Pontiac Holiday Tournament
PONTIAC -- The upset bug was contagious during the morning session of the Pontiac Holiday Tournament.
East Moline (United Township) turned back favored Curie in the first game, and Danville promptly took the cue.
The Vikings scored the opening 10 points of the game, forced the West Aurora boys basketball team into missing its first 12 shots and survived a wild finish to end the Blackhawks' seven-year run of semifinal appearances at the famed three-day, 16-team tournament.
With its 48-45 victory Thursday in Pontiac, Danville (4-7) had history on its side as the last meeting between the schools in 2000 witnessed the Vikings ending the Blackhawks' program-record 33-game winning streak.
"We came out with an outstanding start," said Danville coach Gary Tidwell, whose No. 13 seeded squad never trailed the third-seeded Blackhawks. "I think our guys were prepared, and we gained confidence with the way we started."
It was the first opening-round loss for West Aurora at Pontiac since 1997.
Danville was seemingly in cruise control, exploiting the Blackhawks' game-long shooting woes to take a 42-30 lead with less than four minutes to play.
With a sense of urgency staring West Aurora in the face, the team finally responded to the Vikings' zone defense and inside-outside offensive attack.
Jamal Blackmond and Corbin Spearman connected on consecutive 3-pointers to support Theo Hicks' earlier baseline jumper, and the final minute-plus of the game had a frenetic flair.
D'Lando Carter gave Danville a 46-38 lead with 56 seconds remaining, but Blackmond and Spearman had conventional field goals over a 12-second span to halve the Vikings' lead.
The Blackhawks forced a turnover in the backcourt, and Blackmond drained his third 3-pointer of the contest to make it 46-45 with 18 seconds to play.
Danville was able to elude the Blackhawks' attempts for a steal or foul, and Carter hit another pair at the line with five seconds remaining.
West Aurora called timeout with 2.3 second left after advancing the ball to mid-court, but a 3-pointer as time expired rimmed in and out to preserve the Vikings' upset.
"The best team won," West Aurora coach Gordie Kerkman said. "They played better than we did. I really thought the shots we took were good shots. We just couldn't get any to drop."
West Aurora connected on only 19 of its 57 attempts for the game, finishing at 33 percent.
Blackmond and Spearman scored 13 points apiece for West Aurora, and senior guard Marquis Stewart added
all 10 of his points in the opening half.
"We played Danville's game," Spearman said. "The biggest problem was that we were rushing everything. We normally play pretty well against zones, but today it was just one pass and a shot."
Danville junior Mikel Brigham led both teams with 20 points and 10 rebounds.
The center had a tip-in at the second-quarter buzzer to give Danville a 26-20 lead at halftime; earlier the Vikings had a 10-4 run to break free of the only tie of the game at 16.
The Blackhawks play Curie at 8 a.m. today.
Peoria Manual 67, Schaumburg 57:ŒThe third time is still not the charm for Schaumburg. The Saxons fell victim to the early trend at the Pontiac Holiday Tournament of the higher seed falling as Peoria Manual had a decisive fourth quarter.
"I love playing teams from Peoria," Schaumburg coach Bob Williams said moments after the Saxons dropped their opening-round game 67-57 to the Rams Thursday afternoon in Pontiac.
"I'm not discouraged in any way. This is why we come down here. They (Manual) really stayed with their stuff from the opening tip. I thought it was a great game."
Schaumburg (8-4) will seek to duplicate its result of last year it team captured the consolation title.
The Saxons lost their first game at the storied tournament for the third year in a row and face Jacksonville at 9:30 a.m. today.
Manual (8-4) broke three early first-quarter ties and built a series of 7-point leads in taking a 29-24 lead into halftime.
That is when Cully Payne came to the forefront for Schaumburg. He scored 16 of his team-high 20 points after the intermission, knifing way through the paint for many of his acrobatic field goals.
"I knew I was going to have to look to score to help us win," Payne said. "Peoria Manual did a great job gearing up for me. We made a couple of mistakes (in the fourth quarter) that hurt us."
Sean Everitt hit a 3-pointer to forge the first tie since the opening quarter, and Brandon Bolger provided the Saxons their only second-half lead with 2 free throws on the ensuing possession.
Unfortunately for Schaumburg, Lawyer Crowder tied the game in the waning seconds of the third, and it was all Rams in the fourth quarter.
In claiming their fifth win in a row, the eighth-seeded Rams delivered a fourth-quarter knockout blow with 24 points.
Paris Gulley scored 9 of his game-high 21 points for Manual in the fourth quarter.
Bolger had 14 for Schaumburg while Everitt and Blake Mueller combined for 15 more.
-- Kevin McGavin
Warren 58, Pontiac 39:ŒIt was a second quarter to remember for Warren on Thursday.
The Devils' boys basketball team faced the host Pontiac Indians, never an easy task on opening night at the prestigious tournament.
But Warren overcame a sluggish start with a victory-clinching second quarter that left the Indians dazed.
Blue Devils forward Brandon Paul scored 10 consecutive points in a two-minute stretch, and Warren held Pontiac scoreless for the final seven minutes before halftime.
The 20-2 difference in the quarter was the basis of the Devils' 58-39 victory.
Warren (6-3) will meet Oak Park (10-4), which used Daniel Barnes' game-high 20 points to ease past Plainfield North 45-39 in the fourth quarterfinal.
"There were a lot of guys who contributed during that stretch," said Warren coach Chuck Ramsey. "We had very good pressure on the ball.
After a seesaw first quarter, the Blue Devils exchanged field goals with the Indians over the first 53 seconds -- and Pontiac did not score again until after intermission.
The Devils' unanswered 18-point run to close out the second quarter began with a David Duncan field goal, and Scott Geske added consecutive field goals to give Warren a 23-15 cushion.
Enter Mr. Paul, who has committed to Illinois as a junior.
The Devils' silky forward, who finished with 16 points and framed the 42-20 Warren advantage on the glass with 15 rebounds, had a one-minute, 55-second stretch of domination.
Paul had a steal and tomahawk dunk as part of 3-point play to showcase a conventional and 3-point field goal on the previous two possessions.
The 8-point run reached double figures when he caught a misfired perimeter shot with a putback, all in the same motion.
When Jake Anderson closed out the first half with another second-chance field goal, Warren had a 35-15 lead at the break.
"This is the first game we've played halfway to our potential," said Paul, who also had 5 steals and 4 blocks. "I kept getting open shots and I owe that to my teammates."
"(Paul) is a very explosive player," said Indians coach Jake Krause. "We didn't handle the ball very well. We gave them a lot of runouts due to our poor passing."
Warren experienced its own offensive difficulties in the second half, but the Blue Devils' lead was never fewer than 14.
Tayler Erbach finished with 10 for Warren.
Matt Hunter led Pontiac (7-6) with 11 points.
-- Kevin McGavin