STREATOR — A usual play gave Pontiac the lead for good but it was the play of freshman Amazin King that was really the difference as Pontiac topped Streator 61-56 in a Class 3A Streator Regional semifinal Wednesday at Lowell “Pops” Dale Gymnasium.
“When we fell behind 10-1 right out of the gate, that would have been, for a lot of teams, disastrous,” PTHS head coach Matt Kelley said. “But this group believes in what we're doing. We don't get rattled and that's a testament. It's fun to win pretty but it's fun to win ugly, too.”
This group is very experienced, and it showed down the stretch. Pontiac reached the Elite Eight last year and the three senior starters were key in that run. They were also key in keeping the Orange-and-Blue in the game.
“We knew they were going to come out with a big crowd, that's what happened last time,” Riley Weber said. “Once we hit that first wave and brought it back and took the lead we knew it was over.”
Weber was the leading scorer for PTHS on the night and is now the leading scorer in school history. He broke Ryan Weir's mark of 1,634 with two free throws with 33.8 seconds to go in the first half.
But his scoring, though important, wasn't as key as a single late in the third period or the play of King, particularly in the fourth period.
“I got (my) 1,000th point last year in the regional, so it was big to get it off the chest and get back to the game,” Weber said. “It's a good feeling.”
The key play came with 4.1 seconds remaining in the third quarter. Kerr Bauman came off a screen and drained a 3-pointer. Henry Brummel, who set the screen, was knocked off his spot by Streator's Matt Williamson and a foul was called.
Brummel hit the two free throws to complete the five-point play that gave Kelley's Heroes the lead for the first time in the game, at 44-43.
Brummel got a steal a minute into the fourth quarter and fed King on a break away for a basket and Pontiac began to inch away.
PTHS was able to keep the lead the rest of the way because of the defensive effort, especially from King.
“He turned the game defensively,” Kelley said. “He did a real good job on (Christian Benning). In the fourth quarter, he was able to take the ball out of his hands and it was a huge turning point in the game.”
Benning finished with 18 points to lead Streator, but he only had three in the fourth quarter, including a basket that came when the game was no longer in doubt.
“He definitely stepped up,” Weber said of King. “Christian Benning is heckuva player and Amazin did his job guarding him. He probably deserves player of the game.”
“I always play defense, that's what I bring,” King said.
The win didn't come easy. It seemed like every time the Amerinds would get close, the Bulldogs would pull away. Streator led 10-1 early but it was 14-13 after Brummel's 3-pointer just seconds into the second period.
Streator (23-9) was up 25-16 with four minutes to go in the first half, but PTHS cut the margin to 25-23 on Weber's historic free throws. The Bulldogs led by as many as eight (40-32) with 2½ minutes left in the third only to see Pontiac go on an 11-3 run to end the period with a 44-43 lead.
“It was a struggle to get the lead but once we did, we were going to find a way to get this done,” Kelley said.
Weber finished with 17 points to pace Pontiac (20-10) and now has 1,647 and counting for his career. Bauman added 16 points and Brummel tossed in 12. King chalked up 7 points, Riley Johnson scored 6 and Cam Fenton tallied 3 markers.
“All we were focused on was finding our way back home,” Kelley said. “In the postseason, all you have to be is one point better and all we want to do is find a way to get back home for the sectional.”
In order to play a sectional game at home, Kelley's Heroes will need to get past top-seed Kankakee Friday night. The Kays rolled past Morris 57-31 in Wednesday's first semifinal game.
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