Boys Basketball: Lincoln-Way East rolls over Lincoln-Way West
By Steve Millar For Sun-Times Media December 27, 2011 11:16PM
Lincoln-Way East's Joel Magrum has his shot blocked by Lincoln-Way West's Hayden Witt at the Medieval Classic on Tuesday. | Larry Kane~For Sun-Times Media
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Updated: January 29, 2012 8:18AM
Lincoln-Way East is back in familiar territory.
The host and defending Medieval Classic champion sealed its place in Thursday’s championship game with a 63-21 rout of Lincoln-Way West on Tuesday.
East (6-4) moved to 2-0 in the tournament and clinched first place in Pool B.
The Griffins came out blazing at the start of both halves. They jumped out to a 10-0 lead just over three minutes in, Joel Magrum scoring four points and Gavin Walsh (11 points) and Eric Spudic each knocking down a three.
“We moved the ball well,” East coach Rich Kolimas said. “In the halfcourt, we were very unselfish. We hit the open man and we got some easy looks from inside and outside.”
Jake Emmerick scored 11 points, Mike Martin nine and Jay Yancy seven as the Griffins used a balanced attack.
The Griffins’ offensive efficiency, combined with a suffocating defense, led to a 31-13 halftime lead over the Warriors (2-11, 1-1 in pool play).
After nearly letting a 45-15 third-quarter lead slip away against Oak Lawn on Monday, the Griffins did not let up after the break. They hit eight of their first nine shots from the field in the third, stretching the lead to 48-16.
“After (Monday), we wanted to come out strong in the second half,” Walsh said. “This tournament’s always nice because we get to play a lot of games and work out what we’ve been doing wrong. We’re coming together.”
East was 24-of-46 from the field, while the Warriors were just 7-of-32. Luke Horvath and Gino Manzella led West with six points each.
“I thought it was an outstanding effort on (East’s) part,” West coach Eric Long said. “We tried to make some adjustments and we made mistakes that compounded our problems. We’ve got to get back up tomorrow and try to bounce back.”
Oak Lawn 65, Shepard 56: Martin Einikis poured in 20 points and Lyndell Johnson added 15 for Oak Lawn (2-7, 1-1 in pool play). Martice Weatherspoon (17 points) and Davontae Armwood (16) led Shepard (3-8, 0-2 in pool play).
Oak Forest 63, Lincoln-Way Central 54: Kyle Funkhouser had 18 points and Mario Schaeffer and T.J. Mayer added 14 each for Oak Forest (6-4, 1-1 in pool play). Brad Foster and Brad Bass each scored 15 for Lincoln-Way Central (5-8, 0-2 in pool play).
Lincoln-Way North 53, T.F. South 51 (OT): Cody Murphy scored 12 points to aid Lincoln-Way North (4-10, 2-0 in pool play).
