Tolono outlasts Pontiac to claim IPC championship
- Erich Murphy
- 2 hours ago
- 3 min read
By Erich Murphy
Bingo Magic Sports
TOLONO — Pontiac entered Friday’s game against host Tolono (Unity) with a chance to do something that hadn’t been done in program history in more than 20 years — win a conference championship. The Indians’ hopes of bringing home that hardware were dashed as the Rockets posted a 77-65 victory in the Illini Prairie Conference finale for both teams.
The Tribe faced a daunting task. It had to play the game on the road and without one of its top scorers. Evan Wolf, Mr. Instant Offense, was left to sit the bench with a cast on his left wrist and hand. The sharpshooting junior’s return is expected next season.
Both teams entered the contest knotted at 8-0 atop the IPC standings. This was truly a title bout between heavyweights as Tolono came in ranked third in Class 2A and the Indians were ranked 14th.
With Wolf on the bench, PTHS was in need of finding a way to pick up the slack. This was difficult against a taller team that was equally active.
It was a little different because the rotation was different. Pontiac head coach Matt Starker pointed out that his team was ready when the ball went up.
“Going into the game, I don’t think it affected them,” Starker said of having Wolf out. “But getting into the game, some of those getting in earlier, they have to get used to it.”
The substitution pattern was different. Evinn Tracy, Bryce Robison and Durham Fenton got court time earlier than usual. But this didn’t seem to hinder the Tribe as much as some might have thought. The PTHS charges played hard.
This was evident from the start as the two teams battled to seven lead changes and four ties in the first quarter. Cayden Masching opened the scoring with a drive to the basket to give the Indians a 2-0 lead. Tolono scored the period’s final six points to take an 18-15 lead.
The effort was there for the Tribe. Where problems arose came in the form of shooting the ball. The Indians were 16 of 26 from the free throw line for the game.
There were also quite a few missed shots inside of 10 feet. Tolono’s height advantage played into that, but so did the misfortune of not getting the bounce or the roll.
“We missed a lot of layups, free throws,” Starker said. “They didn’t fall, unfortunately. Sometimes that’s the difference.”
For the most part, the Rockets were able to extend their lead to two and three possessions. But Pontiac kept hanging around. The Indians trailed 29-23 at halftime and 55-46 after three quarters. The not thing that stands out in those differences, and the one at the end, is how Tolono closed out each period.
A 3-pointer from Nolan Elliott with 35 seconds to play in the first half created the six-point margin. Four free throws in the last 43 seconds gave the Rockets a nine-point spread after three frames.
And, at the end, Pontiac trailed 66-64 with 1:30 to remaining but Tolono closed out the game with an 11-1 run.
And that is how championships are run. It is something Starker is hoping his team will learn.
“Big game, big moment, I think they’re going to learn from it and keep building their confidence,” Starker said of the team’s effort.
Amazin King led the Pontiac (19-6, 8-1) offense with 22 points and Masching was right behind with 20. Aden Brummel added 14 points, with nine coming in the first quarter.
Brayden Henry led Tolono (26-2, 9-0) with 18 points and Elliott added 15 as the Rockets had five players tallying between 9 and 18 points.
Pontiac’s final week of the regular season has matchups at home against Springfield (Sacred Heart-Griffin) on Tuesday and at Danville next Friday.
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