advertisement

Lisle ousted by IC Catholic

One never knows when a seed planted months before will suddenly bear fruit.

Lisle was cruising along in its up-tempo fashion when IC Catholic sprung a 1-2-2 press.

That slowed the attack, and though Lisle led at halftime, IC's inside-outside game produced a 45-point second half to end the Lions' five-game win streak and earn a 72-59 victory on Wednesday in a Class 2A Aurora Christian regional semifinal.

Advancing to a fifth straight regional final, No. 4 seed IC Catholic (13-14) will play No. 1 Aurora Christian for the regional title at 7 p.m. Friday.

"To be honest we haven't run that press very well most of the year," said IC coach T.J. Tyrrell. "But the kids were so fired up. In the intensity of the moment, they came to play. You practice it throughout the year and it finally clicks and they do the right thing."

Breakneck Ryan Gillen and inside battler Mark McGrath had No. 5 Lisle (17-13) up 16-9 after one quarter and 25-20 when IC applied the press, suggested by assistants Tommy Hart and Ed Kuprys. Lisle committed turnovers on five of its next six possessions.

"We're not used to turning the ball over," said Lisle coach Mark LaScala. "We turned the ball over less than 10 times a game and I think we might have had 7 or 8 in that second quarter. I think that really threw our kids for a loop."

Lisle led 31-27 at the half, overturned on IC's 6-point burst capped by Jordan Rowell's steal conversion.

Gillen and McGrath scoring for one side and IC's Austin Reed and Will Lyles for the other, two ties and five lead changes ensued before Lyles' putback had the Knights up 41-39 at 2:27 of the third quarter. They never trailed again.

"We just kept our composure, we stayed focused throughout the game," said Reed, who scored a game-high 25 points with 11 rebounds. "It was a pretty loud environment, people's nerves were pretty high, it's a regional game."

Two intentional fouls were called plus three technicals, one of which McGrath used to pull Lisle within 59-51 with 3:16 left in the game.

Lyles, who scored 21 points with 13 rebounds, scored the next 5 points to bump the lead to 13. The closest Lisle got was 66-56 with 1:02 to play.

The 6-foot-2 McGrath was in a bind guarding the leaping 6-4 Lyles and defended by wildly athletic Rowell. He finished with 21 points and 9 rebounds followed by Gillen with 14 points and Adalberto Gutierrez with 11, but IC outrebounded the Lions 42-22.

"I had to do it all year so it was nothing really new for me, guarding a big," McGrath said. "I would have liked to hold him to less, but it is what it is."

LaScala stressed that seniors Gillen, Gutierrez, Derrick Redmond and Nick Massura came a long way.

"Nick Massura went from four wins as a sophomore to 10 to 17, and those four seniors helped turn the tide of our program," LaScala said.

Article Comments
Guidelines: Keep it civil and on topic; no profanity, vulgarity, slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked. If a comment violates these standards or our terms of service, click the "flag" link in the lower-right corner of the comment box. To find our more, read our FAQ.