Blake Turner wouldn’t say which points of emphasis he wrote on the board before his Lanphier boys basketball team took the floor on Monday in the Martin Luther King Jr. Classic event at Lanphier High School. But by watching the game, the interviewer had a pretty good idea.
“Toughness?”
Turner smiled at the reporter who asked the question.
“Absolutely. Toughness was one of the main things I wrote on there,” Turner said, content with his team’s 52-50 win over Alton in the new Lober-Nika Gymnasium. “Not getting bullied and pushed around — I felt like we’ve been getting bullied and pushed around a lot this year, and that’s not who we are. We’ll go down fighting before we let anyone bully and push us.”
Lanphier (8-12) had maybe its best win of the season against the Redbirds (13-7 after a win on Tuesday) just days before the Lions put their two-time defending City Tournament crown to the test. The City Tournament begins Wednesday at the Bank of Springfield Center with two girls basketball games. The boys begin their six-game affair on Thursday.
The timing couldn’t be better.
Lanphier senior Soriano Hayes was the epitome of toughness in the win with 26 points, five rebounds, 8-for-16 shooting overall and was 9-for-12 at the free-throw line. When he needed to make something happen to keep Alton from gaining some momentum, Hayes took the ball, drove into the paint and, in the fourth quarter, seemingly either made every basket or earned a trip to the line.
“That’s who he was in the early AAU sessions before he dislocated his ankle,” Turner said of Hayes. “That’s who I was expecting to have when I made this schedule. It didn’t work out that way, but I’m confident he’s healthy now.
“I’m confident he’s taken the leadership role needed to be successful and I think he wants us to ride his wave the rest of the season.”
Hayes, who is averaging 12.9 points per game, said he finally felt as if he had stepped into his senior role.
“I’ve got to lead the team,” Hayes said. “It’s really my year, so I’m trying to help my team be aggressive, help them win and do everything I can.
“This is a good momentum-booster. (Alton) is a pretty good team, we’ve been having an up-and-down year, so to get this before City is big for us.”
Demond Porter finished with 11 points for the Lions while Camarie Richmond had 10. Ryan Howard led Alton with 26 points.
Other results from Monday’s event:
PEORIA MANUAL 69, SPRINGFIELD HIGH 65: Both teams had four players in double figures, but the Rams emerged with the win over former assistant and current SHS head coach Kevin Causley.
Noah Wade led SHS with 16 points, Elijah Wade had 14, Arielle Robinson finished with 13 and Logan Peach had 12. Joshua Humbles led Manual with 19.
PEORIA HIGH 63, SACRED HEART-GRIFFIN 58: A 23-8 deficit in the third quarter allowed the Lions to take momentum. Tereik Hurd led SHG with 21 points and Terrion Wallace finished with 12.
GENESEO 73, SOUTHEAST 72: Geneseo’s Jack Kreiss, who led the Maple Leafs with 24 points, made a layup with about 45 seconds left to give Geneseo a win after rallying from a 13-point deficit in the third quarter. Lamar Coleman led Southeast with 14 points, Trevan Caldwell had 13 and Josiah Turner and Kev’Ron House each had 11 for the Spartans.
DECATUR UNITY CHRISTIAN 78, CALVARY 50: Dillon Clark led Unity with 27 points as Felipe Phillips, a former Lanphier assistant and Decatur MacArthur head coach, returned to Sangamon County a winner. Luke Blackford led the Saints with 15 points, Josiah Reynolds had 14 and Joshua Long scored 12 in the loss.
LANPHIER GIRLS 67, ST. LOUIS MILLER ACADEMY GIRLS 28: Lovely Jackson poured in 31 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead the Lions to a large-margin victory. Alayah Jarrett added 20 for the Lions.
DECATUR MACARTHUR BOYS 71, CHICAGO HOPE 58: Kenall Howell led the Generals with 15 points and was one of four MacArthur players to reach double figures.
NOTES: The third-annual event, held each Martin Luther King Jr. Day, is in a good place, Turner said. “It could always be better, but we’re in a great spot right now. We’ve got great teams, we’ve got great competition. . . . We want to create something that everybody can come and have a good time.”
Turner said it wouldn’t be possible without the support of local sponsors, including Illinois state senator — and Turner’s mom — Doris Turner, William Bishop II at Solid Ground Solutions and Frank Vala at Valco Awards and More, Inc.
“Ham (Bishop) has been phenomenal, my mom’s been phenomenal, Frank Vala at Valco has been phenomenal,” Turner said. “Without those people, we wouldn’t be able to do this, but with those people, we’ve been able to put on a state-of-the-art event.”
Contact Ryan Mahan: 788-1546, ryan.mahan@sj-r.com, Twitter.com/RyanMahanSJR.
This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Has toughness been sub-.500 Lanphier’s missing ingredient? Lions hope so
Reporting by Ryan Mahan, Springfield State Journal-Register / State Journal-Register
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