Win over Westmont special to Lisle
For a Lisle Lion there is perhaps no finer win than a win over Westmont.
The Lions boys basketball team got it done against their fiercest rival, beating the host Sentinels 43-38 Monday in the first round of the Class 2A Westmont regional.
After splitting two regular-season meetings No. 5 seed Lisle (14-14) used momentum from a Feb. 1 victory over the No. 5-seeded Sentinels to surpass them.
“It feels really good, especially since it was against Westmont at Westmont,” said Lisle point guard Cody Monson.
Lisle’s 34-19 rebounding advantage, including 14 offensive boards, plus a clutch 3-pointer by Jonny Parrillo aided that momentum.
“I think it’s a really difficult thing to come into this gym and win a regional game against Westmont,” said Lisle coach Mark LaScala, rewarded with a 6 p.m. Wednesday semifinal against No. 1 seed IC Catholic Prep.
“I just think the rivalry plays into it and we know each other very well. We were in enemy territory. I thought our kids controlled the tempo most of the night.”
Nip and tuck through the first and second quarters despite Lisle’s Lamont Ross and 6-foot-5 Jeremy Glavanovits pacing an 18-7 rebounding edge by halftime, Lisle led 27-23 entering the fourth quarter.
Westmont (15-13), led by senior Jean Pietrzak’s 24 points, surged to tie at 35-35 with 2:17 left to play on a pair of free throws by Pietrzak’s younger brother, Greg.
On a shot LaScala said “separated it,” Parrillo, a senior guard, swished a 3-pointer from the top of the key. That spurred a Lions 7-point mini-run for a 42-35 lead with 22.2 seconds left.
“It was intended to go to Lamont,” Parrillo said of the play that set up his big basket. “He was supposed to go to the basket. I set a screen for him, I come up, and they had a defensive mental lapse and I was wide open. That’s my role on the team, is to shoot 3s. I just had a wide-open 3 and I felt it.”
Jean Pietrzak, who scored 20 more points than Westmont’s second-leading scorer, Kris Pierce — LaScala’s defensive goal was to hold the rest down — converted a three-point play with 7.9 seconds left, but Lisle had its win.
Monson scored 10 points and Ross led Lisle with 15 points and 11 rebounds.
“That’s what I came out here to do because I know rebounds play a big part in the game,” Ross said. “That was our main focus.”