Pontiac controls conference destiny after bumping off league-favorite Tolono
Knocking off a highly ranked team isn't new to Pontiac. Most of these guys were on the team last year when it knocked off top-ranked Prairie Central to win a sectional title.
So, it shouldn't come as a big surprise to see PTHS bump off third-ranked Tolono (Unity), which it did Tuesday 65-59 in a key Illini Prairie Conference game at PTHS.
“It was huge for us,” said PTHS head coach Matt Kelley. “Our goal is to win conference and this was a huge step into doing that.”
The victory moves Kelley's heroes into the driver's seat for the IPC crown with a 4-0 record and drops the league favorite to 3-1. The Rockets dropped to 19-2 overall.
“This one's huge, they were the favorites to win the conference,” PTHS senior Henry Brummel said. “We wanted this game and it's going to lead into Friday.”
Pontiac will travel to St. Joseph-Ogden for a makeup contest Friday. A win for the Orange-and-Blue will put all others in chase mode.
But this one wasn't easy, especially when scoring leader Riley Weber was having a rare off night. He managed just 7 points and had uncharacteristic trouble controlling the ball at times.
“We backed him up, we were able to step up,” Brummel said.
“This is definitely a 'team,'” Kelley added. “There's going to be off nights. Everyone is capable of scoring and the next guy has to pick somebody up.”
On this night, it was the duo of Brummel and Kerr Bauman. They combined for 45 points.
“We have to keep doing our part and be leaders,” Brummel said of the senior leadership, including Weber who contributed in other aspects even if his shot was not falling. “It will step into next year, too.”
Unity held a 19-16 lead after one period but the Tribe opened the second quarter with a 14-0 run and held a reasonably comfortable lead until late in the game. PTHS was up 37-26 at the intermission and pushed the advantage to 56-42 entering the final lap.
Tolono then started to heat up, scoring the eight points to cut the deficit to 56-50 a mere 75 seconds into the frame. The Rockets were able to cut the margin to one possession in the final minute when Henry Thomas made two free throws to make it 61-59 with 48.1 seconds remaining.
But Tolono never had a shot of even forging a tie. Bauman and Brummel each made two free throws down the stretch to seal the victory.
Brummel finished with 25 points and Bauman added 20 for Pontiac (14-9, 4-0). Riley Johnson tossed in 8 points, Weber scored 7, Cam Fenton added 3 points and Amazin King tallied 2 markers.
“The way the game kind of went, we had to handle the pressure and the physicality of the game and I thought our guys made enough plays,” Kelley said.
Thomas led Tolono (19-2, 3-1) with 21 points.
This article originally appeared on Pontiac Daily Leader: Pontiac boys basketball remains unbeaten in Illini Prairie Conference play
