Cerese, Lake Park pull away from Conant in 2nd half
After a disappointing big loss to Mt. Carmel in the finals of the Pekin tournament, Cam Cerese and Lake Park felt that they had something to prove in the New Year.
They did just that Thursday in Hoffman Estates.
Cerese shot, drove and dished as the Lancers rolled past Conant 51-30.
The senior was magnificent, especially in the second half as Lake Park pulled away from an 18-14 lead.
He finished with 21 points, 17 of which came in the final two quarters. He knocked down six shots, three of which came from beyond the arc, the other three came on impressive drives to the hoop. The only shot he missed in the second half was a desperation shot just before the half-court line that did hit the backboard.
“The fire half was a little slow because I was trying to get my teammates the ball,” said Cerese, who also had six assists.
“In the second half I found my groove. I just used some shot fakes and went right by them.”
Lake Park coach Billy Pitcher said that Cerese’s persistence makes him dangerous all over the court.
“He has the ability to score in all areas of the court,” Pitcher said. “He is so persistent. He can't be denied the ball. If they put a bigger guy on him to stop him inside, he is able to get by him. At the perimeter, he creates space. He is just a joy to coach him. It was just give Cam the ball and let him make a play.”
Tommy Rochford, who finished with 15 points and was the recipient of three of Cerese’s assists, said he has to be ready when Cerese drives to the basket.
“He is always is head down going to the basket,” Rochford said. “So I have to look for the ball. We have very good ball movement. We have to reverse it and go side to side. Work away and the middle is open.”
Lake Park (15-2) led 24-19 early in the third quarter thank to a three-pointer and drive by Cerese. But the guard was not done.
He hit two more spinning drives to the basket and then a three-pointer. Then on another drive under the basket, he found Rochford, who was able to shake free for a layup which turned into a three-point play and the Lancers led 34-21 with 1:30 left in the third quarter.
Leading 37-25 after three periods Cerese drilled a three. That was followed by a pair of three-pointers by Dennasio LaGiola (9 points) as the Lancers scored 13 unanswered points to put the game away.
“That was a good second half,” Pitcher said. “That was probably our best second half of the year. It gives us an opportunity to get on a roll here in the second half of the year. “
Conant (7-9) had trouble maneuvering through Lake Park’s zone. The Cougars also had difficulty shooting over it, going just 3-of-20 from outside the arc.
“Most of the credit goes to Lake Park,” Conant coach Matt Walsh said. “They are really good defensively and they are connected. We are struggling with consistency. We will continue to practice and grind and try to get this figured out.”
Brad Biedke led Conant with 12 points and six rebounds. Yusuf Cisse, who committed last week to Washington University in St. Louis, finished with 8 points while Nate Hahn came of the bench to score 7 points.