Kaneland takes 3rd at Plano
Thomas Williams had made only one shot through nearly four quarters of basketball, but the Kaneland sophomore didn’t hesitate at the most important time of Friday’s third-place game at the 49th annual Plano Christmas Classic.
With the Knights trailing by 2, Williams knocked down a 3-pointer with 1:39 remaining. That shot put the Knights ahead to stay thanks to 5-of-6 shooting at the line down the stretch by Williams and Tyler Heinle.
Kaneland lived up to is No. 3 seed by taking third place, beating defending champion and No. 1 seed Rockford Christian 45-41.
On the go-ahead 3, the play was designed for Marcel Neil. But point guard Drew David found Williams alone on the wing.
“We just ran the play and I saw the opportunity and took it,” Williams said. “The only thing that went through my mind was take the shot. I knew it was going to go in.”
The third-place matchup pitted the last two teams to win this tournament. Kaneland (9-4) led 11-10 after one quarter before its one stretch of sluggish play helped the Royals (10-4) open a 23-18 halftime edge.
Dan Miller kept the Knights in the game early with 9 of his team-high 13 points in the first half. Miller got the start for Trever Heinle who has been trying to play through a neck injury suffered against DeKalb but finally had to sit out Friday. After the game it was Heinle who carried the third-place trophy into the locker room.
“Either way (starting or coming off the bench), whatever I can do to help the team is fine with me,” Miller said. “We were just executing the offense well, everybody was cutting hard. I just found a few open spots and finished.”
Unlike the semifinals Thursday against Yorkville when the Knights came out flat in the third quarter, Kaneland played better in the second half Friday, outrebounding the Royals 15-5.
“We had a tough game last night and today we responded by beating a team we thought was pretty good,” Kaneland coach Brian Johnson said of last year’s 4th-place state 2A team. “We executed well down the stretch, hit our free throws. It’s typical of these kids to step up when they are challenged and they were challenged at shootaround today.”
Trailing 33-29 entering the fourth quarter, Kaneland pulled even on consecutive back-to-the-basket buckets from center Matt Limbrunner.
David’s first basket of the game, a 3, put the Knights ahead 36-33. Rockford Christian took the lead 39-37 on a drive from Alexander Larson only to see Williams drill what proved to be the game-winning 3.
The Knights defense forced a pair of misses, and Williams and Heinle sealed the win at the line.
Among the things Kaneland did well was shoot 83 percent at the line (15 of 18) and only turn the ball over 8 times.
“Usually we are not very patient,” Johnson said. “We let the game come to us and let our offense work.
“Every day we work on rebounding. It’s something we have to do because we are so small. Last night I thought we were a little weak on the offensive glass. Tonight we were a lot better pursuing the basketball.”
Williams joined Miller in double figures with 10 points while Neil chipped in 8 and a team-high 7 rebounds.
“It was really big,” Miller said. “We were hoping to be in the championship but third place is fine. It is good. This is a good tournament.”