Ottawa boys avenge lone loss to Morris, clinch I-8 Conference title

OTTAWA – The Ottawa Pirates had to overcome some adversity Monday evening as they tried to clinch the 2020-21 Interstate 8 Conference championship.

That’s all right, though.

It’s something they’ve proved throughout this pandemic-stricken season they’re really good at.

The Pirates saw the only team to have beaten them this year, visiting Morris, play a fantastic first half of basketball but never allowed themselves to fall too far behind. Ottawa ultimately caught up, took the lead and pulled away to clinch the I-8 Conference title in a 60-49 victory Monday here in historical Kingman Gym.

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Ottawa's Javrius Whitfield (30) grabs a rebound over Morris defenders Monday in Kingman Gym. (Scott Anderson)

“The only thing we had to play for this year was a conference championship, and our guys for the last year have been intolerant to anything that could get in the way of winning,” Pirates head coach Mark Cooper said.

“From Oct. 30 to our first game, we had three days when we were together – one open gym and two practices with our full team due to a quarantine of 11 guys. And our guys refused to let the circumstances define their season.

“This is really hard what they did, to answer the bell night after night in a season where fatigue could be an issue. Our guys just did not give in.”

Ottawa is now 12-1 overall and 10-1 on the I-8 loop – that lone blemish a 55-46 loss at Morris back on Feb. 19.

“We could’ve won a regional or a Christmas tournament or a Thanksgiving tournament, but we couldn’t do that this year. So we really wanted to win the conference. That was our only goal this year.”

—  Ottawa senior Anthony Cooper

Morris, which has suffered through two separate COVID-19 quarantines, is now 3-4 overall, 3-3 in the I-8.

The visitors had the upper hand much of the opening half, though, riding 13-of-29 shooting over the first two quarters and an eye-popping 12-point second-period performance from junior guard Myles Johnston.

Still, despite seemingly holding all the momentum, head coach Joe Blumberg’s team found itself ahead only three points, at 30-27, at the halftime break.

“You never feel confident at Kingman up three at the half,” Blumberg said.

Ottawa caught its visitors at 32-32 on an Anthony Cooper trey just under two minutes into the third, then took the lead for good less than a minute of game clock later on a putback by fellow OHS senior Zach Vogel.

From there, Ottawa slowly began to pull away – the dagger a look-up-and-find-myself-alone 3 with 3:21 to play splashed in by junior Luke Cushing.

The conference champion Pirates were paced by Cushing’s stellar 17 points, six rebounds and five assists; Anthony Miller’s 10 tallies off the bench; Vogel’s 10 points and three assists; and Anthony Cooper’s 17 points and six rebounds.

“[The conference championship] is the only thing we could get,” leading scorer Anthony Cooper said. “We could’ve won a regional or a Christmas tournament or a Thanksgiving tournament, but we couldn’t do that this year. So we really wanted to win the conference.

“That was our only goal this year ... and we had two games to spare.”

Morris – whose biggest lead was seven, at 26-19, during Johnston’s run of 10 straight visiting points in the second quarter – was paced by Johnston’s game-high 22 points to go with three assists. Henry Hansen pitched in eight points and five rebounds, with Nathan Jepson scoring seven points on a night Colin Cummings was uncharacteristically limited to just two fourth-quarter free throws.

“I was just proud of our guys for the way they battled,” Blumberg said. “It’s certainly not ideal conditions [playing so many games so close together due to the two previous quarantines], but I thought we played hard for four quarters.”

Morris, which was scheduled to play at home against Rochelle on Wednesday, is scheduled to close its season at home Thursday and Friday against Sandwich and Sycamore, respectively.

The Pirates visited Kaneland on Wednesday and will return to Kingman to close the season Saturday against Rochelle.