Boys basketball: York beats St. Ignatius, heads to state for first time since 1968

Joseph Lubbe wasn’t going to let anything stop him from playing in Monday’s Class 4A University of Illinois-Chicago supersectional at Capital One Arena against St. Ignatius.

The York junior, who suffered a Grade 2 ankle sprain in Friday’s sectional final, hadn’t even practiced since Friday’s contest.

But with a chance to win their first supersectional and send the Dukes to state for the first time since 1968? He wasn’t going to miss it at all.

“We knew it was going to be a tough game against a really skilled St. Ignatius team,” Lubbe said. “We knew we were going to have to fight as a team, and I think it showed towards the end.”

Turns out, it would take every man, and some extra time to pull off the feat.

York secured its first supersectional title Monday, outlasting St. Ignatius in an overtime thriller 58-56 at the Class 4A University of Illinois-Chicago supersectional at Capital One Arena.

“These kids are just amazing,” Dukes coach Mike Dunn said. “They just believe and are so tight. They play for each other. … We defend, we rebound and try to be as physical as possible.”

Junior Sawyer Asgedom proved to be the hero for the Dukes (32-4), giving them the lead for good with 40 seconds remaining in overtime with a 3-pointer from the key to give them a 57-56 lead.

“That was amazing, probably one of the best moments of my life,” Asgedom said. “Lubbe just found me with the pass and when I hit it, that was amazing.”

He finished the game with 11 points and went 3 of 4 on 3-pointers in the contest, including a shot at the buzzer to end the first quarter trailing 15-13.

“You always want to help your team a lot, and I just love this group,” Asgedom said. “And I was super happy I could help out as much as I did with those 3-pointers.”

The teams traded leads 18 times in the contest, with the largest lead being 31-25 by the Dukes at the beginning of the third quarter. St. Ignatius was led by sophomore Amir Tucker’s 21 points, including the game-tying 3-pointer with 8.2 seconds remaining to send the game into overtime in a 50-50 tie.

St. Ignatius (31-5) finished the game shooting 13 of 22 (59.1%) from 3-point range. Tucker had back-to-back 3-pointers in overtime to give the Wolfpack a 56-54 lead, their last in the contest.

“Obviously that’s a testament to (St. Ignatius) coach (Matt) Monroe, they’re really a fantastic group,” Dunn said. “But man, what a game.”

Lubbe led the Dukes with 20 points. He had a 3-pointer to give the Dukes a 48-47 lead with 1:10 remaining, and followed it with a steal and fast-break layup to make it 50-47. It marked a 7-0 run the Dukes went on from 3:17 to the final 14 seconds of the contest.

“I was just confident in myself and believed in us as a team,” Lubbe said. “I thought we were going to win the game before Tucker hit that 3. But we knew it was going to be tough, but we had to stick to what we do.”

Even with the injury, the junior played all 36 minutes, the only player to do so in the game.

“He’s just such a tough kid,” Dunn said. “Our whole team was tough out there. I’m in tears thinking about it. This is just an amazing run, and we’re not done yet.”

The Dukes also had a 29-22 advantage in the rebound game, which included 11 offensive rebounds. Seniors Jackson Rennick (nine points) and Hunter Stepanich (eight points) each had seven boards.

The Dukes will face Marist in the state semifinals at 2:30 p.m. Friday in Champaign. Both teams won their program’s first supersectional on Monday. It’s a stark turn from a season ago, when the Dukes won just 14 games.

“It’s a great feeling, and we know we’re not a Cinderella story,” Lubbe said. “We knew what we had all season, and now we’re proving it.”