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DEKALB — Junior center Jeffrey Hassan was at it again for Kaneland, flirting with his usual double-double and more as a shot-blocker extraordinaire. But he continues to expand his game.
Thank goodness.
It’s hard to miss the 6-foot-9 Hassan on the court, especially when he plays all 32 minutes. And with a trip to the Class 3A state semifinals in Champaign on the line, there he was.
“We’ve been working toward that all season,” said Hassan, who would eventually be guarded on a key play by a 6-4 senior forward. “I knew I could finish it over a smaller defender.”
And that’s exactly what he did in the final seconds Monday night.
Hassan went down the lane and sank a game-winning layup over Morton’s Silas Steffen, lifting the unbeaten Knights to a 49-47 win in the Class 3A NIU Supersectional at the Convocation Center.
Hassan finished with a game-high 17 points and nine rebounds and added six blocked shots for Kaneland (35-0), which advances to play at 10 a.m. Friday in the state semifinals at the State Farm Center against Deerfield (24-11), a 51-36 winner over Wheaton St. Francis.
Senior point guard Marshawn Cocroft, who also played all 32 minutes, added 16 points and senior guard Evan Frieders had 11 as the Knights reached state for the first time since 1981-82.
Senior guard Owen Adams scored 14 points to lead the Potters (30-5), who had a 47-23 rebounding advantage but committed 19 turnovers to Kaneland’s 12.
Could Hassan, who celebrated his 17th birthday Monday, have been overlooked on the final play?
Maybe.
“We saw that they were doubling Marshawn on the plays before that,” Kaneland coach Ernie Colombe said. “So we wanted to go inside to Jeff.”
Colombe called timeout with 5.2 seconds remaining after Morton forced a 47-47 tie on a rebound basket by Collin Burns with 26.1 seconds left.
Senior guard Jalen Carter, who had three steals for the Knights and drew two offensive charges, inbounded the ball to Frieders. He then fed Hassan for his game-high fifth assist.
“We kind of cleared out with cutters and Evan made a nice post feed and Jeff did the rest,” Colombe said. “It was just these guys executing at the end.
“They’ve worked real hard for years, and it’s just cool to see them get the chance to have a dream come true. Our goal is to keep on going.”
Leo (28-6) and East St. Louis (31-4) meet at 11:45 a.m. Friday in the second semifinal in 3A. The third-place game will be at 7 p.m. Friday. The championship game will be at 4 p.m. Saturday.
Cocroft has experience at state, starting for Aurora Christian as a sophomore when the Eagles took fourth place in Class 1A.
“I know how it feels,” he said. “I’m glad to get to go down again and glad for my teammates who will get to have this experience as well.”
Kaneland struggled at the start Monday, trailing 10-0 before pulling within 14-13 on Cocroft’s 3-pointer to end the first quarter. The Knights, who led 26-23 at halftime, were down 39-38 entering the fourth.
“Taking away these guys as hard as they do, they’ve got to double Marshawn, double Jeff in the post and a lot of other guys get open,” Frieders said. “I had to do what I could.”
Frieders’ baseline layup at 3:20 of the first quarter was Kaneland’s first score.
Kaneland has been down early before, though.
“Morton’s a good team and they hit shots,” Colombe said. “We just had to weather that storm and fight back. We weren’t going to lose the game 10-0. We were 34-0 coming in for a reason.
“We beat whoever was on the schedule so far, and our goal is to win again. It’s about us being the best version of ourselves. That’s what we focus on.”
Hassan’s blocked shots, meanwhile, also made a difference.
“When you’re driving, you’re always thinking about it,” Adams said. “There’s a chance of getting it blocked off the backboard. It’s always on your mind. He’s really athletic. It’s hard to get around him.”
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Thank goodness.
It’s hard to miss the 6-foot-9 Hassan on the court, especially when he plays all 32 minutes. And with a trip to the Class 3A state semifinals in Champaign on the line, there he was.
“We’ve been working toward that all season,” said Hassan, who would eventually be guarded on a key play by a 6-4 senior forward. “I knew I could finish it over a smaller defender.”
And that’s exactly what he did in the final seconds Monday night.
Hassan went down the lane and sank a game-winning layup over Morton’s Silas Steffen, lifting the unbeaten Knights to a 49-47 win in the Class 3A NIU Supersectional at the Convocation Center.
Hassan finished with a game-high 17 points and nine rebounds and added six blocked shots for Kaneland (35-0), which advances to play at 10 a.m. Friday in the state semifinals at the State Farm Center against Deerfield (24-11), a 51-36 winner over Wheaton St. Francis.
Senior point guard Marshawn Cocroft, who also played all 32 minutes, added 16 points and senior guard Evan Frieders had 11 as the Knights reached state for the first time since 1981-82.
Senior guard Owen Adams scored 14 points to lead the Potters (30-5), who had a 47-23 rebounding advantage but committed 19 turnovers to Kaneland’s 12.
Could Hassan, who celebrated his 17th birthday Monday, have been overlooked on the final play?
Maybe.
“We saw that they were doubling Marshawn on the plays before that,” Kaneland coach Ernie Colombe said. “So we wanted to go inside to Jeff.”
Colombe called timeout with 5.2 seconds remaining after Morton forced a 47-47 tie on a rebound basket by Collin Burns with 26.1 seconds left.
Senior guard Jalen Carter, who had three steals for the Knights and drew two offensive charges, inbounded the ball to Frieders. He then fed Hassan for his game-high fifth assist.
“We kind of cleared out with cutters and Evan made a nice post feed and Jeff did the rest,” Colombe said. “It was just these guys executing at the end.
“They’ve worked real hard for years, and it’s just cool to see them get the chance to have a dream come true. Our goal is to keep on going.”
Leo (28-6) and East St. Louis (31-4) meet at 11:45 a.m. Friday in the second semifinal in 3A. The third-place game will be at 7 p.m. Friday. The championship game will be at 4 p.m. Saturday.
Cocroft has experience at state, starting for Aurora Christian as a sophomore when the Eagles took fourth place in Class 1A.
“I know how it feels,” he said. “I’m glad to get to go down again and glad for my teammates who will get to have this experience as well.”
Kaneland struggled at the start Monday, trailing 10-0 before pulling within 14-13 on Cocroft’s 3-pointer to end the first quarter. The Knights, who led 26-23 at halftime, were down 39-38 entering the fourth.
“Taking away these guys as hard as they do, they’ve got to double Marshawn, double Jeff in the post and a lot of other guys get open,” Frieders said. “I had to do what I could.”
Frieders’ baseline layup at 3:20 of the first quarter was Kaneland’s first score.
Kaneland has been down early before, though.
“Morton’s a good team and they hit shots,” Colombe said. “We just had to weather that storm and fight back. We weren’t going to lose the game 10-0. We were 34-0 coming in for a reason.
“We beat whoever was on the schedule so far, and our goal is to win again. It’s about us being the best version of ourselves. That’s what we focus on.”
Hassan’s blocked shots, meanwhile, also made a difference.
“When you’re driving, you’re always thinking about it,” Adams said. “There’s a chance of getting it blocked off the backboard. It’s always on your mind. He’s really athletic. It’s hard to get around him.”
Continue reading...
