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JOLIET – It didn’t take long Friday night for Lemont to set the tone in a WJOL Thanksgiving Classic pool play game against Joliet Central.
Lemont’s David Bilevicius won the opening tip, and teammate Rokas Castillo sped down the court with the ball for a layup. Less than 30 seconds later, Lemont’s pressure had forced a turnover. Connor Murray drained a 3-pointer for a 5-0 lead only 23 seconds into the game.
Joliet Central coach Lawrence Thompson Jr. called a timeout, but it did little to quell the tide, as Lemont continued to force the Steelmen to play faster than they wanted to. That resulted in seven Joliet Central turnovers in the first quarter as Lemont built a 13-0 lead before Central’s first basket at the 5:08 mark.
By the time the first quarter was over, Lemont led 32-12 as Castillo had 18 points en route to a game-high 27 and paved the way for an 85-41 Lemont victory.
Castillo did a bulk of his damage from outside, hitting 3 of 4 3-pointers in the first quarter, then starting the second half by hitting three more in a row. His twin brother, Matas, didn’t put up the scoring numbers, but he was just as key a factor, finishing with seven points to go with seven assists and five steals.
“I was feeling it on my outside shot in the first half,” Rokas Castillo said. “But it all starts with our defense. We try to pick up the intensity on defense to start and get out to a quick lead. We started off really good tonight.”
The game was a contrast in experience. Lemont returned four starters from a team that advanced to a Class 3A supersectional last season. For Joliet Central, the tournament marks the first varsity experience for several players, including three starters.
“All the credit to Lemont and their coaches and players,” Thompson said. “They set the tone early. Those twins play tough defense, and they get their teammates involved. We were outplayed from start to finish.
“There’s not much we can do but regroup and try to come out [Saturday] and give Plainfield Central a run for their money.”
Joliet Central (1-2) stayed even with Lemont (3-0) in the second quarter, outscoring it 13-12 to go into halftime trailing 44-25. Danny Thompson – no relation to his coach – had four points in the quarter, as did Zion Kostyra, who led the Steelmen with 17 points on the night.
“Danny has been giving us a spark off the bench,” Lawrence Thompson said. “He has transferred in and is doing a good job of fitting in. Zion, like a lot of our guys, this is his first time playing varsity ball. It takes some time to get used to the speed and physicality, but we’ll get there.”
Rokas Castillo hit his first three 3-point attempts of the second half, while Bilevicius (16 points, six rebounds, five blocked shots) hit a pair of free throws to push the Lemont lead to 55-32 with 5:40 left in the third quarter. Joliet Central was within 57-34 after a bucket by Jaylin Murphy, but Lemont scored the final 14 points of the quarter, six by Bilevicius, to take a 71-34 lead into the fourth.
“Our defensive full-court pressure was good and set the tone early,” Lemont coach Rick Runaas said. “We were able to get out to a nice lead. Four of our starters have been in a super-sectional, so they are pretty seasoned. When you add Delividas to the mix, a 6-[foot]-6 kid that can rebound and made his free throws [Bilevicius was 6 for 6 from the charity stripe], that’s pretty good stuff.
“People wondered how we would move on from Nojus [Indrusaitis transferring from Lemont to St. Rita]. Well, one of the top-three ranked juniors in the state isn’t coming through the door, but someone has to take his minutes. We’ve had some juniors that have stepped up so far and shown that they are ready to be out there.”
Lemont plays at 3:15 p.m. Saturday for the title on Pat Quigley Court at the Pat Sullivan Center at University of St. Francis against the winner of Friday night’s late Lockport vs. Romeoville contest.
Plainfield Central 47, Providence 45: In other action Friday, Plainfield Central got the win over Providence Catholic, as two late-game 3-pointers by Quinn Krueger were key for the Wildcats (1-2). Krueger led Plainfield Central with 11 points, while teammates Colin Bailye and Avery Rogoz each scored 10.
Zinn Amos led Providence with 18 points, and Seth Chaney added 14.
Bradley-Bourbonnais 59, Minooka 44: Earlier Friday, Minooka dropped a 15-point decision to Bradley-Bourbonnais. Nick Andreano led the Indians with 12 points, while Preston Van Pelt added 11.