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RAYMOND - It seemed like the North Greene Spartans had the game done and dusted after Blake Dean drained a three-pointer to give them a 42-22 lead in the semifinals of the IHSA Class 1A Raymond (Lincolnwood) Regional over the host Lancers.
Then, the home team caught fire.
Lincolnwood went on a 13-0 run that cut the deficit to 42-35.
It was looking like 2017 all over again for the Spartans after they fell at this hurdle to Carrollton 62-53. Luckily for them, they had learned and grew stronger.
North Greene responded by out-scoring the Lancers 21-6 the rest of the way to win 63-41 at Lincolnwood High School on Wednesday night. It was also the Spartans first playoff victory since they defeated West Central 55-45 in 2015. They improve to 23-5 and Lincolnwood’s season ends at 14-16.
“It’s a big weight off our shoulders because we’ve always wanted to get a postseason win since my freshman year,” Jonah Hopper said. “We’re just excited to move on and get this next win.”
Hopper’s twin brother Josh led everyone with 21 points, and Jonah was right behind with 19. Brett Whicker added eight.
Not only did Josh have a big night offensively, but he also held Lincolnwood’s best player, 6-foot-8 center Matt Mizera to six points for the whole game. It was also due to some handy help-defense as well.
“I was impressed with Josh’s defensive effort in the post,” North Greene head coach Brett Berry said. “We knew it wasn’t gonna be a one-man job. Everybody’s gonna have to help, and I think the weak-side did a great job of taking away those lob passes away.”
Both teams started off hot on offense, but it was North Greene that was definitely on top.
Lincolnwood had no answer for Jonah Hopper as he scored eight points along with Josh Hopper getting to the foul line. That forced Lancer head coach, Matt Millburg to call two timeouts.
“They started to get really tight on me so I knew that I could drive right on them. Nobody slid over, and I got to the rim easily,” Jonah Hopper said.
North Greene led 19-13 after the first quarter, and then the defense toughened up. Lincolnwood was adamant about getting Mizera touches inside and forced some in, but most often Josh Hopper or Justin Lawson was there to swat the basketball away. The Spartans allowed five points in the quarter and led 30-18 at halftime.
North Greene opened the second half up with a 12-4 run, but then came the Lancers as they were not about to roll over without a fight on their home court. They caught fire and made six straight baskets.
“Millburg got hot and hit some threes. The did some different things with Jonah, and as a team, we got a little frustrated,” Berry said. [Lincolnwood] is an up-and-down team where they have the possibility of playing well especially at home. Once we weathered the storm and got our heads back, we got back to what we were doing well.”
The Spartans will take on the West Central Cougars in the regional championship at 7 on Friday night. The Cougars defeated Carrollton 68-62 in overtime to advance to the finals and boast a 23-7 record. The two WIVC schools met up 13 days ago, and the Spartans pulled out a dramatic 70-69 overtime victory at home.
This will be the biggest game for the North Greene boys basketball program since 2015 when they last made it to a regional championship game in 2015 when the seniors were a freshman. Jonah and Josh Hopper were involved in that game, which the Spartans lost 57-31 to Carrollton.
It is undoubtedly the biggest game of their careers.
“Us and West Central in a regional championship over here in Raymond is gonna be a lot of fun. It’s gonna be a packed house,” Berry said. “Two heavyweights slugging it out!
