Boys basketball: Lincoln-Way Central gets the best of Lockport in a defensive struggle

NEW LENOX – To say that points were at a premium in Tuesday’s Southwest Suburban crossover game between Lockport and Lincoln-Way Central would be an understatement.

Both teams played tough, man-to-man defense and neither team could find much of a consistent flow to their offense. Lincoln-Way Central, however, was able to ride a hot start and come away with a 44-31 victory despite scoring only 12 points in the second half.

“We played great defense,” Lincoln-Way Central coach Evan Wyllie said. “That has been our m.o. all year. We are undersized, and we can be a bit challenged sometimes on offense.

“But when our defense is locked in like it was in the first half, we can be tough. We did a great job of help-side defense and ball pressure. Our defense triggers our offense, and we got some turnovers and got out in transition for some easy baskets.”

Ben McLaughlin had the hot hand early for the Knights (10-11), hitting a pair of 3-pointers in the first quarter to help his club to a 16-6 lead after one. He added a three-point play in the second quarter en route to a game-high 16 points.

“Everything starts with our defense,” McLaughlin said. “We got out to an early lead, and that helps a lot. We just want to get stops on defense. We don’t do anything flashy on offense, but everyone does their job and no one tries to do too much.

“We are a pretty unselfish team and no one is worried about their own stats. We do a good job of finding whoever is open.”

The Knights, who started the season 2-6, duplicated their offensive output in the second quarter, getting six points from Will Gehrke off the bench, and they took a 32-14 lead into halftime after Lockport’s Bryce Turner hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer.

The Knights got a pair of free throws by Luke Tingley (11 points) to start the second half and take a 34-14 lead before Lockport (5-12) got off the offensive schneid and put together a 9-0 run to close to within 34-23. The Porters got a 3-pointer by Logan Cooper and baskets by Turner, Anthony Kosi and Majd Awad during the run. The two teams traded baskets in the final minute of the quarter and Central took a 36-25 lead into the fourth.

The Lockport comeback bid continued when Collin Miller scored to open the fourth and trim the lead to 36-27. Lincoln-Way Central, however, regrouped and scored the next eight points, four from McLaughlin and two each from Tingley and Korey Cagnolatti to move out to a 44-27 lead.

“You can definitely tell their guys have spent some time in the weight room,” Lockport coach Dave Wilson said. “They really bothered us on defense, and we couldn’t get into any sort of rhythm.

“When you only score 31 points in a varsity basketball game, it’s not great. But on the positive side, we held them to 12 points in the second half, but we just couldn’t get over that hump to close the gap.”

Wyllie was happy to see his team continue its recent surge.

“We were 2-6 at one points, and now we’re 10-11,” he said. “Our guys play their roles, and no one tries to do too much. The kids have really bought into what we have asked them to do.

“We had to develop some chemistry, which took some time. We were still working on who worked well together and what everyone did best, but we seem to have that taken care of, and we’re playing a lot better.”