Fast start, Noah LaPorte's 30 lift Princeton over pesky Marquette

SPRING VALLEY – When a team has size and length, expect it to use it to its best advantage every time.

The Princeton Tigers and 6-8 post man Noah LaPorte opened their 49th annual Colmone Classic crossover round contest in the most powerful way, pounding the ball inside to the junior center for 12 of his game-best 30 points as the Tigers scored the first 13 points in the game.

Though the Crusaders remained scrappy throughout – cutting a 19-point deficit to just six at the half and an 18-point shortfall to only five with just over a minute to go in the fourth – Princeton drained enough of its free throws down the stretch to hold off the Cru for a 70-62 win.

That sets their slots in the tourney’s finals Saturday, with Princeton (5-4) going to fifth-place game against Pontiac at 4:30 p.m. and the Crusaders (3-2) meeting the Hall Red Devils at 3 p.m. for seventh place.

The Tigers plan to use their size and pound it inside work early, with LaPorte getting seven of those initial 13 points. The big man shot 16 free throws, making 11 as part of PHS’ 21 of 31 from the stripe on the night, made 10 of 16 as a team.

Add a pair of 3s from Wyatt Koning around a Daniel Sousa deuce, and the edge was 19 points just three minutes into the second stanza. Koning would finish with 16 points and Sousa and Korte Lawson 12 points each.

“That’s what we wanted,” LaPorte said. “There’s the high-low action and, if I get a guy pinned on my backside, they lob it over. We practiced that all week with me and Dan Sousa. In the first quarter, we came out in it and it worked perfect.

“But like coach (Jason Smith) says, we need to trust each other. It’s coming together really well. We’ll keep sharing the ball and when you have four of five kids in double figures, we’re gonna come out with a lot of wins.”

The quiet Marquette offense wouldn’t stay that way long. From that point to the half, it would net 16 of the last 19 points, seven of those from sophomore Alec Novotney, including a steal and layup at the buzzer to make it 30-24 PHS.

In the third period, Princeton again expanded its lead to 48-30, a dunk and a tip slam by LaPorte capping his 11-point quarter, with 2 minutes, 12 seconds showing.

But again, Marquette bounced back, starting with a couple of treys from Novotney, who had a team-high 23 points.

The margin was 60-45 with 4:16 to go when MA’s Denver Trainor shook off his foul trouble and rallied the Cru with the last 13 of his 20 points, a converted steal slicing the deficit to just 66-61 with 1:01 to play.

“That’s the danger of playing a team like (Marquette), they’re never out of a game because of their 3-point shooting ability,” Smith said. “We talked about guarding them off the line and we did a good job, maybe let them into the lane more than we’d like but a 2 is less than a 3, so we lived with it.

“That’s a good team, well-coached, solid fundamentals and takes advantage of opponents weaknesses … but we did a good job of overcoming adversity tonight as well.”

From there, a couple of crucial misses at the line by Marquette and two makes each by Lawson and Koning combined to set the final.

“We’ve got some heart, but give Princeton credit,” Marquette coach Todd Hopkins said. “They came out and played real well to start the game and we can’t spot a team like that a 17-3 lead and expect to win, but we crawled back in twice … We missed a couple of free throws that could have changed things, but this was good stuff and we’re gonna keep fighting.

“The key to the game was the first quarter, plain and simple. It’s something that we have to learn from and start quicker.”