Lyons Township erupts!
Stunned Oswego crushed
By Drake Skleba
With six minutes left in the third quarter, things did not look good for undefeated Lyons. Trailing Oswego 45-29 the Lions (10-0) decided enough already.
LT outscored Oswego 30-3 to close out the third quarter and 50-14 over the final 14 minutes for a 79-59 run-away quarterfinal win.
Trailing 45-29 with six minutes left, senior F Dan Lalonde (19 points, seven rebounds) scored followed by five points by super-sub Spencer Mahoney, who hit a lay in, got a steal and then added an old-fashioned three-point play.
"This was a team win," said Mahoney. "I do whatever I can do to help us win."
The unbelievable run was on. More help from the LT bench came from senior G Jordan Hester, who scored six points in the run and nine for the game.
Six-foot-5 senior Justin Phipps (13 points, eight rebounds) scored six in the outburst.
"We wanted to keep our undefeated record going and really played well in the second half," said Phipps. "We had our top players in foul trouble and I had to step up and do a good job for the team. I told the team that I had their backs and that I would do the job."
Lalonde exploded for 11 points in the quarter and 17 for the half. Senior G Jimmy Stamas scored 10 points and had three steals.
"We really started playing defense and we were very aggressive offensively," said Lalonde. "It was really great to turn things around and play so well. Everybody played great and that helped me to get a lot of layups in the second half."
Lyons head coach Tom Sloan summarized the amazing come-from-behind win.
"In the last quarter and a half we made a concerted effort to come back and get this big victory," he said. "We fed off our defense and then we really got on a roll. Spencer Mahoney and Jordan Hester were instrumental in the win and Dan Lalonde had a huge second half."
Oswego was led by senior F Andrew Ziemnik who scored 17 points and had seven rebounds. Panther senior G Kenny Jones chipped in with 10 points.
