Boys basketball: The boys are back; Princeton beats Kewanee

PRINCETON – It was good to be home again.

Playing in the comforts of home for the first time in six weeks, the Princeton Tigers beat Kewanee 61-55 in Three Rivers East play Monday night at Prouty Gym.

“It felt like an away game at first until the band started playing, and then it was, ‘OK, we’re at home,’ “PHS coach Jason Smith said. “Friendly environment, having our fans here supporting us like that. Feels really good. I wished we had more home games, honestly, but treasure the ones you got.”

The Tigers had played 13 of their first 14 games away from home, last playing at Prouty Gym on Nov. 28.

“We haven’t been at home. This is my first game playing on the home court because I missed the last one. I love the energy,” junior Jordan Reinhardt said. “We’ve been looking forward to this. We wanted this one.”

Noah LaPorte (18) and Reinhardt (14) combined for 32 points as an inside-outside duo. It was senior Daniel Sousa, however, who gave the Tigers (9-8, 4-1 TRAC East) a big lift when they needed it most.

With the Tigers trailing for all of the second quarter until the end and LaPorte and Reinhardt sitting out with two fouls, Sousa hit two 3-pointers, including a late one, to send the Tigers to the locker room with a 29-27 lead, their first lead of the second quarter. He scored eight of his 11 points in the second quarter.

“I was looking to score mostly with Noah being out. I was open and the guys hit me,” Sousa said. “I didn’t really think I was going to shoot the first [3]. It went in, so I thought, ‘Might as well shoot the second one.’”

Smith said Sousa made his decision for him whether to bring Reinhardt or LaPorte back in.

“It was kind of a 50-50. I was like, ‘If we’re going to keep it close, I’m going to keep them out. If the lead’s extended, then I’ll probably bring them back,’” Smith said. “Well, DJ [Sousa] wouldn’t let me put them back in because he played tremendously. Hit two 3s and had a big bucket and big-man boards and a putback. He’s like a junkyard type player. I can’t say enough about DJ. He’s a good kid and works hard.”

Reinhardt opened the second half with a pair of 3s, one from the left side and the second from the right. He was just warming up as he hit four in the second half.

“I struggled against [Bureau Valley]. It just got in my head, and I focused on shooting,” he said. “They all trust me, and they look for me when I’m open. They know I can shoot the ball whenever I’m open.”

Sousa followed with a hoop, and Tyson Phillips scored on the break to give the Tigers a 39-33 lead.

LaPorte scored on a tip-in and followed a bucket by Korte Lawson with another hoop to put the Tigers up 45-39. LaPorte had a basket as time expired waved off, and the Tigers settled for a 45-41 lead at the end of the third quarter.

LaPorte scored from the inside, and Reinhardt hit a 3-pointer from the right wing for a 50-41 lead in the first 2 1/2 minutes of the fourth quarter.

Brady Clark, who scored a game-high 22 points, raced in with two layups to draw his dad’s Boilermakers within 50-45 with 4:39 to play.

After a timeout, Reinhardt buried his fourth 3 of the second half to push the Tigers to a 55-45 lead, their biggest of the night.

Blaise Lewis (12) sank two floaters to bring the Boilermakers within 57-50 with 50.5 seconds left. After forcing a five-second call on a Tigers inbounds play, Kashen Ellerbrock hit a 3-pointer to pull Kewanee to 59-53 with 33.8 seconds remaining.

Phillips sank 2 of 4 free throws, and Kewanee (11-6, 2-1) ran out of time.

“We started the game a little flat at both ends of the court. Our defense was out of position a few times early, and we gave Princeton some easy opportunities in the paint,” Kewanee coach Matt Clark said. “I thought our offense was too much one v one, and we didn’t create driving angles to create perimeter looks. Give credit to coach Smith, he had his team ready to play.

“We played a better second quarter but never really found a rhythm at either end where we could string together stops and scores. Princeton did a good job of crashing the offensive glass creating second and third chances for themselves.

“Overall we seemed a bit mentally and physically fatigued with it being our third game in four days. We will get back in the gym this week and put some work in to be more consistent with our effort and mental parts of the game.”

Tiger tales: The Tigers will have to wait a little longer to play at home again with Tuesday’s game against Ottawa being postponed because of the weather forecast. Smith is hopeful to get that rescheduled since they only had seven home games to begin with and wants the opportunity to play the Pirates. ... The Kittens won the sophomore game 39-35 in the South Gym. The freshman game was postponed.