Boys basketball: Castillo twins lead Lemont to first WJOL Thanksgiving Classic title

JOLIET – Something had to give.

Romeoville and Lemont entered Saturday’s title game at the WJOL Thanksgiving Classic with 3-0 records in pool play, and neither team had much trouble beating their first three opponents. Romeoville won their three games by an average of 19 points, while Lemont had an average win margin of 25.

The biggest difference in Lemont’s 71-63 championship game win was the twin guard combo of Rokas and Matas Castillo.

Rokas, who was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player, scored a game-high 32 points, including 7 of 9 from 3-point range, and averaged more than 27 points a game for the tournament. Matas, meanwhile, took over when Rokas left with an injury with 3:06 left and Lemont holding a 61-56 lead. He scored nine of Lemont’s final 10 points, finished with 19 and was named all-tournament as well.

“I landed on my tailbone,” Rokas Castillo said about his injury that occurred when he was fouled while going to the basket. “It still hurts. Early in the game, my 3s picked up. It was a big improvement from last game. I shot about 50% last game, but 7 of 9 tonight was a lot better.

“Everyone contributed a lot tonight. When everyone is getting involved, it’s tough to stop us.”

Without his brother, Matas Castillo knew someone had to take the leadership reins.

“I am used to him being on the floor with me,” Matas said. “When he went out, I knew I had to kind of pick up for what he does. We got some real good plays from a lot of other guys, too.

“[Romeoville] is a good team. It was good for us to be able to hold them off and get the win.”

Lemont (4-0) was in control for much of the game, taking a 56-43 lead into the fourth quarter. They led 59-43 after Rokas Castillo made a free throw and then scored his 29th and 30th points on a put-back basket with 6:57 to play.

Romeoville (3-1), however, did not let Lemont coast to the title. Troy Cicero, Jr. (14 points) started the Spartan comeback with a 3. A three-point play by Meyoh Swansey (team-high 18 points, all-tournament) cut the Lemont lead to 59-51 before Cicero drained a long 3-pointer to make it 59-54. The Spartans got it to one possession at 59-56 on a bucket by Aaron Brown off an assist from Cicero with just under 4 minutes to play.

Rokas Castillo then hit a pair of free throws at the 3:42 mark. Those were his last points as he sat the final 3:06 after falling. Mas Castillo converted a three-point play with 2:38 to play to put Lemont ahead 64-56.

After Cicero hit a pair of free throws, Matas Castillo drove for a basket. All-tourney selection Denonte Cunningham made a free throw with 1:20 left, and teammate Kois Okeke made a free throw to cut it to 66-60 with 1:07 remaining. Matas Castillo then drove for another bucket before a three-point play by Swansey with 41.5 seconds left cut it to 68-63. Lemont put it away by hitting 3 of 4 free throws in the final 23 seconds.

“There’s no quit in our kids,” Romeoville coach Marc Howard said. “We just dug too big a hole too early. We had trouble containing No. 5 [Rokas Castillo]. He shot the ball well.

“We made a little run at them late, but we made a couple of mistakes and didn’t take care of the ball. We were able to handle their pace, but we gave them too many second chances. A lot of those second chances turned into 3-pointers. Our mistakes are fixable, and we’ll get to work on that.”

Lemont coach Rick Runaas was happy to come away with the victory.

“It got a little hairy at the end,” he said. “I am not sure what happened with our defense, but give Romeoville credit. They didn’t quit and played with a lot of pride.

“What’s great about Rokas and Matas is that they involve their teammates. Everyone is moving without the ball, and we have five guys who need to be guarded.”

The All-tournament team consisted of Rokas and Matas Castillo of Lemont, Swansey and Cunningham of Romeoville, Brayden Long of Bradley-Bourbonnais and Jalen Falcon of Lockport.