Plainfield South makes title game
FRANKFORT -- Plainfield South High School won't get style points for its bruising 49-39 win over Lincoln-Way East in the Medieval Classic, but what the Cougars do get is a date in today's tournament championship game.
South (6-5) plays T.F. South at 7:30 Tuesday night at Lincoln-Way East while the Griffins (6-4) play at 4:30 p.m. against Lincoln-Way Central at East in the tournament consolation game.
The Cougars shot a disappointing 11-of-39, but they led at the close of every quarter finally pulling away from East with 1:43 to play in the fourth quarter. South led 41-39, but East had the ball looking to score. An East turnover at midcourt led to an easy basket that put South ahead 43-39. The Cougars converted 6-of-8 free throws in the last 49 to seal the win.
The Griffins trailed South 33-29 at the start of the quarter before Matt Marquez dropped in two free throws to make it 33-31.
The Cougars' Luke Gundersen dropped in two free throws to make it 35-31. East's Josh Pertler driving layup cut the lead back to two points before the Cougars answered with a bucket by Christian Davis and two free throws by Brandon Bonds to make it 39-33 with 4:13 left in the fourth quarter.
East's Zack Zegley dropped in two free throws with 1:43 to play to make it 41-39. The Griffins forced a South turnover and were playing for the tie when they turned it over.
Lincoln-Way East committed 21 turnovers, including 15 in the first half while falling behind by as many as eight points before rallying to close to 19-18 on a 3-pointer by Zack Zegley with 1:23 to play in the second quarter. South recovered to take a 23-18 lead into halftime.
The Griffins shot 26.3 percent (10-of-38). South committed 20 turnovers of its own, but managed to sink 27-of-37 from the free throw line to make up for its poor shooting.
Gundersen led all scorers with 17 points. Davis added 10 points for the Cougars. Marquez led the Griffins with eight points.
East lost starting center Jon Bartlett to a sprained left ankle midway through the first quarter. A trainer taped the ankle and Bartlett was using crutches to move around the gym the rest of the game.
