Lincoln-Way Central coach Brian Flaherty described the atmosphere at the Kankakee Holiday Tournament championship game quite well: “It’s a tough environment. Everyone is here to see Kankakee win. There wasn’t an open seat in the entire gym.”
Kankakee star Lincoln Williams felt the weight of all those expectations. It’s supposed to be a special season for the No. 3 Kays, and as the only Super 25 team in the tournament, it was assumed they would roll to the title.
“It is cool that everyone is so excited about us, but it can be bad,” Williams said. “Before the game everyone is saying there is no competition in the tournament. Expectations can be a tough thing. We have to make sure we focus.”
The Knights gave Kankakee a stern test. Cedric Terrell III made 1 of 2 free throws with six seconds left to give the Kays the lead and they escaped with a 54-50 win and the tournament championship on Sunday.
Flaherty wanted his players to foul on the key play that put Terrell at the line. Lincoln-Way Central had fouls to give. The Knights didn’t think Terrell was shooting when fouled, but the referees disagreed.
“Our kid did the exact thing we instruct them to do with a foul to give in that situation,” Flaherty said. “It’s unfortunate that decided it. It was a great high school basketball game, and it was unfortunate someone had to lose it.”
Kankakee (10-1) wasn’t able to force Lincoln-Way Central into turnovers and never got out running in transition. The Knights led 47-44 after a traditional three-point play by senior Alex Panos with 3:41 left.
Williams stepped up at that point with a rebound and three-point play of his own. Then he found Terrell for a three in the corner to put the Kays ahead 50-47. They never trailed again.
“That was chemistry,” Terrell said. “We have been playing together since we were five. I knew he was going to get downhill. They would help and he would kick it, and I would knock the shot down.”
Williams finished with 25 points and six rebounds. Terrell scored 14. Kenaz Jackson Jr. added seven points, and EJ Hazelett contributed five points, eight rebounds and four assists.
“In order to beat a team like ours you have to take care of the ball,” Pickett said. “[Lincoln-Way Central] did that. They made it tough for us. Usually by now we have played a team with that type of style.”
Panos led the Knights (10-3) with 18 points, and 6-6 junior Nick Brzezniak added 17 points and seven rebounds. Nolan Morrill scored nine.
Lincoln-Way Central’s very successful start to the season has surprised Flaherty.
“They are a really competitive group by nature,” Flaherty said. “They don’t get too rattled or too high or too low. And they seem to like the bright lights. They are very fun to coach.”
Kankakee is hoping to be the first boys basketball team in school history to advance to the state finals. Pickett believes things are on track one month into the season.
“We are where we want to be,” Pickett said. “We are the team we think we can be. But there are a lot of wrinkles we need to iron out before we get to the end.”