Lake Park win means never saying 'never' again
Lake Park deleted a pesky word from its team dictionary.
Never.
The Lancers spent the bulk of the season below most folks' radar, but they changed that on Friday by accomplishing something no previous boys basketball team had done since the school opened in 1956. The Lancers won a sectional title.
While some of you let that sink in, keep in mind this was the plan ever since Lake Park (25-6) made a surprise run to the regional final last year. Turns out that was just the beginning.
A senior-heavy team loaded with experience and fierce motivation stormed into this week's Class 4A Barrington sectional and came away with a surprisingly dominant 58-39 victory over St. Viator. The reward is Geneva in Tuesday's Northern Illinois University supersectional in DeKalb.
Winner of that game gets a spot in the state semifinals next weekend in Peoria. Yeah, it's getting that serious for Lake Park.
“It feels amazing,” said Lancers senior Connor Vance. “We worked all season for this, and it's one of those feelings you can't put into words.”
Like the bulk of the season, Lake Park won with rock-solid fundamentals. The Lancers committed only 9 turnovers and held St. Viator (19-10) to 9 total points in the middle quarters while turning a 17-11 deficit after a quarter into a 37-26 lead heading to the fourth.
It's the 21st time this season the Lancers limited a team to less than 45 points. St. Viator forward Sal Cannella, who scored 33 points in the sectional semifinals, scored 6 of his 11 points in the first quarter.
Mike McNamara lit up the Lancers for three 3-pointers and 11 points in the first quarter. But with Cameron Van Aswegen chasing him the rest of the night, McNamara added just a fourth-quarter free throw to his point total.
“Coach said he's their main scorer so we just had to lock him down and we'll be good,” Van Aswegen said. “We just slow down the game, try to make it a half-court game and keep every team under 40.”
How good were the Lancers? DuPage Valley Conference Player of the Year Marcus McDaniel didn't score a point, but the team won by 19. McDaniel played a great overall floor game, but others stepped up with the scoring.
Vance tallied 21 of his game-high 25 points in the second half while Danny Hynes and Van Aswegen combined for 22 points and six 3-pointers. This came two days after the Lancers made no 3-pointers in their sectional semifinal win over Palatine.
“If we shoot well usually we're in pretty good shape, and tonight we shot well,” said Lancers coach Josh Virostko. “If you see the six games we lost, we haven't shot well. (Wednesday) we were able to get past it. Tonight it kind of came through.”
In the wake of the win, as the Lancers shared the championship moment surrounded by fans, each player took a turn holding the sectional title plaque over their head.
The Lancers aren't flashy. All they do is hoist hardware.
“One more game and we're at state,” Hynes said. “One more game.”
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