparked by 5 points from VanDuzer and a Martin 3-pointer with 17 ticks left which made the score 59-57 in favor of the Reapers.

Five missed free throws in the fourth quarter cost the Bulldogs, as did their 54.5-percent shooting from the line on the evening.

Martin scored a game-high 24 points to pace Streator, also adding 4 steals. VanDuzer had another big game, following up his 35-point, 15-rebound effort Wednesday with 18 more points and a team-best 8 boards Friday. Ryan Ingold led SHS in steals with 3.

Jensen was the game's star, as Plano's No. 21 finished with 20 points, 8 rebounds, 5 steals and 4 assists. Priesman added 12 points for the Reapers, with Jake Wilson coming off the bench to chip in 13 points and 6 boards.

Key: fgm ftm-fta points

PLANO (61) -- Agomo 0-3 0-0 0, Bott 2-8 1-2 7, Priesman 5-8 0-3 12, Jensen 7-13 4-6 20, Brown 3-3 0-1 6, Wilson 6-10 1-2 13, Kebbeh 1-2 0-0 3, Nelson 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 24-48 6-14 61.

STREATOR (60) -- Nicklin 0-2 2-2 2, Ingold 3-6 0-1 6, Martin 9-19 2-2 24, VanDuzer 6-21 4-7 18, Uratchko 1-1 1-4 3, Hollinsaid 0-3 1-2 1, 0-1 0-2 0, Murray 2-3 0-0 4. Totals 21-57 12-22 60.

Score by quarter:

Plano (2-2)     21 13 15 12 -- 61

Streator (1-3)  12 18 13 17 -- 60

3-point baskets -- Plano 7-19 (Priesman 2-4, Jensen 2-5, Bott 2-8, Kebbeh 1-2); Streator 6-19 (Martin 4-11, VanDuzer 2-8). Rebounds -- Plano 34 (Jensen 8, Bott 6, Brown 6, Wilson 6); Streator 25 (VanDuzer 8, Uratchko 6). Assists -- Plano 8 (Jensen 4, Brown 2); Streator 8 (Ingold 3, Martin 2). Steals -- Plano 9 (Jensen 5); Streator 15 (Martin 4, VanDuzer 3, Murray 3). Blocked shots -- Plano 4 (Agomo 2); Streator 0. Fouled out -- none. Technical foul -- Agomo. Turnovers -- Plano 24; Streator 11. Field-goal percentage -- Plano 50.0%; Streator 36.8%; 3-point percentage -- Plano 36.8%; Streator 31.6%. Free-throw percentage -- Plano 42.9%; Streator 54.5%.

La Salle-Peru 69, Aurora Central Catholic 37

There's good defense, and then there's what the L-P Cavaliers did to ACC in the first half of Friday's middle game.

The Cavs improved to 4-0 and clinched the 2005 Sandwich tourney championship with a 69-37 stomping of the Chargers (3-1), and they did it in impressive fashion, holding ACC to just nine first-half points.

Yes, that wasn't a typo. It was nine points. In the entire first half.

"From day one, this team has taken pride in its defense," said L-P coach Luke Yaklich. "They're sold on the idea of frustrating their opponent and taking away the other team's strengths. We did that tonight."

The Cavaliers led the game 12-2 after one quarter and 25-9 at halftime. Mike Heider scored 17 points to lead the tournament champions, with reserves Jerrick Hughes ( 9 points), Clay Mudge and Will Atkins (8 points each) also leading L-P.

Key: fgm ftm-fta points

LA SALLE-PERU (69) -- Sipovic 2-0-4, Heider 7-3-17, Milhailson 1-2-4, Dresbach 1-2-4, Zawacki 3-0-7, Hudson 2-0-5, Atkins 2-3-8, Bray 1-1-3, Hughes 3-1-9, Mudje 3-1-8. Totals 25-13-69.

