Indians fall to Porters in first-round of PHT

By Erich Murphy

Bingo Magic Sports

Pontiac’s hopes of advancing into the major bracket of the 94th Pontiac Holiday Tournament were dashed as Lockport posted a 65-44 victory in the opening round Monday night.

Every team would like to get in four games in a tournament such as this. Pontiac will still have that opportunity, even though losing in the first round was disappointing.

“We wanted to win the game, we knew it was a good test,” PTHS head coach Matt Starker said. “We had moments where we showed we can compete with teams that are good and bigger than us.”

The Indians came into the contest off a loss to Lincoln on Dec. 23. Starker knew it was going to be a difficult task facing Lockport, who came in with two losses. This was evident by the Porters’ length and shooting.

Lockport’s Trace Schaaf grabs a rebound in front of Pontiac’s Cayden Masching, left, and Anderson Horning during thei first-round game at the 94th Pontiac Holiday Tournament Monday. (Erich Murphy/Bingo Magic Sports)

“We let their zone throw us off a little bit and we settled for outside shots,” Starker said. “We weren’t taking it to the hoop.

“We made that adjustment, we were going to the hoop, getting to the line more and it made a little bit of a difference.”

The Porters locked into range in the middle two frames, outscoring the Indians 23-11 in the second quarter and 19-11 in the third, extending their 9-7 lead after one period to 51-29 by the start of the last stanza.

“We didn’t make enough shots,” Starker said. “Going against a longer team, we have to figure out ways how not to let that dictate how we play.”

Lockport (9-2) was 27 of 50 (54 percent) from the field for the game, while the Indians (8-2) were just 13 of 43 (30 percent).

Amazin King makes a move to the basket for Pontiac. King scored 12 points to lead the Indians’ offense in a 65-44 loss to Lockport. (Erich Murphy/Bingo Magic Sports)

Amazin King led the Tribe with 12 points. Anderson Horning chipped in 8 points and Evan Wolf came off the bench to add 8. Cayden Masching scored 6 points while Aden Brummell collected 5 points and 8 rebounds.

Kajus Zubelis led Lockport with 18 points and 7 rebounds. Trace Schaaf added 16 points, Nojus Venckus netted 11 points and Nedas Venckus threw in 10 points.

Pontiac’s Anderson Horning drives against Lockport’s Gavin Anderson in Monday’s holiday tournament game at PTHS. Horning had 8 points in the Tribe’s 65-44 loss. (Erich Murphy/Bingo Magic Sports)

Pontiac was to meet Danville in the consolation quarterfinals. Lockport was face Curie in the major quarterfinals.