Boys Basketball: Cole, Lockport get past Rich East
Lockport senior Courtney Cole led three Porters in double figures and scored a game-high 18 points as the Porters defeated Rich East 56-40 in the Plainfield North Holiday Round Robin on Thursday night.
Lockport had significant contributions from teammates John Campbell (12 points, 9 rebounds) and Kyle Ward (10 points) in the win.
“I thought the key was that we got better in the second half with the extra pass,” Lockport coach Lawrence Thompson Jr. said.
Ronald Lawton led the Rockets with 13 points, while teammates Dalante Thomas and Anthony Perkins added nine and eight points, respectively.
For Lockport (5-4), it was their third game in three nights and subsequently never trailed in the game.
The Porters streaked out to a 6-0 lead on consecutive treys by Cole and led 10-7 after the first quarter.
A Campbell basket extended the Lockport lead to 22-7 with 4:56 remaining in the half that capped a 12-0 run.
“He (Campbell) was very active around the basket and did a nice job of battling for rebounds,” Thompson said.
“It was clear to me that they (Lockport) wanted it more than we did tonight,” Rich East coach George Leonard said. “They came out here hungry and we looked like we were on cruise-control.”
Rich East (3-5) got a three-pointer by Lawton with less than thirty seconds to play in the half that drew the Rockets closer at 25-17.
Later a three-pointer by Rich East’s Brandon Berry cut the Lockport lead to 29-28 with 2:50 left in the third quarter.
Rich East guard Raheem Jackson would pick up his fourth foul of the game on the next possession that seemingly changed the complexion of the game and ignite the Lockport offense.
Campbell’s back-to-back baskets pushed the Lockport lead back up to 39-28 after three quarters and at the same time appeared to take the wind out of the Rockets’ comeback attempt.
“The biggest thing was that our point guard (Jackson) got his fourth foul, we had to sit him and then we looked lost,” Leonard said.
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