AURORA CENTRAL CATHOLIC (37) -- Craig 1-0-2, Ma. Adams 2-0-5, Bieritz 0-0-0, Nelson 1-0-3, Benjamin 2-0-4, Riley 0-0-0, Patterson 7-3-17, Kelly 1-0-2, Holzer 0-0-0, Mi. Adams 2-0-4, Howard 0-0-0. Totals 16-3-37.

Score by quarter:

La Salle-Peru (4-0) 12 13 24 18 -- 69

ACC (3-1)            2  7 17 11 -- 37

3-point baskets -- L-P 6 (Hughes 2, Hudson, Zawacki, Atkins, Mudje); ACC 2 (Adams, Nelson). Fouled out -- Benjamin.

Oswego East 63, Sandwich 54

Sure, it was only eight points, but it turned out Oswego East's 8-0 run to open its game with Sandwich on Friday made all the difference.

After that opening spurt the host Indians played the Wolves about even, but those eight early points became the comfortable margin East led by all night as the visitors improved to 2-2 with a 63-54 victory. Sandwich's Indians fall to 0-4 heading into tonight's "War on 34" battle with Plano.

"Yeah, they got that lead and we never could get past that eight-point hump," Sandwich coach Chris Johnson said as the gym emptied. "Every time we made a run at them, they pushed the lead back up to 14.

"Their athleticism just killed us. When a team's that athletic, you've got to do the little things right to offset that. We didn't tonight."

The Wolves -- all sophomores and juniors -- are ultra-athletic, but they never could shake the Indians completely. Sandwich's boys got the East lead back down into single digits midway through the fourth, but nine was as close as they got as Oswego's seemingly turned on the athleticism at will whenever SHS threatened.

Junior forward Travis VanPelt had a monster game for Sandwich, dropping 25 points on the Wolves to go with 6 rebounds and 2 blocks. Skyler Ormsbee (13), Alex Sullivan (12) and Zach Pearson (10) all reached double digits in scoring for East.

Key: fgm ftm-fta points

OSWEGO EAST (63) -- Fisher 2-4 0-0 4, Mudra 2-9 0-0 5, Holmes 3-9 0-0 6, Smith 2-10 1-3 5, Ormsbee 5-7 3-4 13, Sullivan 3-9 6-12 12, Pearson 4-7 0-0 10, Lozano 1-3 1-2 4, Cummings 2-2 0-0 4, Billman 0-0 0-0 0, Prisco 0-0 0-0 0, Nelson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-60 11-21 63.

SANDWICH (54) -- Buttels 2-6 0-0 5, Futrell 2-10 0-0 5, Heibel 0-2 0-0 0, Meyer 2-10 2-2 6, Munson 1-3 0-2 2, Weinlander 0-2 0-0 0, VanPelt 6-11 10-11 25, Ritchie 1-5 1-2 3, Roach 1-7 2-5 4, Quintanilla 0-0 0-0 0, Gordon 1-3 2-2 4, Weismiller 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 16-60 17-24 54.

Score by quarter:

Oswego East (2-2) 19 13 19 12 -- 63

Sandwich (0-4)     9 15 13 17 -- 54

3-point baskets -- East 4-15 (Pearson 2-4, Lozano 1-1, Mudra 1-4, Holmes 0-3, Smith 0-3); Sandwich 5-20 (VanPelt 3-6, Buttels 1-3, Futrell 1-5, Meyer 0-1, Weismiller 0-1, Ritchie 0-2, Roach 0-2). Rebounds -- East 35 (Holmes 6); Sandwich 36 (Meyer 7, VanPelt 6, Roach 5). Assists -- East 7 (Fisher 2, Smith 2); Sandwich 3 (Ritchie 2). Steals -- East 9 (Ormsbee 3, Lozano 3); Sandwich 8 (Roach 2). Blocked shots -- East 12 (Holmes 4, Ormsbee 3, Lozano 2); Sandwich 3 (VanPelt 2). Fouled out -- none. Technical fouls -- none. Field-goal percentage -- East 40.0%; Sandwich 26.7%. 3-point percentage -- East 26.7%; Sandwich 25.0%. Free-throw percentage -- East 26.7%; Sandwich 25.0%.