The La Salle-Peru boys basketball team finished the Dean Riley Shootin’ the Rock Thanksgiving Tournament 2-1 after splitting a pair of games Friday, while Princeton went 0-3.

Saturday’s final day was canceled due to the forecasted snowstorm.

The Cavaliers pulled away in the second half to beat Plano 58-45 in their first game Friday, then finished with a 63-61 loss to Oak Forest to finish second in their pool.

“I think we have a lot of bright spots,” L-P coach John Senica said after the Plano game. “I think we have a lot of potential, but we have a lot of work to do. That’s expected the first couple games. I do like what I see where we are progressing in certain areas.

“Our defense (is a bright spot). I see that when we want to play defense, we can do it. It’s just a matter of getting them to play it for four quarters. On offense, when we do our things, there’s a lot of continuity, and we get a lot of easy buckets. It’s just a matter of continuing to do it again. The more repetition we have and the more games we play, I think they’ll start to pick it up more.”

The Tigers led at halftime but lost to Sterling 68-49.

“I think the kids know that we were right in it with all three teams,” Princeton coach Jason Smith said. “We really shot ourselves in the foot a lot the first two games and then in the second half of this game (against Sterling). We just have to string four quarters together.

“They know what they’re capable of doing. Us coaches know what they’re capable of doing, but it’s up to us coaches to get the best out of them and be more consistent for four quarters.”

Smith said he loves coming to the Ottawa tournament, as the Tigers get to play larger schools.

“It’s much bigger basketball,” Smith said. “You wouldn’t think 3A versus 2A is that big of a difference, but it is. It’s just the physicality and speed of the game. These kids want to learn from that, and I think they’ll grow from that. I told them, last year we went 1-3 here and we came out and won a regional. Nobody sees what you do in the Thanksgiving tournament. Everybody sees what you do at the end of the year. It’s a marathon, not a sprint.”

La Salle-Peru 58, Plano 45: The game was tight throughout the first half with the Cavaliers leading 12-7 at the end of the first quarter and 29-19 at halftime before L-P used two runs in the third quarter to pull away.

Sophomore Marion Persich scored on three straight trips down the floor with a baseline drive, a layup and a 3-pointer to push L-P’s lead to 36-23.

The Reapers pulled back within 36-29 before the Cavs took control with an 11-2 run in the final 3:19 of the quarter.

“The first half we came out pretty slow, but we picked it up in the second half,” Persich said. “We played better defense (in the second half). Our coaches were really just preaching to play defense, get up and don’t let them have open 3s and just push the ball.”

The Cavs scored in transition and began attacking the paint more in the third quarter. After attempting nine 3-pointers in the first half, L-P shot just two in the third quarter.

“We were not just jacking up 3s. We were really trying to get inside the paint,” Persich said. “We have a lot of bigger guys, so when we get inside the paint, it makes it a lot easier.”

L-P led by double digits throughout the fourth.

Persich scored 12 of his game-high 20 points in the third quarter. He also grabbed 10 rebounds and dished out three assists. Erick Sotelo had 14 points for the Cavs to go along with eight rebounds and five steals.

Ethan Taxis had 11 points, four rebounds, three steals and three assists for Plano (0-3), while Kevin Martinez added 10 points, four rebounds and two steals.

Sterling 68, Princeton 49: The Tigers and Golden Warriors played a back-and-forth first quarter with eight lead changes.

Sterling led 13-12 after the first quarter and led through the first half of the second quarter before Gavin Lanham helped Princeton grab the lead.

Lanham twice cut into the paint for baskets - off assists from Ryan Jagers and Jack Oester - and drained two 3-pointers over a 2:17 stretch to give the Tigers a 28-24 lead.

Jackson Mason drove for a basket with 10.4 seconds left in the second quarter to send Princeton into halftime up 30-27.

“I think we played really hard and aggressive and smart in the first half,” Smith said. “We were poised with the basketball. The first two games we had way too many turnovers. I think we had five turnovers in the first half. We took care of the basketball. We battled. I thought we pretty much owned the glass for the most part with them being much bigger than us. We were hitting shots that we didn’t hit in the second half.”

The Golden Warriors scored on their first three possessions of the second half to take the lead and pushed it to double digits with a three-point play by Jack Saathoff with 4:05 left in the third.

Sterling led 52-40 after three quarters and pushed its lead to as many as 19 in the fourth.

“I think defensively we were a little lackadaisical at times,” Smith said. “We didn’t get back on defense in transition. I asked the kids in (the locker room) what our identity is, and they know it’s defense. We just didn’t come out in the second half and play like we should have, which is disappointing because the team in the first half is what we know and what we’re capable of being.”

Lanham led Princeton with a game-high 22 points to go with three assists. Mason finished with 11 points and four rebounds.

Xavier Prather led four Golden Warriors in double figures with 16 points. AJ Coleman scored 13 points, DeAndre Maas had 12 points and six assists, and Saathoff finished with 11 points and 14 rebounds.

Oak Forest 63, La Salle-Peru 61: The Cavaliers led late before the Bengals hit a 3-pointer with 27 seconds left and a free throw with 17 seconds left to rally for the win.

L-P led 19-14 after the first quarter, 32-20 at halftime and 51-40 after three quarters.

Persich scored a game-high 29 points and grabbed six rebounds, while Sotelo had 10 points and seven rebounds.