The players weren’t the same who won last year’s Lincoln-Way Tournament, but the results for Richards’ Bulldogs were. The 15th-ranked Bulldogs repeated as champions Wednesday with an 86-69 victory over No. 10 Morgan Park.
Junior Dwayne Wade, the tournament’s most valuable player, led the Bulldogs (11-1) with 33 points. Senior Lawrence McGhee scored 20 points and grabbed 10 rebounds and senior Desmond Altman, the only returning starter from last year’s team, added 19 points and six rebounds.
After Morgan Park (10-2) built an 18-14 lead, Richards closed the first quarter on an 11-0 run. Richards led 47-32 at halftime.
“There seems to be a time in every game, usually in the second quarter, where our press does major damage,” Richards coach Jack Fitzgerald said. “Once we get the 10- to 12-point lead, it is awful difficult to catch us because of the offensive skills of Wade, McGhee and Altman.
“We were worried about stamina going into the year. So far, it has probably been our biggest plus.”
The Bulldogs, leading by as many as 19 in the third quarter, put the game away on a big fourth-quarter play by Wade. With about 2 minutes left, Wade scooped up a loose ball in the Morgan Park frontcourt and sprinted for an uncontested slam dunk, giving Richards a 79-66 lead.
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The Mustangs got big contributions from center Imoniche Akhibi (25 points and 12 rebounds) and guards Vernon Dandridge (20 points) and Brandon Mason (15 points).
“Richards did a tremendous job,” said Morgan Park coach Herb Ray. “We fell too far behind in the second quarter to come back.”
In the third-place game, Leo (10-4) beat Lincoln-Way (7-5) on 62-58. Lloyd Jamerson lead the Lions with 24 points, while Jamal Thompson added 13 and Andre Brown scored 10 points. Tony Gabrione scored 22 for the Knights.
Marcus Morel scored 19 points and Rob Klemm added 10 as St. Charles claimed seventh place with a 58-41 victory over Kenwood. . . . Michael Rojas Jr. scored 22 points as Reavis rolled past T.F. North 52-33 for 11th. . . . Anthony Myles scored 22 points and Antoine James added 13 to lead Harper to a 49-39 victory over Roosevelt for 13th. . . . Calumet edged Southside Prep 56-55 for 15th behind 13 points from Quincy Hamilton.
Bloomington-Normal: Joe Tulley scored 31 points and converted all 14 of his free throw attempts to lead Rockford Boylan to a 70-55 victory over No. 12 Thornwood. . . . Brian Cook scored 28 points as Lincoln ran past Naperville North 66-54 to reach the title game. Phil Torres led Naperville North (10-1) with 17. . . . Jon Morris scored 36 points and grabbed 21 rebounds as Tinley Park (2-12) knocked off Princeton 71-61. . . . Marshall (6-7) routed St. Rita 63-36 behind 17 points from Orlando Burras.
Centralia: Carver took fifth place with a 56-41 victory over Champaign Central. Rodney Donley led Carver with 13 points.
Kankakee: Jason Dockemeyer’s jumper with :40 remaining proved to be the game-winner as Bradley edged Kankakee 48-46 for the Class AA title. Dockemeyer finished with 10 points and six rebounds. Jason Price led Bradley (7-3) with 16 points and 10 rebounds. . . . Joel Elam’s 19 points led Urbana (6-5) over South Shore 64-60 for the Class AA third place. Calvin Moore had 17 points to lead South Shore (8-5). . . . Brett Meyer scored 23 points and grabbed seven rebounds as Bishop McNamara (6-6) slipped by Milford 64-60 to claim the Class A title. Gabe Kirstein added 18 points and seven rebounds and Curtis Crossley contributed 16 points for the Fightin’ Irish. Eric Starkey led Milford (9-4) with 27.
Lemont: Vincent Martin scored 20 points as Providence (8-4) edged Burlington Central 69-67 for the Class AA title. . . . Montini (8-4) held off Lemont 61-54 for third place behind Pat King’s 16 points. Sarunas Skadis topped Lemont with 17 points and 14 rebounds. . . . Rick Struck’s 25 points lifted Westmont (10-2) to a 59-36 victory over Morris for fifth. . . . Graham Champman’s 27 points, nine rebounds and four assists helped Seneca (8-4) beat Oak Lawn 59-52 for seventh place. . . . Roosevelt Shegog (24 points) banked in the winning basket with 1.3 seconds left to give Momence (7-4) a 58-57 win over Neuqua Valley and the consolation championship.
