Strong Second Half Powers LW East Past Lemont

Lincoln-Way East boys basketball coach Rich Kolimas feels comfortable when senior point guard Michael Thompson is running the show on the court.

"Michael is our captain," Kolimas said. "He's steady. He knows exactly what I want when I call something out and is a good communicator. He's level-headed, can handle the basketball and can shoot the basketball. He's solid defensively and is just a great all-around player for us."

Thompson is a third-year varsity starter and is a big reason the Griffins are off to a 2-0 start this season after finishing 9-17 a year ago. He scored a game-high 13 points Tuesday to lead Lincoln-Way East to a 53-35 victory over Lemont in the Lincoln-Way North Pheast of the Phoenix Tournament.

The Griffins are 2-0 in pool play after beating Thornton Fractional South 68-43 Monday and will conclude pool play with a game against Lincoln-Way North Wednesday.

"I try to give my team offense when we need it," Thompson said. "I try to get all my teammates in the game and be the best point guard I can be out there. We're playing hard. We're going to be way better than last year. We're going to surprise a lot of teams."

Lemont (1-1) enjoyed a 24-20 halftime advantage, but Lincoln-Way East opened the third quarter on an 11-0 run to jump ahead 31-24 and led the remainder of the contest.

Jaelan Jones (9 points, 4 rebounds) scored six points during the burst for the Griffins. Jones' twin brother Jeremy Jones helped seal the win with six of his eight points in the fourth quarter. He finished with three steals and two rebounds.

"When you play in the Thanksgiving Tournament, you're not used to playing back-to-back (games) yet," Kolimas said. "We didn't have any energy and we were flat in the first half. We were looking for a spark. We started pressuring them a little more and that helped and Jeremy Jones played a nice game again and got us going with some transition hoops."

Lemont trailed 17-14 in the second quarter, but senior Jeff Gurrister came off the bench to score eight straight points, including a pair of 3-pointers, to spark a 10-3 run to close the first half.

The Indians weren't able to overcome the Griffins' run to begin the third quarter, despite getting as close as 37-33 in the fourth quarter.

"Give credit to Lincoln-Way East; I thought their defensive intensity was better in the second half," Lemont coach Rick Runaas said. "They were more active and got in the passing lanes. We didn't handle it especially well and we didn't shoot the ball well at all (12-for-39, including 5-for-20 on 3-pointers). I think we're just going to get better as a team."

Lemont was led by junior Paulus Otruskevicius (10 points, 2 rebounds), Bill Luzzo (8 points, 2 rebounds) and Gurrister (8 points).

Otruskevicius is a transfer from St. Joseph.

"We came out ready to play in the first half," Otruskevicius said. "The second half we didn't execute and didn't respond well to their pressure. I just come out ready to score, get rebounds and play defense. It's been a transition transferring to Lemont, but it's going well. It's a different style of game and I'm getting used to it. I expect a lot from this team. We have a whole lot of talent."

Otruskevicius is averaging 12.5 points and 4.5 rebounds with his new team.

"He's going to be a solid player for us," Runaas said. "He's still trying to get acquainted with everyone and knowing where he fits on the team and what his role is. He's doing fine."

Lincoln-Way East also received key contributions from Jelani Yancy (8 points, 6 rebounds, 1 steal) and Matt Spudic (8 points, 2 rebounds, 1 steal).

"We've worked hard," Kolimas said. "Last year we only had a couple seniors, so we played a lot of guys and took our lumps. Hopefully, we've learned from that. We've faced adversity and have become stronger. Hopefully, we'll have a good showing this year."