Wheaton Academy stands tall in victory
It's good to be king-size.
Wheaton Academy senior Luke Johnson, all 6 feet, 9 inches and 235 pounds of him, scored 22 points with 15 rebounds to pace a 66-52 win over North Lawndale in Friday's Class 3A Wheaton Academy regional final in West Chicago.
Johnson staked the Warriors to a fast start with an 8-point first quarter and was a towering release valve against North Lawndale's full- and half-court defenses.
“‘Ferg (coach Paul Ferguson) wanted me in the middle of the press because I'm a decent passer and I'm the biggest guy on the court,” Johnson said. “So when I get it I keep it up, and pretty much anybody can't reach it.”
Wheaton Academy (27-1) won its second regional title in three years and made amends for last year's denial. Next is Crane, a 58-55 overtime winner over St. Joseph, in Tuesday's Riverside-Brookfield sectional semifinal.
“I know especially the guys that played last year really wanted to redeem ourselves, so we just came out and played hard, played like it was our last game,” said Warriors guard Wes Koral, who scored 12 points with 4 assists.
No. 4 seed Wheaton Academy did what Ferguson asked: handle pressure, get an early lead, stop penetration, hit free throws. The Warriors made 22 of 31 overall, 10 of 14 in the second quarter and 9 of 11 in the fourth.
“We knew we had to have a quick start and we had to handle their pressure early, and we did those things and that just settled us down,” Ferguson said. “We got the ball inside to Luke and we just executed our game plan.”
Johnson's 8 first-quarter points plus a Koral 3 and Lars Olson's 50-footer at the buzzer paced a 19-11 lead over North Lawndale (13-13).
The sixth-seeded Phoenix forced 7 second-quarter turnovers but could do little against a 2-3 zone, and Wheaton Academy capitalized to lead 36-26 at halftime.
“That was a key for us,” said North Lawndale coach Lewis Thorpe. “What we wanted to do was attack the gaps and we just didn't do a good job of doing that.”
The Phoenix, led by Cory McCary's 13 points, got within 41-32 on DeAndre Holden's steal and bucket. Johnson canned a soft banker and blocked a shot, and Olson hit a 3. Soon the Warriors led 51-39 after three quarters, leaving the remaining highlights to Larry Reynolds with a pair of dunks.
“We wanted to come out and prove to the Chicago area that we could come out and play with teams like this,” said guard Drew Sandberg, who scored 7 points with 3 assists.