Joliet's Shoemaker slams door on Sandburg
By Drake Skleba
Joliet (13-3) appeared to be well on its way to a perfect 4-0 mark in the Southwest Suburban Conference Blue Divison with a 50-35 lead over Sandburg with 5:10 left.
But poor free throw shooting, and a stifling Sandburg defense that caused numerous turnovers, cut the Steelmen's lead to 54-50 with 37.4 seconds left. Time out Joliet.
Joliet responded with 6-foot-6 senior guard Anthony "Shoe" Shoemaker, who took the inbounds pass and went coast-to-coast for a slam against a Sandburg defender.
Shoemaker was fouled and nailed the old-fashioned, three-point play for the Steelmen, who were about to head back to Joliet with a huge road victory.
"This was a tough environment and we were struggling down the stretch," said Shoemaker. "I had to step up and make a play to help. I took it to the basket and finished off the three-point play by nailing the free throw."
Joliet led 19-15 after one quarter. Freshman G Morris Dunnigan (nine points) had seven first quarter points to kick start the visitors.
Joliet led 28-22 at the half. The Steelmen defense held Sandburg (10-5, 2-2) to only seven second-quarter points.
In the third quarter the Steelmen "D" began to assert itself. Joliet led 42-30 entering the fourth quarter.
"I thought the key part of the game was in the second and third quarters when our defense held Sandburg to only 15 points," said Joliet head coach Luke Yaklich.
Shoemaker (17 points, seven boards) and 6-foot-4 senior Brian Byrd (15 points, 10 rebounds) put on a show early in the fourth quarter to further build the lead.
But Sandburg rallied behind 6-foot-4 senior G Vince Kmiec (17 points, five rebounds, three steals) and 6-foot-8 sophomore C D.J. Bennett, who scored 15 points and hauled down 17 rebounds.
Bennett had eight points and eight rebounds in the final stanza. Kmiec, who also is a tremendous shortstop for the Eagle baseball team, scored 10 fourth-quarter points.
"This was a pretty challenging game," said Joliet's Byrd. "We did a fine job on defense tonight and picked up a victory in a very tough place to play. I did a great job tonight, except at the free throw line."
Joliet received some help from arch-rival Lockport (10-6, 2-1) in the conference race. The Porters posted a 50-44 win at Bolingbrook (9-5, 3-1) Friday.
The Steelmen now sit alone atop the Southwest Suburban Conference Blue Division standings.
