Young Shepard (Palos Heights) team goes on the road and get a huge win at Argo (Summit)!!!!

Big Tim

Jan 253 min read

These teams had two conference wins between them. Most would ask why would I go to theis game? Well sometimes these games are good ones and this was a barnburner. Argo led most of the game but it changed on an injury and one Shepard player who had a great fourth quarter. Here we go:

Shepard (Palos Heights) 51 Argo (Summit) 49:

First quarter:

Shepard tried to use their twin towners senior Jovan Thomas (6'9") and freshman Amari Williams (6'8") early in the game. They had some succcess getting it to Walker, not so much with Williams (one shot the entire game). Argo played a zone and converged with 2 to three players around Walker. Meanwhile the Argonauts junior Darron Greer Jr (6'4" wing) was aggressive getting to the rim the entire game. He had 7 points in the quarter, and got to the free throw line twice. Junior guard Syncere Westbrook (6'1") hit two threes in the quarter for 6 of his 7 points for the game. Thomas had 4 points for the quarter. Argo led 17-8 after one.

Second quarter:

Shepard had a little more success getting it into Thomas and scoring at the rim. He had 7 points in the quarter. Williams got into some foul trouble with 2 fouls and had to sit. Shepard junior point guard Aurion Lee-Barnes hit 2 threes in the quarter for all 6 of his points for the game. Greer Jr had 4 for the quarter but Shepard outscored Argo 16-11 in the quarter but Argo still led 28-24.

Third quarter:

Argo still held a lead the entire quarter as they were outscored only 12-11 and Greer Jr continued to be aggressive scoring 7 points in the quarter. Senior Kenneth Martins (6'4" forward) had 4 in the quarter. For Shepard junior guard Marcus Monteclaro (5'7") hit two threes to his 8 points in the quarter. Argo led 40-35 after three.

Fourth quarter:

Two things happened that change the tenor of it. one is Greer Jr went down with an ankle injury with two in a half minutes left in the game. He did not return. The other was sophomore Kamil Mietus (6'4" forward) changed the game with his energy and effort. He scored all 8 of his points in the quarter. He was reading the defense and driving from the free throw line for a couple of hughe layups, one to give his team the lead. He was everywhere, getting loose balls, a couple of steals and a big offesnvie rebound put back. Shepard got a five point lead but almost gave it away with missed free throws down the stretch. Martins hit a big three for Argo to cut the lead to 50-49 with 36.2 seconds left. Then junior Danny McGovern (5'9" guard) hit one of two free throws to make it 51-49. Argo turned the ball over with 22 seconds left. Shepard had the ball and Argo was trying to trap and if not foul. Lee-Barnes was called for an offensive foul with 15 seconds left setting the stage for a crazy ending. Argo passed the ball around until senior Kassam Saleh (5'11" guard) had a look from three at top of the key. Ball rolled around and out, ball bounced around and buzzer sounded.

Shepard is a young team. They start two freshman and have three seniors on the varsity squad. Had a lot of turnovers and still learning to feed the post. Hit enough outside shots and was fighting an uphill battle the entire game. Did not get a lead until the last two minutes, alas like most young teams almost gave it away. They hung on and survived and should be a big boost to this young team.

Argo will rue the injury to Greer Jr and what would have happened if he is in the game the last 2 in a half minutes? He was successful for the most part attacking the twin towers and scoring (as you'll see with his stat line). They did have a last second shot at it just didn't fall.

Top performers:

Shepard (Palos Heights):

Senior Jovan Thomas 17 points 14 rebounds (double/double) 1 steal 2 blocks