Boys Basketball: Lockport’s quick start enough vs Joliet Central

Updated: January 13, 2012 11:01PM

A big concern for Lockport coach Lawrence Thompson Jr. was seeing Joliet Central get off to a fast start in Friday’s game between the longtime rivals.

The host Porters made sure that didn’t happen. Lockport started to pull away in the first quarter and went on to capture a 58-34 SouthWest Suburban Conference Blue win.

Lockport (11-5, 2-3) has won five straight and seven of its last eight games, while the Steelmen (6-9, 2-3) lost their fifth straight and seventh in their last eight contests.

“We came out with a lot of energy today,” Thompson said. “We know that Joliet Central is very quick and are streak shooters so for us to not have them start out hot was a big key for us.

“Not turning the ball over was a big help and we got easy looks and finally made some shots. Overall, we’re sharing the ball more and guys are getting more confident with their shots.”

The Porters led 13-10 late in the first quarter before Brandon Sawin (7 points) hit a three-pointer, John Campbell (11 points, 7 rebounds) made a free throw and Tom Hook added a jumper.

That gave the hosts a 19-10 lead going into the second period and they outscored the Steelmen 17-9 during the next eight minutes to grab a 36-19 halftime advantage.

Leading the way for the Porters during the second quarter was Courtney Cole, who scored 11 of his 13 points in the period, nine coming on three three-pointers.

Lockport, which led 42-24 through three quarters, also received eight points from Kyle Ward, six points from Billy Reed and seven rebounds from Andrew Gosney.

After turning the ball over only five times in the first half, the Porters had 14 turnovers in the final half and that allowed the Steelmen to stay competitive.

Joliet Central was led by Kenneth Carpenter (8 points), Curtis Parker (7 points, 8 rebounds), John Aversa (6 points), Jonah Coble (5 points, 5 rebounds) and Jalen Heath (5 points).

“We’ve got to find a way to fight out of this funk,” Steelmen coach Jeff Corcoran said. “When you score 40, 35 and 34 points, it’s not going to win any games in this conference.”

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