It Takes Two For JCA

JOLIET – The first basket of overtime Tuesday night was a classic scramble play. Junior center/forward Adam Janusz-Lancaster dove for a loose-ball rebound and, from the floor, found Shakar Washington.

A junior point guard, Washington drove the baseline and dished to his cutter, junior guard Keith Craig. And Craig’s layup gave the Joliet Catholic Academy boys basketball team its first lead of the game, 39-37.

The reaction: priceless.

“If you could have seen me, I screamed ‘yeah’ at the end,” said Craig, whose back was turned to the audience when he converted. “I was just happy to get the basket, and we had the momentum from there. I think we started to settle down, we got a few easy buckets and we got a few easy baskets.”

All year long, coach Joe Gura’s Hilltoppers have refused to settle for less. The payoff came during overtime in the Student Activity Center against Aurora Central Catholic, with JCA capping a thrilling comeback from a 35-25 deficit with 1:54 left in the fourth quarter for a 52-41 nonconference victory.

Riding the overwhelming will of junior forward Ryan Peter, JCA (5-13) outscored the Chargers 23-3 over a 5-minute, 8-second stretch to take a 48-38 lead with 46 seconds remaining in OT. Aurora Central Catholic (7-11) had gone on an 8-0 run over a 5:58 span in the fourth to grab the 35-25 advantage.

“It’s a signature victory for this group,” Gura said. “I’m so proud of them. We played hard, and we’ve been playing this way all year. These kids never quit, and the thing that I admire about them the most is they never quit. You know, you have to be in it to win it, and with their effort, we are always in it.”

Fans on both sides were in for quite a show, beginning with the 6-foot-3 Peter banking home a feed from Janusz-Lancaster with 1:37 left in the fourth. Peter scored 12 of his game-high 26 points in the final 97 seconds, including a game-tying 3-pointer with two defenders draped on him at 0.7 seconds to play.

“It was an adrenaline rush,” Peter said. “My teammates did a great job of getting me the ball, I felt good on the shot and I was hoping for the best. I couldn’t get anything to fall earlier, but at the end, everything started to go. Shakar was penetrating, getting us good looks, and Craig started scoring, too.”

“Massive,” Gura said of Peter’s three. “And Craig’s play in OT was huge for us – absolutely huge.”

On this night, 11-1 qualified as a huge run, and JCA kicked off the extra session in that fashion. After Craig’s strike, Washington followed with a layin and Peter scored on a Washington lob for a 43-38 edge.

After a pair of free throws by Peter, junior guard James Ragen, Washington and Peter nailed single free throws for the 48-38 lead. Craig clinched with four straight freebies as JCA shot 9-of-12 at the line in OT.

“We had our backs against the wall,” said Craig, who scored 6 of his 11 points in OT. “We knew that we had to keep the ball in our possession, get the fouls, get to the free-throw line and knock them down.”

NOTES: Peter recorded a double-double by pulling down 11 rebounds. He also had 4 steals and ended up shooting 6-of-12 from the floor, with 4-of-6 in the second half and OT … Free-throw line leaders for JCA were Peter at 12-of-14, Craig at 5-of-8 and junior forward Ira Hughes at 2-of-2. The Hilltoppers hit 67.6 percent (23-of-34) … ACC shot only 27.8 percent from the floor (15-of-54), hampered by 4-of-26 on threes, and added a minimal 7-of-14 from the line … JCA outrebounded ACC 37-34 … Washington complemented the Peter-Craig combo with 7 points, 7 assists and 5 rebounds, while junior center Sean Chamberlin landed 6 rebounds … Ragen contributed 5 rebounds and sank a 3-pointer … The Hillmen trailed 9-4 after one quarter, 16-14 at halftime and 27-24 heading into the fourth. There were three ties.