JOLIET -- The final score of the Friday night matchup between the two pool champions in the Provena Saint Joseph Medical Center/WJOL Radio Thanksgiving Classic will go in the books as Lockport High School 40, Romeoville 30.
But that does not begin to tell the tale. For the rest of the story, take a look at Dmonte Hopkins.
The 6-foot-3 junior forward, in his first season at Lockport after transferring from Bolingbrook, converted what amounted to a five-point possession with around 3 minutes remaining, first getting the Porters even and then putting them ahead to stay.
From that point, all the momentum went Lockport's way.
In a game where neither side could mount a consistent offense, Romeoville went ahead 28-24 on Earl Bell's traditional three-point play with 4:14 remaining.
Lockport's Jake Boyce answered with an 8-foot jumper at the 3:17 mark, and after a Romeoville turnover, Hopkins stepped into the spotlight.
He missed an easy shot from inside, and so did teammate Landon Gamble. On a third chance, Hopkins, who played 23 minutes off the bench, grabbed the rebound and scored to tie it 28-28 with 3:07 to go.
He missed the free throw, but Gamble rebounded. The Porters got into their offense, Hopkins had the open look from deep at the left sideline and buried the 3-pointer for a 31-28 lead.
Romeoville took quick shots and then fouled as Lockport scored its last nine points from the free throw line.
"This really feels good," Hopkins said with a smile. "I came to Lockport, which is a real good program, to try to better myself.
"My shot wasn't falling tonight (he was 2-of-9 from the field but led the Porters with 11 points and 8 rebounds). But my dad was there in the first row, right where I shot the three from, and he was telling me to keep shooting."
Besides Hopkins earning the MVP award, Gamble was named to the all-tournament, as were Romeoville's Bell and Demarius Miller, Providence Catholic's Jack Burchett and Plainfield Central's Winston Williams.
Romeoville (2-1) and Lockport set up what amounted to an unofficial overall championship game when both when their first two tournament games. But if you were expecting offensive fireworks, it never happened.
Miller scored 8 of his game-high 13 points in the third quarter, helping Romeoville ease ahead 23-22 after trailing 14-13 at halftime. Before he hit two straight shots to end the third quarter, Romeoville was 3-of-23 from the field.
And leading.
The Spartans would finish 7-of-34 for 20.6 percent.
"You hold a team to 40 points, I would like to take a chance on winning every one," Romeoville coach Jeff Bambule said. "Lockport did a good job defensively, but we were far from being patient offensively. We made it easy for them to play defense.
"Even when they had that flurry that turned the game around in the fourth quarter, it was as much a result of our rushed shots as anything."
Thompson said a key for Lockport was getting Romeoville to play a half-court game.
"We saw them in their two earlier games, and we knew we had to limit their run-outs," he said. "We did a good job of that."
But despite Romeoville's deficiencies from the floor, Lockport could not pull away until late as the Spartans' switching zone defenses took their toll.
"A team that changes defenses makes you adjust," Lockport coach Lawrence Thompson Jr. said. "We just wanted to attack, so we wound up taking bad shots instead of investigating the inside."
Romeoville was staying in the game thanks to free throw shooting. The Spartans were getting to the line much more often than the Porters for most of the night, and they were hitting a respectable percentage.
"We cut down on our fouls in the second, and I'd like to credit our kids with sticking to the game plan in the second half," Thompson said. "We did not panic when we were down.
"I was really encouraged by our offensive effort in the second half."
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