Lockport didn’t look as sharp as one might hope for its postseason opener on Wednesday night.

But unfortunately for anyone trying to pull an upset bid on the Porters, it doesn’t take them long to find their groove.

After quickly falling behind 10-3, the Porters capped the first quarter on an 11-3 scoring run which set the wheels in motion for a 73-48 victory over Lincoln-Way West at the Class 4A Lockport Regional semifinals.

Lockport will play Joliet West at 6:30 p.m. Friday for the regional championship. Joliet West defeated Bloom in the other semifinal of the night.

Lockport will be vying for its first regional title since 2010.

Lockport (26-5) allowed Lincoln-Way West to get free for some open perimeter shots in the game’s first few minutes, which allowed the Warriors (15-18) to get off to a quick start.

But the Porters extended their zone trap a bit and didn’t allow the Warriors to get into offensive sets without serious consternation.

It also led to some turnovers that allowed Lockport to get out in transition from some extra-high percentage scoring chances.

The biggest benefactor of that was Nedas Venckus, who had 14 of his 18 first-half points in a second quarter where it looked early on as if Lockport might run away and hide.

To its credit, Lincoln-Way West didn’t roll over though, scoring the final seven points of the first half to keep contact and only trail 36-30 heading into halftime.

But in order to extend its second half lead, Lockport had to deal with an unexpected wrinkle, mounting foul trouble on several key players. Venckus picked up his fourth foul midway through the third quarter and several other Porters were saddled with three fouls.

That did, however, open up a window of opportunity for senior reserve guard Gavin Anderson, and he crashed right through it.

Anderson finished with 18 points, 14 of which came in the fourth quarter when Lockport truly put the game away.

“We just came out and gave it our all,” Anderson said. “Was able to come out, get to the free-throw line and great facilitating for the entire team.

“Our advantage is our intensity, so as long as we are intense and getting back, we’ll get those steals and be able to get those fastbreak points.”

However, Lincoln-Way West wasn’t able to capitalize on Lockport’s makeshift lineup, scoring just six points in the third quarter, all from the the free-throw line as Lockport took a 53-36 advantage into the fourth quarter.

“I think our intensity picked up in the third quarter,” Lockport coach Dave Wilson said. “I think we bothered them a little bit on the perimeter and forced them to rush some shots. Long shots with long rebounds and then we were able to get out and run offensively.”

Nedas Venkus led all scorers with 27 points, Anderson added 18 and Nojus Venkus finished with 10.

Eiden Kubilius led Lincoln-Way West with 15 points and Ethan Swanson added 12.

Lockport is hoping to end the school’s long regional title drought on Friday night.

“I think the preparation is going to be spot on,” Wilson said. “But ultimately it will come down to players making plays and the coaching staff adapting to whatever is working or not working and after 32 minutes. Hopefully we are victorious.”

Joliet West 54, Bloom 38

Joliet West opened up the game with an inspired 11-0 scoring run, but after that the game turned into a bit of a defensive scrum.

The Tigers (21-10) offense slowed to a crawl after the opening surge, but they managed to cobble together enough offense to still carry a 28-19 lead into the break.

And while the Joliet West offense was up and down all evening, the defensive effort remained a constant for the Tigers, as they slowly extended the lead into double digits and carried it through to earn its place in the regional title game.

It was an extremely balanced effort from Joliet West as Luke Grevengoed was the only Tiger in double figures as he finished with 17 points. Brandon Goehrke, Deven Triplett and Aamir Shannon all finished with eight.

No player finished in double digits for Bloom (14-13).