The moment Newark’s come-from-behind 66-62 win over Kaneland was secure Monday, the Norsemen celebrated like they’d just won state.
And who knows? Maybe they did.
The Plano Christmas Classic quarterfinal win for the Class 1A school over a very good 3A Knights team could go a long way in propelling the Newark on an extended run come playoff time.
This one was big for these players, who looked up to the Norsemen on the 2011 state championship team. More important, though, was how they won, getting contributions from many unsung heroes.
Newark (11-1) rallied from an 11-point deficit and played the fourth quarter without team leader, 6-foot-6 senior Jack Clausel, on the floor. He fouled out of the physical game with 38 seconds remaining in the third quarter.
Kaneland had two players — Mitchel Groen and Jake Gomes — foul out in the fourth.
Dylan Vaca, who had a game-high 23 points, delivered a three-point play midway through the third quarter to give Kaneland (6-2) a 42-31 lead. The Norsemen whittled it to 44-39 entering the fourth as Steve McGrath took a pass from Mitchell Schmidt and drained a 3-pointer from the corner to beat the buzzer.
“When they made that 3-pointer, I knew it was a big, big shot, and I’m not sure that the kids really understood that,” Kaneland coach Joe Conroy said. “That was great coaching. They’d run it before and they executed it perfectly.
“As a coach, I learned we’ve got to learn how to control a lead and build a lead. I didn’t do a good job of taking it off the throttle a little bit and getting the exact shots we wanted. We took some bad shots.”
Newark, led by McGrath, sophomore guard Dylan Patrick and junior guard Will Clausel, then outscored Kaneland 27-18 in the fourth.
The Norsemen had success attacking the basket off the dribble. McGrath, a junior, finished with a team-high 18 points, senior forward Evan Schomer had 17, and junior guard Will Clausel added 11.
“Down 11, I just thought we were gonna gut it out,” Newark coach Rick Tollefson said. “We went with our full- court (press) and put it to them and let them know we wouldn’t go down without a fight.
“I just couldn’t be more proud of these boys to come back like that with Jack on the bench and Will Clausel playing with four fouls. Kaneland is an outstanding team.”
Patrick had only eight points, but sank a 3-pointer midway through the final quarter to extend a 51-50 lead. He also made 3-of-4 free throws in the final 95 seconds.
“Dylan is a stud. He grew up a lot (Monday),” said Jack Clausel, a four-year varsity player who has made the all-tournament team at Plano twice.
“This is the first time we’ve been to the semifinals since I’ve been playing. It’s nice to get over that hump.”
The game was tied 58-58, 60-60 and 62-62 before McGrath’s two free throws with 38 seconds left gave Newark the lead for good.
Ryan David added 11 points for Kaneland.
Newark will play top-seeded LaSalle-Peru in a 7 p.m. Tuesday semifinal. The Cavaliers was awarded a forfeit quarterfinal victory over Genoa-Kingston, which decided not to travel in the inclement weather.
St. Bede 43, Yorkville 40: Despite 13 points and 12 rebounds from junior forward DeAndre Manuel, Yorkville (7-5) couldn’t hold on after leading by six points early in the fourth.
That’s when guard Master Davis went to the bench with four fouls and the offense stalled. He returned with 3:55 remaining, but the Foxes couldn’t get on track and was outscored 11-3 in the final quarter.
Sandwich 52, Princeton 39: Jackson Smith had 11 points and Andrew Price added 10 off the bench for Sandwich (6-7).
Twitter: @RickArmstrong28