Plano: Matt Hines scored 17 points to lead Coal City (12-0) to the title with a 53-38 victory over Sandwich. . . . Brad Korn scored 19 points and Ryan McCoy added 13 as Plano (9-4) won third place with a 69-56 victory over Yorkville. . . . Ryan Schrader (nine points) hit a three-pointer with 25 seconds left in the fourth overtime as Kaneland outlasted Byron 73-71 for fifth place. P.J. Fleck scored 38 to lead Kaneland (4-8), Matt Pendergrass had 29 for Byron (6-7).
Pontiac: Cameron Echols scored 21 points and grabbed 17 rebounds to lead No. 17 Simeon (13-2) to a 65-62 victory over Peoria Manual.
“We didn’t give up, we didn’t relax, the kids did what they were supposed to for 32 minutes, and that hasn’t happened a lot this year,” Simeon coach Bob Hambric said.
Jason Telford scored 14 points as Pontiac (9-1) held off Benet 58-55 in the third-place game. Matt Wilke’s 21 points led Benet (5-7). . . . West Aurora (8-4) outlasted East Moline 55-37 for fifth place with Monzell Townsend’s 12 points and 11 rebounds. East Moline is 10-3. . . . Oak Park (7-4) held off Warren 45-42 for the consolation title behind Dan Lucchesi’s 10 points. Langston Hughes’ 10 points led Warren (9-3).
Rich South: It wasn’t a surprise that Thornton and Bloom met for the title, but the less-than-spectacular records both teams carried into the championship game was.
Damien Morgan’s three-point play with :25 remaining proved to be the game-winner as Thornton (10-5) held off Bloom 61-58 to win the title.
“We wanted to get a shot off the pick-and-roll, but I found an opening in the defense, and I took it,” Morgan said.
Jonathan Woods led Thornton with 18 points. Buenie Green paced Bloom (7-4) with 20.
Five players, led by Edward Riddle’s 17 points, scored in double figures for Rich Central as the Olympians took third place with a 77-74 victory over archrival Rich South. Rich Central (8-5) took the lead in the third quarter, outscoring South 25-17. Derrick Murphy added 16 points and nine rebounds. The Stars (7-3) had a chance to tie the game in the final seconds, but missed three three-pointers in the final 10 seconds.
“That last possession seemed to take forever,” Rich Central coach Lee Boyko said. “I thought that buzzer was never going to sound.”
It was the fourth time the Central and South have met in the “Big Dipper” tournament with Central winning all four.
Jumanne Wise had 16 points and Maurice Pitts added 14 points and nine rebounds as Hales Franciscan (7-5) took the consolation title with a 62-42 win over Eisenhower. Chicago Vocational (8-6) defeated Hinsdale South 46-44 behind Steve Holden’s 16 points and 11 rebounds. . . . Steve Callahan scored 17 points and grabbed 10 rebounds as Hinsdale Central (6-6) downed Rich East 62-41 for third place in the consolation bracket. . . . Jim Westerberg had 14 points as Shepard (4-8) nipped St. Laurence (6-9) 49-48 for fifth in consolation play.
Rockford: Brandon Parker’s 16 points paced Rockford Jefferson (10-2) in its romp over Antioch 53-31 for the title. Brian Soldano (6-6) led Antioch with 11 points. . . . Eric Brauer’s three-point play with 3 seconds remaining was the game-winner as Grayslake (9-4) won third place with a 54-52 victory over Rockford Harlem. . . . Matt Bochenek scored 20 points and Sneed Deaderick 15 as De La Salle (9-5) routed Rockford Lutheran 70-51 to take fifth place.
Wheeling: John Fetter scored 28 points as Stevenson (12-1) knocked off defending champion Maine West 89-85 to claim the title for the first time since 1990. Peter Ogilvie added 20 points and 11 rebounds for the Patriots.
Aris Ventura hit a jumper at the buzzer to lift Niles North (5-7) over Loyola 60-59 for third place. Loyola’s Pete Stanton, who had 27 points, split two free throws with 4.7 seconds left, setting up Ventura’s heroics. Adam Koss’ 20 points led Niles North. Mike Stevens contributed 16 for Loyola (8-4).
Junior Steve Battisti (six points) made a three-pointer at the buzzer for Streamwood (8-5) in its 62-59 win over Naperville Central for the consolation crown. Tim Frick led the Sabres with 19 points. Tim Szatko had 26 for Naperville Central (8-5).
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