Boys basketball: Noah LaPorte’s 15 first-half helps Princeton knock off Hall

SPRING VALLEY – Jordan Reinhardt, who averages 16.5 points per game as Princeton’s No. 2 scorer, drew a face-guard by Hall from the opening tip on Friday night and didn’t get his first points of the game until there was a minute left in the first half.

It was not a problem as Princeton had many other weapons, namely Noah LaPorte (15 points) and DJ Sousa (10), who combined for 25 first-half points to build a 41-18 halftime lead, sending the Tigers well on their way to a 63-47 victory over the rival Red Devils in Three Rivers East play.

Princeton coach Jason Smith knew Hall coach Mike Filippini would strategize to try to slow down the Tigers.

“Teams are going to do that we have other weapons. We’ll be ready the next time that happens,” he said. “I thought they tried to do what they had to do to win. Fil’s a good coach and I knew they would come up with something. Jordan was being a good teammate, making the extra passes when we had to and we were knocking down shots. Lunch-pail stuff, and [it] brings energy to us. He just goes about his business.”

Filippini said he’d seen enough of Reinhardt at last week’s Colmone Classic that he knew he had to try something.

“You watch Reinhardt four games in the Colmone. If he gets his feet set, he’s going to make it,” he said. “We were bound and determined not to get his feet set. The problem is we’re a little lacking of 6-6 kids in Spring Valley. We haven’t had too many of them in my 23 years. Braden Curran and JB (Joseph Bacidore) are 6-1 and 6 foot. They did as good a job as they could. That’s a really tough matchup.”

LaPorte, who led the Tigers (7-4) with 17 points, all but two in the first half, wasn’t too much fazed by the Red Devils’ tactics.

“If they try to take one guy out of the game, there’s going to be four more on the court that are going to score and get the ball,” he said. “Second half started a little rough. We got up and everyone came in and did their jobs playing hard.”

The Princeton starters spent more time on the bench than on the floor in the second half with the game well out of hand.

In addition to LaPorte finished, Sousa scored 16 points and Korte Lawson added 10 as the Tigers improved to 7-4.

“DJ was a rock star tonight. Everybody forgets about DJ,” Smith said. “But as coaches like a kid like DJ, because he does all the hard work, lunch pail stuff. He brings energy to us and goes about his business.”

The Tigers scored the first six points of the game and jumped out to a 15-2 lead on a runout by Sousa on a pass from LaPorte.

Wyatt West broke the ice for Hall with a 3-pointer, and Braden Curran followed with a hoop to make it 15-7.

LaPorte finished off the first quarter with a basket and a 3-point play at the 1:15 mark for a 20-7 lead at quarter’s end.

The Tigers outscored the Red Devils 21-11 in the second quarter to open up a 23-point halftime lead.

LaPorte opened the Tiger scoring in the second quarter with a dunk. He scored three more buckets and Sousa had a putback and two free throws before Reinhardt scored on a runout with 1:00 left in the half for a 39-16 lead.

Filippini was pleased that the Red Devils, who said seemed intimidated in the first half by Princeton’s recent past that saw them No. 1 ranked in the state last year, outscored the Tigers 15-12 in the third quarter and 14-10 in the fourth quarter.

“You can’t play the way you did in the first half,” Filippini said. “That’s what we did against Pontiac and Rock Falls, when we played fine inthe second half. Third quarter, we made a little run and they had to call a timeout. Fourth quarter was mostly subs, but our subs beat their subs.

“The last three years they were elite. They’re still very good, but we shouldn’t go into a game and be intimidated by them.”

Payton Dye led Hall (5-6, 0-2) with 14 points, and West added eight.

The Hall gym has been the Tigers’ home away from home. They have now won four out of five games, including the Colmone Classic and have played just once at home.

“We almost play here more than we do at home this year,” LaPorte said.

The Tigers return to action at 4:30 p.m. Saturday at Rochelle. Hall is idle until the Marquette Christmas Tournament.

The Red Demons won the sophomore prelim, 42-35. Hall was led by Jimmie Jablonski and Clayton Fusinetti with seven points each with Chase Burkhart, Aiden Redcliff and Luke Bryant adding six each. For PHS, LaPorte had 10 points and Jackson Mason added nine.

• Note: Joe Pienta (’49), an all-around athlete for the Red Devils, was inducted into the Hall High School Hall of Fame Friday.