Youth Basketball: St. Giles boys team claims Village Tournament crown
By Rick Behren Contributor January 24, 2012 4:10PM
Ascension's Jensen Sorensen drives on Roosevelt's Keven Hellman, during the Third Annual Al Allen Village Tournament. | Jon Langham~for Sun-Times Media
Article Extras
Updated: February 27, 2012 8:29AM
For most of the first half in the championship game of the third annual Oak Park-River Forest Al Allen Village Tournament, it must have seemed like there was a lid on the basket for the St. Giles eighth-grade boys basketball team against Ascension last week.
The Lions had made just one field goal — a three-pointer by Pat Coffey (6 points) — in the first quarter and trailed the Chargers 9-4. Things looked even worse for nearly all of the second period.
St. Giles failed to score a single point in the frame, until a pair of free throws by Matt Benko with 1 minute, 37 seconds left before halftime ended an eight-minute scoring drought. But St. Giles’ Mike Ballard showed why he was selected as the tourney’s Most Valuable Player, scoring eight points in the final minute of the quarter, and finishing with 21 points and 11 rebounds in sparking the Lions to a 45-38 victory in the title tilt, held at the Oak Park-River Forest Field House on Jan. 17.
“I was just trying to do whatever I could to get us back in the game and get some points on the board,” Ballard said. “I was getting a little frustrated because we only had four points or so in the second quarter, but at least we were playing some defense and keeping (Ascension) close to us. In the second half, I started getting more open shots and hitting them, and passing to my teammates more so they could get some shots. I’m very happy we were able to come away with the championship. We’ll be talking about this for the next four years, and maybe more.”
Fortunately for St. Giles, Ascension wasn’t having any luck offensively either in the second quarter, as the Chargers could put only one point on the board as they fell behind 14-10 at the half.
Ballard retained the hot hand at the start of the second half, as he canned a long three-pointer before Ascension hit its first basket in over 12 minutes when Jason Atwood (10 points, 7 rebounds) hit a jumper with 5:10 left in the third quarter to make the score 19-12. The Lions jumped ahead 29-21 heading into the final period behind Benko (12 points, including 10 in the second half, and 5-for-6 on free throws) — an All-Tournament selection who sandwiched a trey between a couple of two-point baskets — and Coffey (6 points, 5 rebounds), who hit his second shot from beyond the arc.
It appeared St. Giles might coast to victory in the fourth, but Ascension quietly pulled to within three points with about a minute left to play.
Tony Gonzalez (9 points, 4 rebounds) hit a couple of key shots to keep the Chargers close, and Atwood drained a three to make it a five-point game with 1:50 left. Luke McMahon (7 points) scored his only points of the second half when he grabbed a rebound off a miss, made the putback and was fouled. His free throw cut the gap to 41-38.
After St. Giles brought the ball upcourt and had it tipped out of bounds, the ball was inbounded to Ballard, who had a clear path to the basket and scored on an easy layup with 30 seconds left. Benko sealed the deal when he sunk a pair from the charity stripe to put his team up 45-38.
“We snuck up and almost came back,” said Ascension coach Craig Shannon. “Giles was hitting big shots all game long. Their game plan depended on hitting three-point shots (seven in all), and I’ll be darned if they didn’t shoot the lights-out in the second half. We had good shots — we just didn’t make them. “We had their number in the first half and played some good defense, but give them credit. They hustled, they got the extra rebounds — they deserved to win. They were the better team (Jan. 17), and Ballard is just a great offensive player. He scores and scores and scores. We battled, cut it to three, but it was just one of those games.”
Jay Militello, another All-Tournament selection, chipped in four points for St. Giles — all in the fourth quarter — while All-Tournament selections Jensen Sorenson scored six for Ascension. Liam Shannon contributed five points and eight rebounds.
The Lions were 10-for-15 from the free-throw line, while the Chargers went 7-for-15.
“We won this on the defensive end,” said St. Giles coach Matt Kelly. “We were struggling offensively in the first half, but we were holding a very good team to very few points — and only one in the second quarter. Playing together and having confidence in each other also played a big role for us in winning this championship. We moved the ball around really well and locked up on the defensive end. It was a complete team effort. Everyone had their roles, and they put it all together during these three games.”
St. Giles’ road to the championship started with a 48-36 victory over Julian, before it just managed to get by Brooks 51-50 in overtime to reach the championship game. Ascension defeated Roosevelt 41-27 in the opener and then downed St. Luke 50-45.
Roosevelt won the consolation championship with a 53-9 victory over Julian, after topping St. Catherine 52-35. Julian edged St. Vincent 46-44 to make the final.
Comments Click here to view or make a comment