By Randy Whalen
For the Bugle
www.buglenewspapers.com
The Lockport Township boys basketball team still believes.
After getting off to a great start with records of 7-2 and 11-5, the Porters have hit a rough patch in the last three weeks.
Heading into a makeup game at Joliet Central on Monday, Feb. 11, Lockport (12-9) had lost four-of-five.
But there was a game last week that showed that the Porters believe they are back.
That was a 68-38 victory over Lincoln-Way East in a SouthWest Suburban Conference Blue Division matchup on Wednesday evening, Feb. 6 at Lockport.
The game was originally scheduled for the day before but was postponed 24 hours because of an impending ice storm.
That broke a 3-game losing streak for Lockport, all by double digits. The first two of those losses were to sub .500 teams, Plainfield South and Stagg.
So what turned it around against East?
“Our defense was awesome,” Lockport coach Brett Hespell said. “We had a game plan [to shut down the Griffin main scorers] and we executed it. I think this [resurgence] started in the second half of the Bolingbrook game. We got that moxie back. If I could bottle it up I’d sell it.”
That moxie was started by a 5-foot-5 senior guard, who is not known for his scoring. That’s Aaron Grcevic. With Lockport trailing by 29 points with a minute left in the first half on Friday, Feb. 1 at Bolingbrook, Grcevic scored eight straight points to help propel the Porters, who cut that deficit to 10 just over a minute into the fourth quarter before eventually losing 77-63.
That performance earned Grcevic his first ever varsity start five days later against East. He delivered by hitting a trio of 3-pointers and finishing with nine points.
“I’m always ready and I was ready [against East],” said Grcevic, who established a new career-high for the second game in a row with the nine points. “This was our team, this is the real Lockport Porters. This is how we play. We got our confidence back, our swagger back. Now we just have to steamroll forward.”
Hespell believes that Grcevic epitomizes what it takes to be a Porter.
“We have a theme of ‘uncommon’ and that’s Aaron,” Hespell said. “He’s always had the same attitude, the same commitment. That’s what he’s always been.”
In the win over East, the Porters looked the part that they had been for the first seven weeks of the season.
The Griffins actually scored first when junior forward Ryan Sierocki, who scored 15 of his game-high 17 points in the first half knocked down a 10-foot jumper 30 seconds into the game. But the Porters took the lead for good by scoring the next seven points. Ahead 7-6 senior guard Matt Hatzopoulis, who had a trio of trey’s in the first quarter, hit back-to-back 3-pointers to extend the lead to seven. Lockport led 18-9 after the first quarter.
It was 20-11 with 6:24 left in the first half, and that was as close as it got the rest of the way. Grcevic hit consecutive 3-pointers to put the Porters ahead 31-15 with 2:40 to play in the first half.
A 25-foot 3-pointer by Sierocki at the buzzer closed the Griffins within 32-19 at halftime. A free throw by senior forward Lemone Lampley II in the opening seconds of the third quarter closed the gap to 12 points. But senior guard Jake Karli (13 points) poured in eight points and Hatzopoulis scored seven in a 17-2 blitz for a 49-22 lead. East answered with a 9-0 run but the Porters led 52-31 at the end of three thanks to another 3-pointer by Grcevic at the buzzer. The score never got closer in the fourth quarter.
Senior center Tommy Halatek (9 points, 8 rebounds), along with senior guards Blake Sartin (7 points), and John Vassilakis (7 points) rounded out the balanced Porter attack. Lockport shot 11-of-23 from downtown and had 19 assists on 24 made field goals.
East (11-15, 3-5 through Feb. 9) lost two more times later in the week to extend its losing streak to six games. The Griffins won 75-66 at state-ranked Bolingbrook on Jan. 25 but hadn’t won since through the end of last week. They shot 14-of-48 from the field against Lockport.
Hatzopoulis announced on Feb. 5 that he was going to continue his basketball career at Illinois College. He was very happy with that and very happy to help the Porters get back on track against East.
“We had a rough two weeks and we needed to breakout again,” Hatzopoulis said. “This is who we really are. We weren’t playing like ourselves but this is normal. We are back on track. I’m just looking forward to playing the way we can. I think we’re the best team around here.”
Two days later Hatzopoulis led Lockport again with 14 points. But the Porters couldn’t continue their strong play in the second half and fell 74-57 to host Homewood-Flossmoor in another SWSC Blue game on Friday, Feb. 8.
Lockport (3-4 in the SWSC Blue) led early in the game at H-F, pulling out to a 16-13 lead after the first quarter. But the Vikings (18-5, 6-1) took a 32-27 halftime lead and pulled away from there. Hatzopoulis had 11 points at halftime, but was held to three in the second half. Senior forward Issac Stanback (22 points, 16 rebounds) and senior guard Maurion Scott (18 points) led H-F, which is ranked in the Chicago area and is tied with Bolingbrook for the SWSC Blue lead.
There was no time for the Porters to dwell on that loss. They were scheduled to play five games in the final week and a half of the regular season.
“We’ve got to be playing good down the stretch,” Hespell said. “It’s all about the journey. It’s about taking the good with the bad.”