Plano ends Kaneland's season

Defeating a conference rival in a boys basketball season three times is never easy.

Kaneland had its opportunities Wednesday evening in the second semifinal of the Class 3A Plano regional.

But it was not to be, as host Plano overcame both an inordinate number of turnovers and serious foul issues to beat the Knights 61-48.

Plano (23-9), the fourth seed in the Rockford Boylan subsectional, will seek its first regional championship in three years against second-seeded Hampshire on Friday night.

Seventh-seeded Kaneland had its season close at 16-14.

The final score was truly deceiving as Kaneland twice cut its multiple double-digit deficits to three points late in the fourth quarter.

But the Reapers, the Interstate Eight champion, took advantage of a series of late Kaneland breakdowns to end the game on a 10-0 run.

Robbie Taylor and Patrick Johnson powered a balanced Plano attack, as the two seniors shared game-scoring honors with 16 points apiece.

Sophomore guard Mason Accidentale was the third Plano starter in double figures with 13 points.

Johnson drained a 3-pointer and scored in the open court on consecutive possessions during the second quarter as part of a 14-2 run that propelled the Reapers to a 29-22 halftime lead.

Plano had a peculiar first half as Kaneland forced 15 turnovers, and both Taylor, a 6-foot-6 forward, and 6-8 post Griffin Cross missed considerable minutes with foul trouble.

Taylor was a force inside defensively with four first-quarter blocks before also retiring early in the second quarter with a second foul.

But Kaneland squandered a golden opportunity to tighten the game at the start of the third quarter.

The Reapers were once again highly vulnerable due to five team fouls in the first three minutes.

The Knights, however, went 1-for-6 from the free-throw line during the span.

Plano eventually held Kaneland to seven total points in the third quarter.

"We just didn't take advantage of their mistakes," said Kaneland senior guard Will Cushman, who led the Knights with 15 points. "We couldn't take advantage of when their bigs were out."

Porter Conroy added 12 points for Kaneland and Brett David 9.

Plano ended the game in dominant fashion by scoring 10 consecutive points after Cushman scored on a putback with one minute, 54 seconds to play.

"I felt like we talked a lot on defense to close out the game for us," Taylor said.