Cheng the MVP as Immaculate Conception wins own tournament

With the basketball game and the tournament MVP honor hanging in the balance, Immaculate Conception's John Cheng assumed control.

After the host Knights and Westmont seesawed to five ties and seven lead changes through the first two and a half quarters, the senior guard scored 16 of his game-high 24 points.

Cheng didn't miss again on 6 field-goal tries and 3 free throws as he and Brian Harvey, with 19 points, led the Knights to a 71-64 victory for the inaugural title of the IC/Westmont Christmas Tournament on Thursday in Elmhurst.

"It's pretty awesome," said Cheng, the tourney MVP with IC's Demetrius Carr and Westmont's Jean Pietrzak earning all-tourney honors.

"It's the first time ever," Cheng said. "It was at our place, we wanted to go undefeated and win the championship. It feels pretty good. I feel good for coach (Darren Howard)."

At 12-0 the boys tied former girls coach Dan Murray's 2009-10 girls team for the best start to a season.

With Westmont (8-6) playing a zone defense and Pietrzak on his way to a team-high 22 points, that mark was uncertain.

"They were in a 3-2," Cheng said, "and we have a strong presence with Brian Harvey so we just wanted to get it into him. He just pounded it up, got the layup."

A humble one, Cheng. Harvey did hit a pair of free throws and a 3-pointer, as did Jason Dunn, but Cheng was a constant in a 15-5 run to turn a 36-36 tie into a 51-41 IC lead entering the fourth quarter.

Cheng then broke down the Sentinels in the lane for three layups, plus a penetrate-and-dish to Mike Lestina for a 60-48 lead with 3:34 to play.

Part of Westmont's trouble was Pietrzak, point guard Kris Pierce, shooting guard Kevin Good and post Calvin Casper all were saddled with foul trouble.

"The first half I was pretty impressed with our defense, I thought we did a nice job," said Westmont coach Craig Etheridge. "Once the fouls started to accumulate guys started backing off and guys were slow to rotate because they were hesitating, afraid to pick up another foul."

Despite 4-of-11 fourth-quarter foul shooting, IC led 70-59 with 52.1 seconds to play, giving Howard both immediate gratification and optimism for the fledgling tournament.

"I think both of us getting to the finals in the first year kind of solidifies what we wanted out of this tournament," he said.