Lemanski leads Naperville North past Timothy Christian
When Marcus Lemanski initially tore the meniscus in his left knee a week before the Naperville North boys basketball season opener, he only hoped to somehow save his senior year.
"I was kind of expecting to be out the whole season," Lemanski said. "(The doctors) just decided that it wasn't salvageable and they took it out. The recovery time was shortened to 2-to-4 weeks."
In Lemanski's debut Wednesday at York's Jack Tosh Tournament, his 3-point shooting helped save the undefeated Huskies from a frustrating first half offensively.
Lemanski delivered 3s on three straight possessions during an electrifying third-quarter run in the Huskies' 50-27 second-round victory over Timothy Christian.
Naperville North (10-0) plays Batavia (9-2) in Thursday's 8 p.m. quarterfinal. Timothy (9-2), losing for the first time since its opener, meets Highland Park (5-5) at 7:30 p.m.
The Huskies ended the third quarter with a 16-0 run for a commanding 33-17 lead after trailing 15-12 at halftime.
"We were kind of working the ball inside and getting better looks, just more in rhythm," said Lemanski, who had 12 points on 4 threes.
"They were giving me the shot and (coach Jeff Powers) told me to take it. I was a little hesitant, first game, didn't shoot great in the first half (1 for 5). It really felt good to have that confidence from my coach and I just let it fly."
Senior Chris Johnson also contributed a monster third quarter and finished with 14 points and 12 rebounds. Senior Ryan Laurenzo added 12 points. Senior Brandon Orange led Timothy with 9 points.
In his ninth season as Naperville North's coach, Powers coached for the second time in three seasons against Timothy, where he was coach for 11 seasons.
Timothy greeted the Huskies with a box-and-one defense that kept senior Jack Hill scoreless after his 22-point performance Tuesday. The Huskies led 9-2 but then went scoreless for 7:16 and made just one of their last 18 shots of the first half.
"Good strategy by them, very smart. All we had to do was run the regular offense and we're fine," Powers said. "It was a good job by Marcus his first day back, hitting some 3s. We were a little bit out of sorts there, but thank goodness our defense kept us in the game."
Timothy's strategy wasn't as effective after 1-for-11 shooting in the third quarter.
"We defended about as well as we can defend a team that's as offensively gifted. We just kind of fought and battled. I was proud of our effort," Timothy coach Scott Plaisier said.
"They made some plays in that third quarter. (Johnson) starts banging down there and obviously with (Lemanski) coming in and making those 3s, that changed our game plan quite a bit."
The 6-7 Johnson was a force after sitting the second quarter with two fouls. Johnson's third quarter consisted of 4 points, 3 rebounds, 3 blocks and 3 assists, including back-to-back kickouts to Lemanski.
"(Sitting) helps getting a little bit of energy and we knew we needed it. We were down and we needed to survive and advance," Johnson said. "We've known (Lemanski), played AAU with him. We couldn't wait to get him back. It's great, another threat to have."
Naperville North junior standout Tom Welch will be available Thursday. He sat the first two games after returning from a family reunion.
Following the tournament, Timothy hopes to activate injured senior starter Nick Huisman, who hasn't played since Dec. 1.
The final hurdle for Lemanski playing was receiving the medical clearance Wednesday morning.
"It was hard to get an appointment around the holiday season," Lemanski said. "I could have been cleared (Tuesday), but I couldn't actually get my hands on that note."