PONTIAC, ILLINOIS: Teams have been circling each other all year and finally met in the sectional final at an old school gym. Gym was filled in a sea of red and green representing both teams school colors. Metamora had beaten Richwoods in the playoffs the two years prior. Richwoods turned the tables this year and controlled most of the game. Here we go:
Richwoods (Peoria) 61 Metamora 55: Metamora led 9-6 and 9-8 early in the game, then Richwoods went on a 10-0 run and did not give up the lead. Metamora came out in man to man defense, and Richwoods immediately threw it inside to Sommerville. He drew two quick fouls on Metamora big man Luke Hopp. Senior point guard Tyler Mason of Metamora also committed 2 early fouls but stayed in the game. Richwoods changing defenses seems to confuse Metamora as they committed some uncharacteristic turnovers in the second quarter. The turnovers came when Richwoods went to the zone. Metamora was not hitting their shots from outside as they usually do. Richwoods led 16-11 after one quarter, and 28-18 at halftime. Third quarter saw Sommerville commit his fourth foul and went to the bench. Richwoods though held the fort with him out as they still led 48-37 at end of third quarter. Sommerville came back to start the fourth quarter, but Metamora cut the lead to as low as 4 points, but then Sommerville scored 5 quick points with about 2 minutes left in the game to give Richwoods some cushion. Richwoods (Peoria) moves onto Supersectional at Ottawa on Monday vs Thornton Township (Harvey) with a 28-4 record. Metamora ends a great three year run and Coach Danny Grieves is retiring with a 30-5 record.
Top performers for Richwoods (Peoria):
Lathan Sommerville, 6'10" senior forward did not have monster stats but did enough damage in the interior at key times. Stat line: 21 points 6 rebounds 5 assist and 1 block.
Jared Jackson, 6'4" senior wing hit some key shots and was everywhere on the court. Hit a key backbreaking three in the fourth quarter off a Sommerville assist. Stat line 14 points 9 rebounds 1 assist and 3 steals.
Daquan Little, 5'10" senior point guard hit a couple of key threes to keep a comfortable margin. Attacked the basket, drew fouls and shot a lot of free throws. Stat line: 13 points (4/7 from free throw line) 3 rebounds 1 assist and 2 steals.
Top performers for Metamora:
Cooper Koch, 6'8" senior wing played his heart out in last high school game. Scored on a couple of nice floaters in the paint. Stat line: game high 22 points 5 rebounds 1 assist and 2 blocks.
Tyler Mason, 6'2" senior point guard played his last high school game. Stat line: 15 points 4 rebounds 3 assists and 1 steal.
Matt Zobrist, 6'5" junior wing did not shoot well but hit a couple of threes to keep Metamora in contact. Stat line: 11 points 4 rebounds 3 assists and 1 steal.
Notes:
Three buzzer beaters tonight:
Normal Community's Jaheem Webber had a game winning dunk off a turnover at the buzzer. Quincy had the ball up 1 with 4.3 seconds left, had a tough time inbounding the ball, finally did but Quincy player was falling out of bounds, said it to Webber right at the basket who dunked it in. Heartbreaking way to lose.
Glenbard North junior Jack Schager hit a long three at the buzzer to stun York Community by 1. Second one in a row for the Panthers in sectional as JJ Hernandez hit a buzzer beating three in sectional semifinal vs Lake Park (Roselle). They were 0-3 combined against these teams in regular season.
New Trier sophomore Chris Kirkpatrick hit a buzzer beating three to beat Glenbrook North (Northbrook) for second consecutive season. Last year beat them on a buzzer beating layup in this round.
Williamsville wins first sectional title in 33 years.
Beecher stays undefeated winning their first sectional ever.
Palatine won first sectional title in 42 years.
South (Crystal Lake) won first sectional title in 41 years.
DePaul College Prep (Chicago) allowed only 21 points to Lake Forest continuing their defensive mastery. Oh and they are the only defending champ left as Gibault Catholic (Waterloo) and Metamora lost in sectional finals. They are playing in 3A instead of 2A.
Wendell Phillips (Chicago) won it's first sectional title in 49 years. They played a number of years when winning the Chicago Public League Title was the only way for City schools to get to State Finals.
TOP PERFORMANCES:
Jack Stanton, North (Downers Grove) 23 points
Alex Miller, North (Downers Grove) 16 points
Morez Johnson Jr, Thornton Township (Harvey) 17 points 8 rebounds
Chase Abraham, Thornton Township (Harvey) 17 points
Marcos Gonzales, Brother Rice (Chicago) 17 points (junior)
Carlos Harris III, Curie (Chicago) 25 points
Will Gonzalez, Curie (Chicago) 16 points
AJ Thomas, St Patrick (Chicago) 18 points
JT Pettigrew, Bolingbrook 16 points (junior)
Marshawn Cocroft, Christian (Aurora) 29 points (sophomore)
Cam Morel, Christian (Aurora) 18 points scored his 1000 th point tonight. Congrats
Adyn McGinley, Beecher 16 points 7 rebounds 5 assists
Jack Hayhurst, Beecher 11 points 10 rebounds (double/double)
AJ Demirov, South (Crystal Lake) 25 points 7 rebounds 9 assists (junior)
Elijah Lovemore, Bloom Township (Chicago Heights) 24 points 10 rebounds (double/double)
Jaxson Davis, Warren Township (Gurnee) 18 points (freshman)
Hank Alvey, Illini Bluffs (Glasford) 24 points
Connor May, Palatine 21 points
Drew Watson, Macomb 16 points
Amari Edwards, Wendell Phillips Academy (Chicago) 32 points 9 rebounds 4 assists 6 steals (junior)
EJ Horton, Wendell Phillips Academy (Chicago) 26 points 10 rebounds (double/double) 4 assist 7 steals (junior)