Boys Bi-County Championship: Laville ends long tourny drought with a nailbiter

It’s hard to believe that Chicago Cubs fans and Laville Lancer fans have had something in common for 41 years.   An inability to win a Championship.  That all changed after Saturday nights 50-48 win over the John Gleen Falcons to win the Bi-County Championship.  A feat not accomplished by the tournament hosts since 1974.

Laville’s Blake Berger decided from the opening tip that he was going to make a difference in the ballgame early and in the end.   Berger scored nine of LaVille’s first 11 points of the ballgame.  He finished with 25 pts by nights end.

“I just wanted to win this thing.  The Bi-County is a big deal around here.  Not just for us players, but for the entire school, family and friends.  This game was huge for us.”, said Berger after the win.

Glenn got off to a slow start in the first half, yet was down by just 9 at the half.

“I’m not worried about being down at halftime.  It’s not our nature to quit despite how poorly we may be playing.  In this case, we struggled shooting in the first half, we need to make some shots and rebound better in the second half”, said Glenn Coach Travis Hannah at halftime with his team trailing 26-17.

Hannah’s statement held true as Glenn climbed back into the game despite early in the third quarter, LaVille had its biggest lead, 30-17.  Jacob Strong scored eight of his 22 points in the third quarter. Drew McDonald had five of his 13 points in the fourth quarter and, with 4 minutes left in the game, Glenn cut the LaVille lead to two.

The Falcons actually had a big chance for the win with 25 seconds left in the game and LaVille leading by two,  Lancer guard Adam Steinke was stripped of the ball.   As the clock dwindled, the Falcons experienced a brief spurt of confusion, with an errant pass, resulting in a desparate shot well off the mark that ended the game.

Rebounding was a big difference maker in this game.  The Lancers finished with 31 rebounds, 18 offensive, which matched Glenn’s total rebounds for the game.

Blake Berger, who has a 3.95 GPA,  along with a laundry list of service activities – was selected as the male winner of the W.B. Hawkins Award for citizenship.  The final honor was not surprising as he was chosen the tournament’s most valuable player.  Berger came up big with 25 points on the night.

“I’m just so proud of these guys.  They got the lead, I didn’t like that we almost lost it, but I knew Glenn was going to come at us, especially in the fourth quarter.  We just kept doing the little things at the right times that it made the difference.   This is a big win in for our school and our community.”, said Micheal Edison, Lancer Head Coach.

Laville (12-3) faces Rochester at home on Jan. 27th.   Glenn (10-4) will host Knox on the 30th.