Panthers advance to super-sectional
PEKIN – The offense has gotten most of the attention for the O’Fallon basketball team this season, but Friday night provided another example of how good the Panthers’ defense can be.
After giving up four 3-pointers to Normal Community in the first quarter, O’Fallon allowed only two more treys the rest of the game in posting a 60-42 win over the Ironmen in the title game of the Class 4A Pekin Sectional. The Panthers (29-2) advance to play Joliet Township at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday in the Normal Super-Sectional at Redbird Arena. Joliet defeated the host team 59-55 Friday night in the championship game of the Homewood Flossmoor Sectional.
“The whole plan was to stop No. 32 (Anthony Beane) and No. 12 (Kevin Bischoff) from shooting, so we just had to get up and play harder defense on all of them,” said O’Fallon senior Shane Watson.
“We just keep preaching to our kids that a game is 32 minutes and four quarters,” said Panthers coach Rick Gibson. “Teams are going to make shots and they’re going to do things well early. Our thing is to just keep wearing them down and those shots that they get in the first quarter aren’t going to fall later on in the game.
“We weathered the storm. You’ve got to keep your poise and I thought we did. After that first quarter, the defensive effort the next three quarters was outstanding.”
Normal’s final trey of the first quarter, by Chase Robbins, gave the Ironmen a 15-11 lead. But a 9-0 O’Fallon run, capped by two free throws from Charles Joy, gave the Panthers a 25-20 halftime lead. Normal didn’t score for the final 6 minutes 12 seconds of the first half.
“To beat a team like O’Fallon, we have to have great possessions every time and Roosevelt Jones got a bunch of steals just like he’s done all year,” said Ironmen coach Dave Witzig, whose team finished the season at 22-10. “They get the ball and they’re a great fast-break team.
“They had a great game plan tonight. We had 10 losses and two of them were to O’Fallon. We’re happy with what we did and they’re a good team and we hope they do well.”
A basket by Jones, off a pass from Joy, extended O’Fallon’s lead to 35-24 midway throughout the third quarter. Normal pulled within six points (39-33) on Kevin Bischoff’s 3-pointer at the end of the quarter.
O’Fallon, though, wasn’t about to let the Ironmen get any closer. Two free throws by Chevaughn Lawrence made the score 50-36 with 4:23 remaining in the fourth quarter.
Jones led O’Fallon with 18 points while Watson and Lawrence added 15 and 13 points, respectively.
“It was very important,” Watson said of the Panthers’ balance. “Although ‘Rose’ still had 18, we needed other people to step up for us and it helped us win.”
The Panthers held 6-6 Ironmen senior Nathan Haynes to 10 points. He was the only Normal player in double figures.
“He had a good game against us last time when we played them and we did a great job on him,” Gibson said. “(John) Bouquet guarded him most of the game and the few times he went out, Roosevelt guarded him.”
“We had some good looks in the first quarter but I felt we took some crazy shots in the second quarter that turned into fast breaks for them,” Witzig said. “Once they got the bigger lead, we had a tough time.
“When it was 39-33, I felt pretty good. We weren’t playing great but we were still within striking distance. But they went on a 21-9 run to the end the game and you don’t win all those games without being good like they are.”
O’Fallon had only six turnovers, including one in the second half.
“If you’re getting shots most trips, you’re going to have some success,” Gibson said.
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