No. 6 North Lawndale rallies past East Aurora
By Drake Skleba
No. 6 North Lawndale overcame a late eight-point deficit to overtake host East Aurora 76-72 in the marquee matchup of the first Tomcat HoopFest Saturday.
Led by 7-foot senior center Paul Bunch and 6-foot-4 senior forward Jermaine Winfield, the Phoenix closed out the game with a 12-0 run that erased a 72-64 disadvantage.
Bunch just missed a triple double with 27 points, 13 rebounds and nine blocks. Winfield scored 25 points and hauled in 13 rebounds for the Phoenix.
"Lately I have been missing triple doubles either by a rebound or a blocked shot," said Bunch. "Coach Thorpe was staring at us and later said to pick up our defense. We did and got this big victory. I played hard and had a solid game tonight."
With 3:29 left in the game, East Aurora senior guard Snoop Visor picked up his third steal and fed junior sensation Ryan Boatwright. The huge crowd rose to its feet in anticipation of the emphatic slam dunk to come. Boatwright did not disappoint. The junior's super slam gave the host Tomcats the aforementioned 72-64 lead with 3:26 to go in regulation.
Unfortunately for East Aurora it would be the last points the Tomcats (11-7) scored in the game. North Lawndale showed why it is a favored contender to win the Class AAA State Championship in 2010.
With 3:11 left Bunch nailed two free throws to make the score 72-66. Winfield scored with 2:27 to close the gap to 72-68. Senior guard Hiram Moss buried a trey with 1:50 left to bring the Phoenix within 72-71.
With 47.9 seconds remaining Winfield's sensational reverse layup while fouled gave the senior gunner a chance for an old-fashioned, three-point play. Winfield nailed the freebie and the Phoenix led 74-72.
"I forced some shots early," said Winfield. "Overall I played very well tonight especially down the stretch in the fourth quarter.
"We kept our poise down the stretch and picked up a good win. We play most of our games on the other team's court, so we are pretty used to winning on the road."
East Aurora was fouled with 33 seconds left. The Tomcats missed the front end of the one-and-one and North Lawndale rebounded the miss.
Then the Phoenix (15-4) ran their patented delay game to perfection with a little help from the officials. With 20 seconds left it appeared the Phoenix turned the ball over on a traveling violation. The official explained to Wendell Jeffries, East Aurora head coach, that possession was never obtained by the Phoenix guard thus no violation.
The Phoenix delay game continued until 1.4 seconds remaining when the officials finally whistled a foul on the Tomcats. Junior guard Garrett Taylor hit both foul shots and this game was in the books.
"We practice our delay game every day in practice," stated North Lawndale head coach Lewis J. Thorpe. "It was amazing that East Aurora could not foul us.
"Jermaine (Winfield) and Paul (Bunch) have been leading us all season. This was a great victory against a quality team. East Aurora's Boatright is a sensational player and I love to watch him play. Snoop Visor was just shooting the lights out on us."
East Aurora's dynamic duo of junior Boatwright and senior Visor put on a great show for the homefolks in the heart-breaking defeat. Visor led the Tomcats 24 points, which included five three-point bombs.
Boatwright, who was shut out in the first quarter, ended with 21 points. The sensational junior added 10 rebounds and three steals to complete another fine performance.
