Deflating the high-wire act

PONTIAC -- Lockport High School boys basketball coach Lawrence Thompson Jr. likes the variety of competition the Pontiac Holiday Tournament has to offer.

Case in point: Monday afternoon's 60-57 opening-round victory over Bloomington.

The Porters (6-0) had not played since beating Bolingbrook on Dec. 12. They were champing at the bit to get their Pontiac experience under way. And what should await them but D'Mitri Riggs, Bloomington's multi-talented 6-foot-3 senior guard.

Riggs drew the oohs and ahs from the crowd as he swished five rainbow threes in a 32-point performance. He and 6-4 senior forward James Monroe were the ringleaders in the Purple Raiders' exhibition of leaping out of the gym.

And still, it was Lockport which advanced to today's 11 a.m. quarterfinal against Gurnee Warren, the No. 2 seed in the tournament.

If successful, the Porters will be in Wednesday afternoon's first semifinal. If not, they will return for a 9 o'clock game tonight, hoping to earn a berth in Wednesday night's fifth-place game.

Riggs scored 11 of his points in the first quarter and 16 in the fourth, including a stretch where he had 11 straight. But Lockport junior forward Dmonte Hopkins scored 8 of his team-high 19 points in the fourth quarter, including 6 in the final 1:30, to help the Porters survive.

"He's a good player," Hopkins said of Riggs. "You have to have stamina to stick with a guy like him.

"Their team is athletic. They can jump, but the more you can get them off their feet, the more that opens things up for your shots."

Lockport senior guard Ryan Callozzo said of facing Riggs: "It was kind of weird. He was their whole offense. You knew he was going to get the shot one way or the other."

Riggs finished 9-of-24 from the field and 9-of-15 from the free throw line.

From an offensive standpoint, Hopkins, Callozzo and their teammates showed no ill effects from their long layoff. Hopkins hit 6-of-10 shots and all seven of his free throws. For good measure, he contributed 4 assists.

Callozzo made 6-of-12 shots in a 13-point effort to go with 2 steals and 2 assists. "Ryan is a two-year varsity player," Thompson noted. "We want him to continue to show patience the way he has been doing."

Junior post player Scott Stevens chipped in with 10 points on 4-of-7 shooting and a team-high 6 rebounds. He also notched 2 assists.

"We're comfortable that all our guys can play," Callozzo said. "We don't have a star player, and we don't have to have one."

As a team, the Porters connected on 23-of-44 shots, a 52.3-percent figure that belies the 2 1/2-week layoff.

"We executed better in the second half," Callozzo said. "We ran our plays better and tightened up our defense a little."

Lockport got off to a slow start, falling behind 12-4 and then 17-8 late in the first quarter after Riggs nailed three straight 3-point bombs. But Lonnie Pinnick scored the final basket of the first quarter for the Porters, and that provided a spark.

Callozzo hit consecutive baskets to open the second quarter -- the latter on a tip-in -- and then went behind the back to hit Landon Gamble for a layup. Stevens scored twice around a Callozzo 15-footer, and midway through the second quarter, Lockport was back even.

Bloomington scored all of two points over the final 5-plus minutes of the second quarter, and by halftime, Lockport led 28-24. The Purple Raiders led briefly twice in the third quarter, but a 10-0 Lockport run established a 43-35 lead early in the fourth quarter.

Largely because of Riggs' efforts -- and some pressure from the Bloomington defense -- the Porters found sewing up the victory anything but easy. Hopkins finally nailed it down when he hit two free throws with :04.9 remaining.

"Every day here at Pontiac is an experience," Thompson said. "This was only our sixth game this season. The meat of our schedule is coming up. We wanted to come here to get better. We feel we have to take advantage of the different styles, the different size teams, the individual talent that you face in this tournament.

"Riggs is a talented player. We weren't challenging him in the first half the way we should. We did a better job of that in the second half."