PONTIAC—It didn’t take long for the first upset to occur at the 89th Pontiac Holiday Tournament.
Warren, which entered as a complete afterthought, knocked off No. 4 seed Peoria Manual 54-45 in the second game of the first round on Thursday.
The Rams were a controversial choice (to some of us) as the four seed, but no one saw 3-6 Warren pulling off the upset.
It does make some sense why it took the Blue Devils a long time to get things going this season though. Only two players scored for Warren in the fourth quarter: Juan Delacruz and Seamus Mellican. Both are football players that were key members of the Blue Devils’ squad that lost to Lincoln-Way East in the Class 8A state championship game.
Delacruz is an All-Area linebacker committed to Western Illinois Mellican played linebacker and fullback.
“Seamus played just about every down,” Warren coach Jon Jasnoch said. “You get beat up a bit, he played all the way to Thanksgiving.
“We’ve been waiting as they have slowly been getting their legs under them and their basketball timing. Mellican knocked down some free throws so that is a pretty good sign that he’s starting to get his shot back. We knew he could dunk, he just had to get that opening.”
Manual (8-4) led 41-39 after a bucket by Rolando Brown with 6:23 left. The Blue Devils responded with a 15-4 run to close out the game. Mellican and Delacruz scored all the points.
Mellican finished with 11 points and 11 rebounds and Delacruz had 15 points and six rebounds. Adnan Sarancic, a 6-5 senior, added 15 points, six rebounds and three assists.
Warren will face Benet in the quarterfinals on Saturday.
I’ll be tracking all the games listed below. There is a ton of basketball today. Highlights will depend on what the tournaments make easily accessible for me. I’ll probably update in big batches throughout the day and night.
Find the scores for all of today’s games right here:
Pontiac
First Round
Benet 66, Danville 62: Benet center Colin Crothers has been playing at the Pontiac Holiday Tournament since he was a freshman. He wasn’t about to allow an injury to keep him from missing the event his senior year.
“I’ve been working on getting back in shape,” Crothers, a 6-8 Johns Hopkins recruit said. “When I was injured the timeline was worrisome to get back before this. I love playing here, it is my favorite place to play.”
Bloom 61, Lockport 46: The Blazing Trojans put on a show with a dozen or more dunks, but the Porters managed to keep it close throughout. Christian Shumate scored 23 and Keshawn Williams added 17. Lockport actually out-rebounded Bloom 23-18. Tommy Ferriter led the Porters with 14 points.
Oak Park 66, Plainfield North 63: The Huskies led by 17 after a bucket by Josh Smith with 5:58 to play. Then everything went wild.
“It’s survive and advance here at Pontiac,” Oak Park coach Matt Maloney said. “We keep talking about the sense of urgency. When we get up we start taking crazy shots and making crazy turnovers instead of playing together. We revert back to really bad habits. It’s been a consistent theme throughout the season.”
The Tigers took a 62-61 lead on a three from Blake Ellinghaus and then a free throw from Colin O’Rourke but them ahead by three with 30 seconds left.
Oak Park pulled it out thanks to a huge three-point play by Justin Cross with 21 seconds left.
“Justin Cross was tremendous on both sides of the ball,” Maloney said. “:He just made winning plays. He does so many things and covers up so many of our mistakes defensively. He was absolutely phenomenal.”
Smith led the Huskies with 17 points, seven rebounds and five assists. Isaiah Barnes had 14 points and nine rebounds and Cross finished with 13 points and 10 boards.
Ellinghaus scored 20 for Plainfield North and was 6-for-9 on threes.
St. Charles North vs. New Trier, 4:00
Curie vs. West Aurora, 6:00
Simeon vs. Pontiac, 7:30
Joliet West vs. Bloomington, 9:00
Hinsdale Central
Quarterfinals
Homewood-Flossmoor vs. St. Charles East, 3:45
Oswego East vs. Stevenson, 5:15
St. Rita vs. Marian Catholic, 7:00
Westinghouse vs. DePaul Prep, 8:30
Proviso West
First Round
Morton 70, Leo 62: This was expected to be one of the best games of the first round in Hillside and it delivered. Jesus Perez led the Mustangs with 22 points and eight assists and Kendell Nichols added 21 points and 13 rebounds. Kendale Anderson had 19 points and nine rebounds for the Lions.
