Hinsdale South takes Lemont championship

Hinsdale South won the 32nd annual Lemont Christmas Classic with the standbys of height and shooting.

Directly or indirectly, one led to the other Wednesday in the Hornets' 67-46 victory over quick yet vertically challenged Joliet Catholic.

"Just be physical and finish at the basket, not give them a chance to block your shot or anything," said Lemont MVP Lavonte Brown, the 6-foot-3 swingman who with 6-6 Brock Benson rose above the Hilltoppers' sub-6 foot Tucker triplets Breshion, Brequan and Breion, and 6-3 Wes Koral.

"It was just high-low, to get touches to the big men in the post," said Brown, who scored 22 points with 10 rebounds and 4 steals. Benson added 11 points, 8 rebounds. "This year, that was one of our goals, to win the Christmas tournament, so we accomplished that through hard work."

Hinsdale South (9-2) won its second Lemont title in three years. Karl Ploger played guard on both units.

"This team I think was kind of a surprise for a lot of people because we weren't seeded first or second like in my sophomore year," said Ploger, noting the Hornets equaled last season's wins total. "We surprised a lot of people coming in here. And it felt great."

With their height plus players like Ploger, all-tourney forward Joe Petrak and sharpshooter Phil George - who scored 17 points on 6 of 8 from the field, 3 of 4 from 3-point range - Joliet Catholic coach Jeremy Izzo wasn't so surprised.

"They were going to have to miss some shots, we were going to have to get some rebounds, maybe the big man fall down and hurt himself," Izzo said in jest.

With the Tuckers bombing from the arc or slicing the lane like a falcon splitting skyscrapers, and complementary shooting from 13-point scorer and all-tourney pick Koral, Joliet Catholic (6-7) scored in streaks and trailed only 17-16 after the first quarter.

Hinsdale South had the stuff for the long haul. Coach Vince Doran took timeouts to quell fast Hilltoppers starts in the first and third quarters. Both timeouts did as intended - spread the defense with George launching outside while the big boys ruled the paint. Putting Brown at the top of a zone defense for spells also took a toll.

Outscoring Joliet Catholic 19-6 in the second quarter, Hinsdale South led 36-22 at halftime behind 13-of-21 shooting. For the game Joliet Catholic was 15 of 45, 3 of 20 from the arc.

All-tourney pick Breshion Tucker hit free throws in the second half to finish with 18 points, but the Hornets led 63-48 with three minutes to play. Doran inserted reserves Jason Viane, Chris Chacko, Ryan Kimble, Ryan Johnson and Chris Dimayuga shortly thereafter.

"Very proud of the way our kids played," said the Hornets' nine-year coach. "I thought they did an excellent job of executing really the entire tournament. It was great to see."