Bishop McNamara heartbroken by Bismarck-Henning in sectional finals

PEOTONE – Through eight minutes of Friday’s Class 2A Peotone Sectional championship game between Bishop McNamara and Bismarck-Henning, the Fightin' Irish couldn’t have dreamt a better start.

Powered by Trey Provost scoring the first eight points of the night and textbook defensive intensity, McNamara stormed ahead with an 18-2 lead by the end of the first quarter and looked well on its way to adding at least one more win to a season that’s set a new program high in victories.

But the Blue Devils, who missed their first eight 3-pointers of the night, kept at it, using their defense to fuel on offense that caught fire behind Keison Peoples and Chaz Dubois, who led the team to an improbable 52-49 comeback victory and sectional championship.

The Blue Devils improved to 34-1 on the year, tying the 2019-20 team for the most wins in program history, and advanced to Monday’s Joliet Central Super-Sectional against Chicago Dyett. McNamara’s season ended at 26-8.

“Tale of two halves,” Bishop McNamara head coach Adrian Provost said. “They’re kids. We played really well in the first half because guarding and playing defense was a priority. Then we started free flowing on offense and getting unengaged on defense.”

The Blue Devils quickly got it together in the second quarter, where they forced seven Irish turnovers to help trim their halftime deficit to 28-16.

And then Peoples took over.

After a tame four-point first half for the Blue Devils' leading scorer, the senior guard opened the second quarter on a personal 8-0 run that all came off of steals and points the other way, cutting it to a two-possession game at 28-24 on his steal and old-fashioned three-point play with 4:27 on the third quarter clock.

The Irish got their lead back to double digits with four Coen Demack free throws and a Karter Krutsinger bucket over the next 90 seconds, but by then, the Blue Devils had their confidence back, ending the quarter on yet another 8-0 run to pull within a point at 36-35 to start the fourth.

Blue Devils head coach Gary Tidwell, who boasted that Peoples “has a great basketball IQ, has a great competitive spirit, has the ability to create his own shot,” also said that the 8-0 run he opened the second half on are what shifted the contest, especially the first four points that came on two steals in the first 25 seconds.

“I would say that was the defining moment in the game,” Tidwell said. “We’re down 12 at half, get a stop on the first defensive possession and then he gets those two quick buckets, and it was just a grind.”

The Blue Devils took their first lead of the game when Peoples quickly got to the basket to give them a 36-35 lead 20 seconds into the fourth, a lead they’d never relinquish. Their lead grew to as large as six when Dubois' second-chance bucket made it a 44-38 game with five minutes left, but the Irish didn’t go down without a fight.

They got to as close as 50-49 on Cole Czako’s basket with two minutes left, and after Bismarck-Henning spent over a minute successfully avoiding McNamara’s double team attempts, saw Peoples bury a pair of free throws with 44 seconds left.

McNamara had 3-point attempts from Czako and Trey Provost come up empty, but as Bismarck-Henning missed its last four free throws, the Irish still had a chance with nine seconds left and the ball out of a timeout.

Off the in-bounds pass, Trey Provost bounced a pass in to Callaghan O’Connor, who quickly flipped it back and set a screen between the top of the key and the left wing. As Provost jump stepped behind the 3-point line at the top of the key, his foot landed on top of Peoples', forcing a desperation heave as he fell to the ground, one that came up short and sealed the deal on the Blue Devils' second-ever sectional championship.

For Tidwell, having to get a defensive stop to keep their state dreams alive was a bit ironic.

“We struggled all year to sit down and guard, wanting to guard, and tonight they had to,” Tidwell said. We made them earn every shot, we got a lot of deflections, and I think that was the key in the fourth quarter."

As they watched what was a promising start turn into a soul-crushing defeat, there was no shortage of emotion that emerged from the McNamara locker room postgame. But for coach Provost, there’s nothing to be upset about after a season that saw more victories than any other in program history.

“Nobody wants to win more than me, that person doesn’t exist,” Adrian Provost said. “But it’s just a game. What did we get out of it? We won a ton of games, we won three tournaments and a regional, and played for a sectional championship. I’d love to be playing Monday night, but it’s hard to be upset and mad.”

Trey Provost finished with a team-high 14 points to go along with seven rebounds, an assist and two steals. Czako had eight points, four rebounds and an assist. Karter Krutsinger had seven points, two rebounds and two assists.

Peoples had a game-high 26 points, with 22 in the second half. He also had five rebounds, four assists, five steals and a block. Dubois had 21 points, including a pair of fourth-quarter 3-pointers, six rebounds, an assist and a block.