Hillcrest 68, Hyde Park 62: Huge win for the Hawks. Hyde Park is a better team than most people realize and was fully capable of pulling off the upset. Mar’Keise Irving led the way with 18 points and five rebounds. Hamahrie Bowers had a massive game with 17 points and 16 boards. Julius Rollins added 13 points and 12 rebounds. Junior Jalen Houston led the Thunderbirds with 20 points.
Uplift 62, Proviso West 58: Massive game from Kymeon Mayo. He had 22 points, 14 rebounds, five steals and two blocks for the Titans. Taijay Brown added 17 points and five assists. Josh Doxie led the hosts with 21 points.
Fenwick 69, Larkin 56: Bryce Hopkins, the biggest star in the field, delivered in the opener with 28 points, 15 rebounds and five assists. Eian Pugh scored 12 and Max Reese added 13 points, six rebounds and three assists.
Lane vs. St. Joseph, 4:00
Bogan vs. Crete-Monee, 5:30
Dunbar vs. Zion-Benton, 7:00
Proviso East vs. Perspectives-LA, 8:30
York
First Round
Highland Park 66, Solorio 56: Val Oplchenski had 19 points and 13 rebounds. He’s clearly a name to keep an eye on. Nate Fleischer scored 15 and Billy Rudman added 12. The Sun Warriors, making their tournament debut, were led by Jordan Hill with 15 points. The Giants dominated the boards 29-15.
Schaumburg 47, Downers Grove South 46: The Mustangs held Schaumburg star Chris Hodges to just three points and one rebound and nearly pulled off the upset. Vaurice Patterson led the Saxons with 17. The stats say Schaumburg only had 12 rebounds in the game, which is insanely low. Tai Butler led Downers South with 12.
St. Laurence 77, St. Francis 73 OT: Dairus Wilson led the Vikings with 21 and Finn Walsh scored 19. Sebastian Miller scored 23 for Wheaton Academy and made 8 of 10 three-pointers.
Lyons 64, Sandburg 45: Grant Niego posted a double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds. John Wall added nine points and 11 boards
Batavia vs. Andrew, 3:30
Conant vs. Rolling Meadows, 5:00
Nazareth vs. St. Ignatius, 6:30
Montini vs. York, 8:00
Hinsdale South 72, Elk Grove 45
Providence 54, Lemont 52
Riverside-Brookfield 65, Stagg 48
Palatine vs. Wheaton North, 1:00
Glenbard East vs. Brother Rice, 3:00
Naperville North vs. St. Patrick, 4:30
Lake Forest vs. Timothy Christian, 6:00
Minooka vs. Bolingbrook, 7:30
Rich South
Quarterfinals
Thornton vs. Clark, 7:00
Rich Central vs. Marshall, 4:00
Rich East vs. Thornridge, 8:30
Farragut vs. Rich South, 5:30
Wheeling
Quarterfinals
Libertyville vs. Maine West, 3:45
Notre Dame vs. Prospect, 5:30
Niles North vs. Fremd, 7:15
St. Viator vs. Glenbrook South, 8:45
Bloomington
First round
Wheaton-Warrenville South 47, Plainfield South 32: Ben Bastian scored 12 and Parker Brown added 11 for the Tigers, who always seem to play well over the holidays.
North Lawndale 72, Mahomet-Seymour 69: Tight win for the Phoenix, who are expected to make some noise in the tournament. Daequan Davis had 26 and Charlie Harris added 12 points.
Peoria Central 50, Joliet Central 46: The Steelmen head backwards at State Farm, possibly for the first time since they joined the tournament a few years ago. Ashawn Pitchford scored 12 and Kee Hargrow added 10.
Rock Island vs. Thornwood, 9:30
Normal U-High vs. Kenwood, 8:00
Normal vs. North Chicago, 6:30
Centralia
First Round
Chatham Glenwood 49, Marist 36: Dan Reed led the Redhawks with 10 points.
Evanston 70, Cahokia 34: The favorites cruise in their opener. Blake Peters had 17 points, seven rebounds and five steals and Jaylin Gibson added 13 points and five rebounds for the Wildkits.
Champaign Central vs. Carmel, 2:45
Mount Vernon vs. Romeoville, 4:15
Alton vs. TF North, 6:30
Dyett vs. Tipton-Rosemark, Tenn., 9:30
Pekin
First Round
Washington, Ill. 58, Lake Zurich 43: The Bears go down in the first round. Will tucker scored 16 and Brady Orton added 11.
Boylan vs. Mount Carmel, 2:15
Moline vs. Hersey, 3:45
Pekin vs. Plainfield East, 6:30
Lake Park vs. Limestone, 8:00
