Boys Basketball: Lockport holds off Lincoln-Way East in OT

Updated: January 24, 2012 9:42PM

Even after a dominant first half, Lockport coach Lawrence Thompson Jr. wasn’t surprised that it took his team two overtimes to secure a 56-52 at Lincoln-Way East in a SouthWest Suburban Blue game Tuesday night.

“Not really,” he said. “This place is a hard place to play and hard place to win. I don’t expect anything.”

Lockport (12-6, 3-3) had a 12-point halftime lead disappear and had to rally to force overtime. Courtney Cole (22 points) had two baskets in the final 35 seconds of regulation — tying the game on each occasion — for the Porters.

East, which looked out of sync offensively the entire first half, outscored Lockport 18-1 in the third period. Jelani Yancey (18 points) keyed 70 percent East shooting with three three-point baskets and 10 points for the period. But he played only a few minutes of the first half because of foul trouble.

“We fought adversity and handled it,” East coach Rich Kolimas said. “But I’m sorry it took so long to come out of it.”

The Griffins (7-10, 0-6) had early problems with Lockport pressure, whether it was traps at midcourt or when Lockport extended it to the backcourt. East had eight turnovers in each of the first two periods and converted just five field goals.

Cole and Brandon Sawin had a steal and layup on consecutive plays late in the first for a 14-6 Lockport lead. The Porters controlled the rest of the half.

Lockport closed the half with five points in the final seconds when Cole made a three and Kyle Ward a buzzer-beating layup off an inbounds steal. That gave the Porters a 28-16 halftime lead, which seemed much bigger the way they were playing defense.

But that was before Lockport missed all 10 of its field-goal attempts in the third period.

“But the kids still played hard defensively. We worked hard to get back,” Thompson said.

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