Orris helps Warriors stop Leo in OT

Ask Mike Orris and he'll tell you that he was confident his Crete-Monee Warriors would find a way to beat Leo in the McDipper Tournament at Rich South on Tuesday night.

"I never thought for a second we would lose that game," he said minutes after his Warriors escaped with a 62-57 overtime decision over the Lions in a quarterfinal game.

Ask Warriors coach Matt Ryndak and although he would praise his team's fortitude in the game, he admitted "this was not a masterpiece."And then he would begin to tick off the problems the Warriors overcame to reach a semifinal match Wednesday against Hales.

Fouls (23) forced Ryndak to manipulate his bench down to an 11th player. His squad made only 12-of-20 free throws and if that wasn't enough, the Warriors lost starting guard Kentrell King in the second quarter when he suffered what the coach feared was either a broken bone in his left hand or at best a bed sprain.

So the brunt of the work went to senior Jamee Crockett, who scored 18 of his game-high 20 points in the second half and the overtime session, and Orris, whom Ryndak says is "the glue" on his team.

An appropriate phrase for a gritty 6-3 junior who added 14 points along with a team-leading seven rebounds and six of his team's seven assists.

Although Crete-Monee held the lead for most of the game, it was never able to shake off the pesky Lions (8-2). The Warriors' lead was never more than three points for most ofthe fourth quarter. Leo's Sean Moore sent the game into overtime when he canned a free throw to tie the game at 50 with 19 seconds left.

Leo's last gasp came when Maurice Joiner (15 points) tied the game at 57 with two free throws with 1:26 left. Crete-Monee (8-1) scored the last five points of the game, all on free throws.

Paul Beene led Leo with 17 points, including three three-pointers. The Lions outrebounded the Warriors 33-25, but hurt themselves with turnovers, thanks to a harassing pressure defense by the winners.

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