Boys Basketball: With season-high point total, Lyons races past Proviso East to regional title

MAYWOOD – Besides standout Akron-bound senior guard Tavari Johnson, the Lyons Township boys basketball team has countless scoring threats.

“Anybody can score,” starting senior Will Carroll said. “If you’re open, we expect you to step up and make shots. It’s how our team works.”

The Lions unleashed their highest-scoring total of the season Friday – and they needed it – to defeat Proviso East 88-71 in the Class 4A Proviso East Regional final.

LT (25-5), the Proviso West Sectional’s No. 4 seed, plays at 7 p.m. Wednesday in the sectional semifinals against No. 2 Curie (26-6), a 46-43 winner over Hinsdale Central Friday.

The Lions shot a blazing 64% from the field (35 of 55) with six three-pointers and 12 of 19 free throws. Down 20-18 after one quarter, LT scored 26, 23 and 21 points the final three quarters. The Lions also had 23 assists with just 15 turnovers against the high-energy pressure of the No. 5-seeded Pirates (22-8).

“It was definitely one of our best offensive performances of the year,” LT coach Tom Sloan said. “East is so good and to be a top-four seed and get the reward of having to play the No. 5 seed on their home floor, we really had to have a road warrior mentality. The guys embraced it and played so hard.”

Johnson (26 points, five assists, four steals) and Carroll (10 points, five rebounds) were among five players to score in double figures as the Lions captured their second regional title in the last three postseasons, joining the one won in 2019.

Junior reserve Graham Smith (14 points, nine rebounds), senior Billy Bach (11 points, three threes) and junior Nik Polonowski (10 points, six rebounds) also reached double digits and junior reserve Jackson Niego added eight points.

Senior Aidan Sullivan had six assists with five points.

“It was probably our best offensive performance of the year. We ran the floor super well,” Carroll said. “Me and Graham were both just sitting under the rim. We were open and we made some layups. It was awesome.”

LT, which entered the game averaging roughly 60 points, beat Marian Central Catholic 85-55 Jan. 15 and had five other previous games in the 70s, including a 76-46 home victory over Proviso East Jan. 22.

The Lions actually trailed 23-18 Friday at the outset of the second quarter before Johnson’s 12-point period put LT ahead to stay.

“My team told me to keep shooting, and I got to the basket,” Johnson said. “It’s pretty fun to play with a bunch of guys that are talented. A lot of schools think that I’m the only one that can do stuff, the only one that can score, but when they play us, they find out that’s not true.”

The Lions still only led 44-34 as the Pirates shot well, too, on their home floor, especially senior Dakari Presley (22 points) with three of their first-half threes.

Leading 39-34, the Lions closed out the half with a Sullivan three from the corner and Smith’s putback basket with less than a second. After one point at halftime, Polonowski unleashed a nine-point third quarter with two threes that helped LT open a 67-48 advantage.

“The way Proviso East plays with the heavy-pressure defense, it lends itself to an up-and-down game. If you can handle the ball and score in traffic at the rim or make open shots, you have the opportunity to score a lot of points,” Sloan said. “That’s not easy to do and our guys did a really nice job of handling the ball and taking advantage of the opportunities when they were there.”

Carroll’s junior brother, Connor, also is on the Lions. Their father, Dennis, started for the Lions’ 1994 Class AA third-place state team.

“He tries not to (reminisce),” Will Carroll said. “He’s pretty humble about it but I’ll ask him and he’ll tell me some stories about it.”