Normal Community High School Advances To Tourney Championship After Rematch With UHigh

From the Pantagraph:

BLOOMINGTON — Anthony Beane nearly had his third straight 30-point game Thursday night in the State Farm Holiday Classic. The Normal Community High School guard finished with 27 in a Class 3A-4A semifinal game at Shirk Center.

But while NCHS coach Dave Witzig said the Illinois State recruit is clearly “playing at a very high level,” the story of the Ironmen’s 47-39 victory over University High came at the other end of the floor.

NCHS held U High to 28 percent field goal shooting while avenging a 73-42 loss to the Pioneers in the season-opening Intercity Tournament. The victory advanced the eighth-seeded Ironmen (10-2) to Friday’s 5:10 p.m. championship game against surprising No. 15 seed Springfield.

“We had to play a lot better defense this time,” Witzig said. “The last time they just tore us to shreds. We really talked about getting better ball pressure and knowing where their shooters were at.

“Our defense at the Intercity Tournament was not where we want it to be. Tonight was the kind of defense we have to play if we want to win.”

NCHS, ranked No. 8 in the Class 4A state poll, held U High to 4 of 19 shooting in the first half while building a 25-12 lead. Beane had 17 first-half points and finished 12 of 22 from the field.

Six-seven junior Trevor Seibring added 10 points and nine rebounds, while Beane grabbed eight boards.

“They’re not an easy team to play,” Witzig said. “It’s the tallest team we’ll play all year. That’s a good win for us.”

U High (9-3), the No. 5-ranked team in 2A, whittled the deficit to 31-27 after three quarters. The Pioneers were within 39-35 with two minutes left, but a dunk by Beane and two Seibring free throws gave NCHS breathing room.

Six-seven sophomore Keita Bates-Diop and senior guard Kyle Morris had eight points each for U High.

“You have to give Dave and Normal a lot of credit. They came out the first half and gave us a forearm shiver in the first three minutes and our kids never adjusted to it,” Pioneers’ coach Bob Fitzgerald said.

“I didn’t think we played well at all tonight. That’s as much a credit to how physical Normal was and how hard they played. We didn’t counter it with hard play of our own and physicality of our own.”