CHILLICOTHE — Manual put on an old-fashioned defensive clinic.
The Rams used their signature suffocating pressure to roll past Port Byron Riverdale, 66-42, in the nightcap of the Class 2A Chillicothe Sectional boys basketball semifinals Tuesday night. No. 5 Manual (21-9) now faces unranked Warsaw West Hancock (26-7) — a 71-41 winner over Farmington — in the 7 p.m. Friday sectional championship at Illinois Valley Central.
“With defense being our backbone,” Manual coach Marvin Jordan said, “we strive every day to be great at it. It’s one of those things that we keep at the top of our checklist and we make sure that’s where we’re locked in on.
“It was going to show, for sure, tonight, because we’ve been working hard at it all week.”
Manual took a 12-2 lead to start the game, making six of its first eight shots and feeding off eight turnovers by PBR. Colton Clark’s drive just before the first-quarter buzzer cut Riverdale’s deficit to 17-8.
But from there, Manual put on the clamps, scoring 11 straight points to open the second quarter, while PBR managed just one missed shot and turned it over five times.
“We came in with a gameplan,” said Manual senior Josh Humbles, who was big part of forcing 29 turnovers. “… We just executed to the best of our ability and that really played a big part of our defensive role.
“We start with defense. That’s where everything comes from.”
The lead ballooned to 38-12 at halftime, as many patrons didn’t bother returning from the break in action.
“Defense turns into offense,” Jordan said, “and I’ve pushed that heavily through each team I’ve ever coached.”
Jaquan Brown and Reggie Postlewaite each scored 16 points for Manual, which shot 55.8 percent (24-of-43). Humbles added 10 points and pulled down a game-high eight rebounds.
Clark scored 14 points for PBR, with Jackson Tegler scoring 12. PBR grabbed just 10 rebounds — five in each half — for the game, but made 53.1 percent (17-for-32) of its shots.
For Manual, this now gives them a a chance to make it back-to-back Elite Eight appearances and a third since 2019.
“We have a lot of vets (playing) with us,” Humbles said. “That really plays a big part into knowing what we’re coming into do. … Everybody knows what this comes with.”
Warsaw West Hancock 71, Farmington 41
A buzzer-beating 3-pointer from Landon Crawford to end the first quarter, then Jack Gronewold’s reverse layup put Farmington up 14-9 at the 7:46 mark of the second quarter. But the Farmers were then outscored 56-17 over the next two frames.
In that stretch, West Hancock’s Hunter Froman scored 25 of his game-high 31 points. This included a 12-point stretch in the second quarter that turned that five-point deficit to a 21-16 advantage for the Titans.
“We did about everything we could throw at Froman,” Farmington coach Marty Lozier said. “He was just on tonight. … Sometimes you run into a buzzsaw like that. I didn’t want to go out with that kind of loss.”
West Hancock, which had four turnovers and none in the second half, shot 57.4 percent (27-for-47) from the field and hit 11-of-21 (52.4 perfect) from 3-point line. Cooper Knowles added 13 points and nine rebounds as the Titans held a 25-19 rebounding edge.
Jack Gronewold paced Farmington (17-14) with 11 points and four rebounds. Logan Gardner chipped in eight points and six rebounds.
Adam Duvall is a Journal Star sports reporter. Email him at aduvall@pjstar.com. Follow him on Twitter @AdamDuvall.
This article originally appeared on Journal Star: After convincing victory, Manual to play West Hancock in IHSA boys basketball playoffs
Reporting by Adam Duvall, Peoria Journal Star / Journal Star
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