L-Way E. 'D' stymies L-Way C.

FRANKFORT -- The game may not have been the most productive offensive effort by the Lincoln-Way East High School boys basketball team this season.

But the Griffins' defense was a force as they stifled and stuffed Lincoln-Way Central 48-33 in the third-place game in the Medievial Classic on Tuesday.

East (7-4) scored the game's first 11 points and never looked back. During that opening surge, senior guard Cam Hill scored 6 of his game-high 21 points which helped the Griffins to an 18-4 lead after one quarter.

Hill shot 7-of-18. He was 3-of-8 from 3-point range.

"I was proud of how strong we started after Monday's tough loss to Plainfield South," East coach Rich Kolimas said. "I think that showed a lot of character by our players. We played hard right from the opening tip until the end. That was nice to see."

By halftime, the Griffins had built a 27-11 margin. East shot 41.7 percent (10-of-24) while holding Central (8-9) to 26.7 percent (4-of-15) shooting.

"When we get down by 12 or 14 points in a game, it becomes more difficult to stage a comeback," Central coach Matt Smith said. "That's because we don't have the type of team which goes on big scoring runs.

"But our players continued to fight and battle the entire game. East simply was the better team in this game tonight."

The closest the Knights would get in the second half was 35-22 on a basket by Larry McMullin with 2:32 remaining in the third quarter.

But East's Matt Marquez thwarted any comeback bid the Knights may have started.

The 6-foot-7 senior scored 13 of his 17 points in the second half. He shot 6-of-7 in the second half and finished 8-of-10. He had 4 rebounds.

"Matt was a dominant player, especially in the second half," Kolimas said. "He is doing a great job of sealing inside and the guys are getting him the ball in good scoring position. They got him the ball and Matt did the rest by finishing off most of those shots.

"I liked how we worked the ball around. We kept hitting the open person."

East led 37-22 after three quarters and was never seriously threatened in the fourth quarter.

Senior Eric Hockberger was the only Central player to reach double figures. He tallied 10 points. Junior Brad Bernhard scored 7.