Boys basketball: Kaneland ultimately shakes Ottawa for 50-33 Interstate 8 victory

OTTAWA — Kaneland 6-foot-4 senior Parker Violett said the message from coach Ernie Colombe in the locker room pregame put a smile on his face.

The Knights skipper told his squad among many keys to coming out on top of Ottawa in Wednesday’s Interstate 8 Conference game at Kingman Gymnasium would be rebounding and keeping Pirates leading scorer and rebounder Cooper Knoll in check.

“Coach talked before the game that rebounding on both ends and holding Cooper Knoll down was going to be the biggest keys tonight,” said Violett, who grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds and combined with fellow big man Freddy Hassan to limit Knoll to six points and six rebounds, earning the team’s hustle belt. “Freedy and I took turns guarding Knoll, and I think we did a pretty good job.”

“I feel like if I’m the one that has the (hustle) belt in my hands after the game, the team has played good as well. I guess that was the case tonight.”

—  Parker Violett, Kaneland senior

Kaneland also used a strong second half by Troyer Carlson and a 12-2 start to the final quarter to earn a 50-33 victory and improve to 18-4 overall, 5-2 in league action.

“It’s a defensive hustle belt, and you get it by diving on the floor, getting rebounds and tipping passes,” said Violett, who also had two points, a steal and a block. “To be honest, this was just a normal game for me. My role is to do all of those things, and it’s something I take pride in. It seems like I get (the belt) every other game, but it’s something I strive to get every game. Hopefully I can hang on to it throughout the rest of the season.

“I feel like if I’m the one that has the belt in my hands after the game, the team has played good as well. I guess that was the case tonight.”

Carlson netted 15 of his game-best 17 points in the final two quarters, hitting 6 of 9 shots, including three 3s, after an 0-for-4 opening half. Evan Frieders and Hassan each added nine points, the former adding five rebounds and a pair of assists, and the latter five rebounds and a trio of blocked shots.

Ottawa led 9-8 after the opening quarter with Drake Kaufman nailing a triple from the right wing in the final seconds. Then, after Keevon Peterson opened the second quarter with a steal and layup, the Knights went on a 14-0 burst — highlighted by six points from Frieders, four from Hassan and a 3-pointer by Brad Franck — to eventually hold a 23-15 advantage at halftime.

In the third, a trey by Evan Snook, a three-point play by Huston Hart and consecutive baskets by Knoll helped Ottawa close the gap to 30-25 heading to the fourth.

Violett started the fourth with a rebound basket, and Luke Reinert swished a 3 before Hart scored off an assist from Tristan Finley. But form there, Frieders hit a floater in the lane before Carlson sank a 15-foot jumper and a pair of shots from beyond the arc to extend the visitors’ lead to 42-27 with four minutes to play.

Snook led Ottawa, now 9-10 and 3-5, with nine points, seven rebounds and three steals. Kaufman had seven points and four rebounds.

Kaneland finished hitting 50% (20 of 40) from the field and won the rebounding (31-27) and turnover (14-13) battles. Ottawa ended up making 32% (15 of 47) of its shots from the floor.

“First of all, Freddy Hassan turns you into a jump-shooting team” Ottawa coach Mark Cooper said of the Knights’ 6-foot-6 junior. “He’s tall, long and has great timing. He does an excellent job of being their rim protector. We had it down to five starting the fourth quarter, but it was just a struggle all game long to score in the half with him on the floor.

“This was our first game of five in seven days, and we just have to keep grinding away. I really thought we battled tonight, competed and gave ourselves a chance to start the fourth. But we just didn’t score enough in the first few minutes of the fourth, and they got away from us in a hurry.”

Both teams are back in action Friday in league play, with Ottawa at Sandwich. Kaneland hosts Morris.