O’Fallon 48, Lockport 45
PEORIA—Bruce Durham, Lockport’s 5-11 guard, isn’t the best shooter or the best athlete on the team. But for the past three seasons, he’s been the heart of the Porters’ program, helping them grow from a fledgling eight-win team into a 22-win squad that came within one shot of playing on the last day of the season.
So it’s only fitting that Lockport’s fate rested in Durham’s hands. He had two shots to tie the game, a floater in the lane with 15 seconds to play and a three-point shot from the top of the key with three seconds left on the clock. Neither shot would drop as O’Fallon defeated the Porters 48-45 in the first state quarterfinal at Carver Arena in Peoria on Friday.
The Porters trailed most of the game before roaring back in the fourth quarter with an 11-0 run to take the lead.
Sexauer led the Porters (22-8) with 14 points and Durham scored 13. The team shot only 35 percent from the field.
The Panthers (27-7) only made two jump shots in the entire game. The first was a three by Mike Malat with 1:58 to play in the third quarter. The second was another three from Malat with 28 seconds to play that put O’Fallon ahead 47-45.
The Porters were expecting O’Fallon to try to work the ball into the post and were unable to adjust.
Jared Woolfolk led the Panthers with 16 points. Leverette finished with 14 and Brad Copelin, a 6-7 senior, added 12 points and eight rebounds.
Brian Bradley, Lockport’s leading scorer, was held to just seven points and seven rebounds. He didn’t score until late in the third quarter.
The Porters turned the ball over 18 times, leading to 19 points for O’Fallon.
