Kaneland falls to Morris in 2 OTs
It took six quarters of basketball for the Morris Redskins to execute an offensive play they really felt good about Friday night and it vaulted them to a 46-39 double-overtime win over host Kaneland.
Morris forward Kjeld Torkelson finished the sharp offensive set with a driving layup to open the second overtime and break a 35-35 tie, firing his team into a second gear in the process.
"I think we actually got a good bucket at the beginning of the second overtime and that pumped us up and got us going on the defensive end," said Torkelson, who tied teammate Josh DeGraaf for game-high scoring honors with 16 points.
Morris (12-7, 3-2) was able to finally put away the Northern Illinois Big 12 East division clash by hitting six free throws and getting another inside bucket by center Danny Friend in the second extra frame.
The free-throw statistic line had its own bizarre twist as the Redskins hit 14 of 29 in the game, both making more and missing more free throws than Kaneland even took at 5-of-8 for the night.
"We go side-to-side (on offense), and not north-to-south to the basket," Kaneland coach Brian Johnson said. "That's why we don't get to the free-throw line as much, and it makes it very hard."
Offense ended up being very hard for both teams, as they took turns firing blanks. Morris scored only 4 points in an opening quarter in which it had no rebounds and three turnovers, while Kaneland (9-7, 3-2) scored only 2 points in the second quarter by shooting 1-of-8 from the floor and committing seven turnovers. It all added up to only a 16-13 halftime lead for Morris.
Morris coach Joe Blumberg was baffled by it all.
"It was a tough ballgame to grasp right now, because you had two teams that can actually score quite a bit, but there were a lot of empty possessions," Blumberg said. "I don't know if it was better execution for us or the shots were finally starting to fall, but we did go to the glass more in the second overtime."
Even though Morris enjoyed a considerable edge at the free-throw line in the game, the Redskins missed 7-of-10 in a fourth quarter in which their only 3 points were at the line.
It allowed Kaneland to send the game into overtime at 33-33 by scoring only 7 points, with 5 of those coming from freshman guard Drew David to erase a 30-26 deficit going into the final frame.
The first overtime ended in a 35-35 tie as Kaneland scored on a driving layup by freshman Daniel Helm (8 points), and DeGraaf answered for Morris with his own drive to the basket.
The Knights had an agonizing sequence in the waning seconds when Tyler Callaghan missed a baseline runner, and Chaon Denlinger (team-high 9 points) had a tip-in attempt go in and out with 1.8 seconds left.
David tried to keep Kaneland close by knocking down a pull-up jumper with 1:12 left in the second overtime to move the Knights within 38-37, but Morris began to assert its power inside down the stretch for inside baskets or drawing fouls to get to the line.
"We were handling their pressure better than we did at the start," DeGraaf said of Morris' ability to hold on. "That was our focus, to execute as a team rather than do our own thing."
Kaneland enjoyed a slight rebounding edge at 29-26, but Blumberg gave the Knights credit for keeping the scoring totals down.
"They kept us off the offensive glass," Blumberg said. "When you are not shooting well and not rebounding, you are going to see scores in the 30's and 40's."
Johnson was happy with his team's effort again, but knows there is work to do on the offensive end.
"We worked hard," Johnson said. "When you hold a team to 46 points in two overtimes, you hope to win the game, but we have a hard time when they take away our first options.
"We have to work at it and take the best shot, not the first shot," Johnson added. "Our players are smart and they know what needs to be done."