Joliet, Plainfield N. roll to wins
By Drake Skleba
Joliet and Plainfield North won in large fashion Thursday at the 2009 Plainfield North Holiday Tournament.
The tournament field consists of host North (5-3), Joliet (7-1), Benet Academy (8-1), Lockport (5-3) and Lincoln-Way North (4-6).
The teams play a round-robin format which began Wednesday night and will conclude Saturday night.
In a battle of high-powered teams champing at the bit to break into the Premium Preps Sweet 16 rankings, Joliet used a 30-7 second-half run to swamp previously unbeaten Benet Academy 70-50. It was the Steelmen's first game in the tournament.
Joliet was led by 6-foot-6 senior G Anthony Shoemaker, who scored a team-high 19 points and hauled in seven rebounds.
Plainfield North (5-3) raced to an 11-0 lead to start the game and picked up an easy 59-37 victory over Lincoln-Way North. The hosts evened their tournament record at 1-1 after a 60-46 loss to Benet Wednesday.
Joliet 70, Benet Academy 50
For the first 16 minutes, Joliet and Benet Academy put on a quality performance in the opening game of the evening.
The first half had four ties and several lead changes. Joliet clung to a 28-27 lead at the half. Steelman Shoemaker warmed up with eight first-half points to lead the leaders.
Benet Academy's stellar 6-foot-1 junior G Dave Sobolewski led all scorers at half with 16 points.
Sobolewski (game high 24 points) buried his only points of the third quarter on a long-distance missle that tied the game at 30 with a minute and a half gone in the period.
Shoemaker answered with a three-point bomb of his own and then stole a Redwing pass and finished with a monster slam that put the Steelmen ahead 35-30. They never looked back.
Joliet added baskets from 6-foot-4 senior F Brandon Tyson, 6-foot-4 senior F Brian Byrd (nine points) and 5-foot-11 G Remy Roberts-Burnett (12 points, five rebounds) to complete an 11-0 run for the Steelmen.
"We didn't board well in the first half," said Roberts-Burnett. "We really played well in the second half and used our quickness to get this win. I thought I played a good game tonight scoring and rebounding.
"This is our third year together and we will have a great season."
Joliet coach Luke Yaklich identified the key of the game for his team.
"I told the guys if we could outrebound Benet, we would be able to outrun them and win," Yaklich said.
The Steelmen took a 49-37 lead into the fourth quarter on a three-pointer from Shoemaker.
"We have good chemistry together and are a family," said Shoemaker. "We feed off of our defense and really got on a roll from it. I did a good job tonight on the boards and had a productive night."
Joliet ended any doubt with another 11-0 run to extend their lead to 60-37 midway through the fourth quarter.
Yaklich added: "We adjusted very well at the start of the second half. We were not going to be denied. Benet Academy is a very fine basketball team and Sobolowski is a great player."
Benet Academy fell to 8-1. Six-foot-10 junior C Frank Kaminsky chipped in with seven points and four rebounds for the Redwings.
Plainfield North 59, Lincoln-Way North 37
Plainfield North started fast and never looked back in a 59-37 romp over Lincoln-Way North (4-6).
The winners were led by 6-foot-3 junior G Jack Krieger and 6-foot-6 senior C Scott Vachon.
The Tigers led 13-5 after one quarter. Vachon scored eight of the points. He finished with 10 points and five rebounds for the game.
"We had a downer last night," said Vachon of the loss to Benet. "It was the first time our group had ever lost two games in a row and we wanted to come out strong and play well. I was aggressive and picked up a number of offensive boards and scored points quickly."
Krieger (14 points) lit it up from the three-point line in the second quarter. The sharp-shooting junior nailed three treys, two of which came on successive Tiger possessions and gave the hosts a 28-9 lead. Plainfield North took a 34-13 lead to
the half.
"We played good basketball tonight," said Krieger. "I played well tonight and had a good game shooting the basketball. We are looking forward to playing Joliet tomorrow. They are a quality team."
In the third quarter Plainfield North head coach Nick DiForti was able to play a number of his bench players. The Tigers were never really challenged by young Lincoln-Way North.
"We really worked the kids hard in practice after school today," DiForti. "We did not play well against Benet last night and we wanted to be ready for tonight's game.
"We came out very well tonight, led by Scott and Jack. It is very beneficial for us to have our 6-foot-6 post player (Vachon) and our quality shooter (Krieger) playing well."
Lincoln-Way North was led by junior G Lance Payne, who scored a dozen points, and G Jack Harper who had seven points and five boards.
