Little Ten Boys Tournament: Somonauk’s defense big key in championship win over Newark

SOMONAUK – The Little Ten Conference Boys Basketball Tournament championship trophy is named after former Serena coach Al Stegman, who preached that defense wins championships and had teams that proved it.

During Friday night’s title game of the 103rd event, the Somonauk Bobcats’ effort on the defensive end would have brought a smile to Stegman’s face.

The Bobcats held No. 3-seeded Newark to 26% shooting from the field, including 6 of 27 from beyond the arc and 3 of 25 in the middle two quarters, which helped lead to a 55-49 victory and Somonauk’s first title since 2014 and 12th overall.

“This is all I thought about all day, thoughts of my kids getting a chance to hold that gold ball.”

—  Somonauk boys basketball coach Curt Alsvig

Somonauk now has won 14 straight games.

“I just wanted this so bad for the guys,” Somonauk coach Curt Alsvig said. “Having the opportunity to play in and win a championship game [at Serena] under Randy Goodbred back in the day, and now to have my players get an opportunity and experience it as well is such a thrill for me.

“This is all I thought about all day, thoughts of my kids getting a chance to hold that gold ball.”

Senior Alex Krejci led Somoanuk (22-5) with 17 points, five rebounds and three steals. Senior Parker Wasson posted 12 points, four assists and three steals, and classmate Brock Zimmerman 11 points and nine rebounds. The Bobcats hit 44% of their field-goal attempts, including 50% in the second half.

Newark (14-13) was paced by 14 points, including four 3s, by senior Austin Tollefson. Junior Joe Martin added nine points and a game-high 13 rebounds, senior Grandon Mitchell seven points, and junior Zach Carlson six points and eight rebounds.

“Somonauk guarded us really well all night,” Newark coach Rick Tollefson said. “Early in the game I thought we came out composed, but then early in the second quarter we had an easy look at the rim and missed it. They got the rebound and went down and scored, then it happened again on the next possession, and you could just feel the game’s momentum change there.

“There was also a point where we took a rushed shot, they grabbed the rebound and hit a 3 at the other end to put us down 11. Those two moments seemed like, ‘Oh boy.’ If you’re going to shoot as poorly as we did, you can’t have those types of things happen.”

Newark held a 12-10 advantage after the opening period, but Somonauk used a 13-3 run to start the second quarter and hold a 23-15 lead on the way to a 26-18 halftime cushion.

“Last year was super tough in this game,” said Krejci of the title game loss to Indian Creek just after games were allowed to be played because of the pandemic. “We had no fans and were playing a very tough Indian Creek team. We went in there wanting to put up our best fight, but fell a little short. This year we felt like it was our year. We all worked hard over the summer with the thoughts of getting to and winning this game.

“Watching our classmates run out onto the floor when we raised that trophy was something I’ll never, ever forget. It was crazy. We didn’t play our best in the first half, but we really came out strong in the second half. Our defense really picked up, and we were able to get in transition, and that’s when we thrive.”

With Newark struggling to make shots, Somonauk extended the lead to 40-26 heading to the fourth quarter and held its biggest lead of the game with 4:50 to go at 49-28 after Krejci’s rebound basket.

Newark fought back, using a 12-2 run over the next 2 1/2 minutes to make it 51-40, but the Bobcats were able to break full-court pressure a couple of times in the final minutes for easy baskets.

“I thought we played really good defense – in the half court and in transition – tonight,” Alsvig said. “We did an excellent job of closing out on shooters, and Newark definitely has kids that can shoot it. We knew Newark was going to play hard from start to finish, and the kids knew they had to match that intensity.

“They did that and more in my eyes, and they now have this championship to remember forever.

“I couldn’t be happier for them and prouder of them.”

—

At Somonauk

Little Ten Conference Tournament

Championship game

Somonauk 55, Newark 49

NEWARK (49) — T. Kruser 1-4-0-0 3, M. Kruser 2-9 1-1 5, Mitchell 2-8 3-4 7, Tollefson 4-11 2-4 14, Carlson 2-9 5-6 9, Martin 2-10 2-4 6, J. Kruser 2-6 0-0 5, Reibel 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 15-57 13-19 49.

SOMONAUK (55) — Wasson 3-6 5-6 12, Roberts 3-7 0-0 6, Krejci 8-17 0-2 17, Zimmerman 4-8 2-3 11, Wyant 1-4 1-2 3, Eade 2-6 2-2 6, Bahrey 0-0 0-0 0, Werchman 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-48 10-15 55.

Newark (14-13) 12 6 8 23 — 49

Somonauk (22-5) 11 16 14 15 — 55

3-point goals — Newark 6-27 (T. Kruser 1-3, M. Kruser 0-3, Mitchell 0-3, Tollefson 4-8, Carlson 0-2, Martin 0-4, J. Kruser 1-4); Somonauk 3-7 (Wasson 1-2, Krejci 1-4, Zimmerman 1-1). Rebounds — Newark 39 (Carlson 13, Martin 8, Mitchell 5); Somonauk 35 (Zimmerman 9, Roberts 5, Krejci 5, Wyant 5). Assists — Newark 7 (Mitchell 3); Somoanuk 12 (Wasson 4, Roberts 3). Steals — Newark 12 (Mitchell 5, M. Kruser 3); Somoanuk 11 (Wasson 3, Krejci 3). Blocks — Newark 0; Somonauk 2 (Zimmerman 1, Roberts 1). Turnovers — Newark 15; Somonauk 16. Total fouls (fouled out) — Newark 14 (none); Somonauk 19 (Zimmerman, Wyant).