PONTIAC – Caden Schoolcraft knew he had an advantage that was being allowed to him during Wednesday’s opening-round matchup with Peoria Manual at the Pontiac Holiday Tournament.

But the senior forward took his time exploiting it to his full advantage. When he did, he scored 12 pivotal second-half points in Lockport’s 58-56 overtime win over Peoria Manual. The victory marked Lockport’s first win in the opening round at the Pontiac Tournament since a win over Waukegan in the 2010 event.

The win lifts Lockport (10-3), winners of five straight, into Thursday’s 11 a.m. quarterfinals, where it will face Joliet West, who claimed a 76-58 win over Bloomington in its opening-round matchup.

That fate for Lockport didn’t look exceptionally plausible late in the fourth quarter against Manual until Schoolcraft and his teammates quickly turned the tide.

“It was a close game and they were guarding us tightly,” Schoolcraft said. “And I had the backdoor that was there.”

Schoolcraft, who didn’t score in the first half, proceeded to go on a frenzy late in the game, scoring two baskets in less than 30 seconds on basically the same move to keep Lockport’s chances of winning still an option.

“We had been begging him as the game had been going along, you’re being overplayed, you’re being overplayed,” Lockport coach Brett Hespell said. “And he kept saying, ‘Yes, yes, yes,’ and finally he got one, and it was perfect timing.”

Schoolcraft’s scoring rush combined with a basket and a 3-pointer from Jalen Falcon pulled Lockport to within 48-47 with 15 seconds to play. After Manual’s Gerron Trapps connected on a pair of free throws to push the Manual lead back to three (50-47), Labuda banked in a 3-pointer to force overtime.

Schoolman picked up right where he left off, opening the overtime with a pair of successful free throws and another basket, but Manual still kept contact and forged yet another tie on a pair of Devonte Burse free throws. with 22 seconds to play.

But Falcon drew a foul on Manual on the ensuing possession and sank two free throws with 13.7 seconds to play, and the Porters got a defensive stop on the other end to secure the hard-fought win and its place in the quarterfinals.

Lockport looked uninspired early in the first half, eventually digging itself a 13-point deficit (24-11), but the Porters were able to score the final 11 points before the break and then claim its first lead since a early 4-2 advantage on a Labuda free throw at the 7:08 mark at the third quarter.

Manual still seemed to hold control of the game though, and eventually stretched its lead to 45-38 with less than three minutes to play in the game. But Schoolcraft and Falcon teamed up to erase the deficit, and Labuda banked in a 3-pointer to force overtime and after that happened momentum had clearly shifted in Lockport’s favor.

“We’ve got a lot of inexperienced kids this year. We graduated seven seniors last year so we’ve been learning in situations,” Hespell said. “We don’t always make the right decision, but we play hard, and that makes up for a lot of it.”