Boys Basketball: Providence earns milestone
By Tina Akouris takouris@suntimes.com December 18, 2012 8:16PM
Updated: January 20, 2013 6:13AM
Providence made history over the weekend on two fronts.
St. Joseph, led by legendary coach Gene Pingatore, made its first visit to Providence on Friday. The visiting Chargers couldn’t contain senior Kevin Kozan, who scored a game-high 30 points in the Celtics’ 67-61 overtime victory.
Off the court Providence honored some of its basketball past. Walter Downing, a former Illinois Mr. Basketball, was in the gym, along with several of his teammates from the 1978-79 Class A state championship team.
Also over the weekend, Providence sophomore Miles Boykin recorded a career-high 28 points while grabbing 15 rebounds in the Celtics 60-57 victory over Nazareth at Benedictine University.
Tired? We’re not tired
Besides Seneca, Lemont is the only other undefeated team in the Joliet area. The Indians stretched their record to 9-0 with an 86-51 victory Friday over Eisenhower.
That win was a bit atypical for the Indians, since Eisenhower plays a fast, uptempo game. It was something the Indians practiced for all week.
Playing that kind of fast-break pace for four quarters didn’t matter, though. Coach Rick Runaas said there wasn’t a worry that his players would have tired legs in the second half.
“No, because we condition hard and we run the stairs out here and a lot of different things to condition,” Runaas said. “We know we have to play fast and at a certain tempo to be effective.”
First things first
Before the Indians travel to Romeoville to play in that tournament where they are considered the favorite, they have to play an 8-1 Marian Catholic team Saturday’s Crete-Monee Shootout.
“They’re a highly rated team and we’re very excited about that opportunity,” Runaas said.
After changing defenses against Eisenhower, Runaas said he was going to go back to what the Indians had been running before Friday night’s game.
“We know who we are,” Runaas said. “We’ll add as the year goes on. We’ll be back to school on Monday in terms of getting them disciplined again.”
