Boys basketball: Mac Hagemaster comes up big in Lincoln-Way East’s triumph over Lockport

FRANKFORT – There is still a place for a big man in basketball.

Mac Hagemaster showed that.

The 6-foot-8 junior center scored nine points, grabbed five rebounds, blocked three shots and altered many more to help Lincoln-Way East to a 55-40 victory over Lockport in a SouthWest Suburban Conference Blue Division matchup Friday night in Frankfort.

It was a nice bounce-back win for the Griffins (17-2, 2-1 SWSC), who lost to visiting Bolingbrook 71-61 on Tuesday, snapping a 14-game winning streak.

“This is a season-high in points,” Hagemaster said. “I’m usually not that type of guy [who scores]. I get rebounds, get some putbacks, get some blocks and help push the ball up the floor, but the game plan was to get it down low.”

Senior guard Tylon Toliver led Lincoln-Way East with 16 points, and senior forward George Bellevue added 13 points and seven rebounds. But the Griffins were without starting senior forward Kyle Olagbegi, who sat out with sore ankles.

“I knew I had to do more with Kyle out,” said Hagemaster, who also plays volleyball. “We had to get to the rim. We just have to keep this going.”

The Griffins, who were 11-17 last season, already have the most wins in a season since they finished 23-6 in 2017-18, Part of the reason why is they have depth and can turn to someone like Hagemaster.

“Mac is fully capable of that,” Lincoln-Way East coach Rich Kolimas said. “We were looking for him to emerge on the scoring end, and he did.”

Hagemaster scored four points early on as the Griffins jumped out to a 10-1 advantage and led the whole way. Ahead 10-7, Bellevue and Hagemaster scored two baskets inside in the final 32 seconds to give the Griffins a 14-7 lead after one quarter.

Lockport (13-7, 1-1) never got closer than six points the rest of the way. After a second quarter where the teams combined to miss 17 shots, Lincoln-Way East led 24-13 at halftime.

Senior guard Adam Labuda (eight points, eight rebounds) hit a 3-pointer with 5:07 left in the third quarter to bring the Porters within 28-21. But Hagemaster capped an 8-2 spurt on a three-point play for a 36-23 lead with 2:12 remaining in the quarter. It was 38-28 after three, and the margin never dipped below 10 points the rest of the way.

Jalen Falcon led Lockport with a game-high 22 points and added six rebounds. The junior guard was impressed with how the Griffins defended, especially Hagemaster.

“They are so big, get a lot of rebounds and block a lot of shots,” Falcon said. “Especially [Hagemaster]. He’s big and difficult to score on. He made it difficult for me to go to the rim.”

Senior forward Caden Schoolcraft added eight points and 10 rebounds for the Porters, who opened conference play on Tuesday with a 53-43 win over visiting Sandburg.

“They slow you down,” Kolimas said of the Porters. “They meet you at halfcourt and then drop back into that zone. We want to keep this going but also make sure that we are healthy.”

Since the SWSC formed for the 2005-06 season, the Porters have shared a pair of conference titles, in 2008 and 2010. Lincoln-Way East has never won an SWSC championship in boys basketball, but the Griffins did capture a SICA West one in the first few years of their existence.

“We needed to get back into rhythm; we needed that win after losing to Bolingbrook,” Toliver said. “Mac stepped up big for us. He always plays great defense, and that was definitely important tonight.”