03-13-15
BY JACK BULLOCK
PEORIA – It didn't take the Titans of Chicago Uplift long to make sure their game against Breese Mater Dei wasn't much of a "clash."

Just a few minutes into the game, 6-foot-6 senior forward Spencer Folley got the Titans rolling from the outside and they took a lead in the first quarter that they never relinquished as they advanced to Saturday's title game with a 72-50 scorching of the Knights.

Folley ended up with 19-points and he led a 3-point barrage as Uplift “upped the ante” early in the game from the outside.

Chicago Uplift, a school that is in its tenth year of existence and just its eighth basketball campaign, moved to 27-5 with the win and will face Decatur St. Teresa in the title contest.

The Bulldogs bested Rockridge in the other semifinal.

For head coach Ron Schadegg he got to see his club commit 15-turnovers while not being able to hit the big shots they had been able to make during its five-game tournament run.

BMD hit just 33 percent from the floor (18-of-54) as they never could muster a rally as they slipped to 24-11 on the season with one final game to play; the third place game on Saturday.

“We thought that their guards were a little less athletic then our guards and so our game plan was to put the pressure on them,” said Uplift head coach David Taylor. “And try our best to shake them up. We wanted to make it tough to get the ball to Nolan Gerling. He's their big stud. We didn't want to do anything special with him. We wanted to frustrate their guards and see if we could make it tough on them.”

Following Foley in scoring was Jeremy Rosco, a 6-foot-2 senior guard, with 18-points while Deshon Fluckes and Demarius Jacobs added 12 and 10.

“We got beat by a very good basketball team, I know that. They shot it very well and we had a tough time containing them and slowing them down,” said Coach Schadegg. “We were hoping we could pack in the zone, keep their dribble penetration out and make them shoot it form the perimeter. Obviously the two kids shot it very well; Roscoe and Foley.”

Mater Dei got 13-points and 14-rebounds my Nolan Gerling, the Knights' 6-foot-8 senior center.

Ben Lampe and Zach Haake, both seniors, chipped in 11 and 10-points respectively.

Not only did the field goals not fall, but Mater Dei struggled at the foul line, hitting just 11-of-21.

The Knights managed a 42-33 rebounding edge but 16 of the carom's were on the offensive end that was caused by the poor shooting percentage.

“Offensively we wanted to take care of the ball and value the basketball a little bit more,” said Coach Schadegg. “We needed to be a bit more efficient around the rim.”

When Uplift wasn't knocking down 3-pointers, Foley and Rosco each hit five, they were getting inside for good looks at the basket.

Uplift, when they were turning Breese Mater Dei over, they were scoring as they held a 23-6 advantage in points-off-turnovers in the matchup.

Jamaya Wyatt, a 6-foot-5 senior forward, scored just two points but he led the Titans with eight rebounds.

“Just extremely proud of our guys. It is an extremely exciting time here at Uplift Community High School. I couldn't be prouder of the gentlemen sitting to my left and to my right,” said Coach David Taylor.

As for the action, Mater Dei held just a brief 2-0 lead in the first minute of play.

Senior guard Sam Toennies finished with seven points and his bucket to open the scoring was on a drive to the goal with 7:34 remaining.

But back-to-back 3-point bombs by Foley got the offensive attack going for Uplift.

Gerling managed to get to the rim on consecutive trips down the floor to even things at 6-each.

That was the last time the game was tied and the Knights never got back the lead.

Jacobs scored twice in transition and Rosco hit his first 3-point bomb.

When Foley hit his third from long range, Uplift led 19-11.

A score by Zach Deiters, who finished with five-points on the night, closed the gap to 19-13 at the first quarter horn.

The lead reached double-digits in the early going of the second frame when Foley hit his third trifecta, this time from the right wing, for a 23-13 addy.

Haake and Gerling tried to keep Mater Dei withing reach, hitting twice in the quarter in the paint.

However Uplift got a lift from another Rosco trey and another bucket by Jacobs for a 30-21 lead at the half.

The Knights hit just 2-of-9 shots in the quarter and trailed at the break.

Uplift pulled gradually away from BMD in the third quarter, as Rosco nailed two more 3-point shots in the stanza Flukes got into the run with a couple of lay ins.

When Rosco hit yet another bomb to close the quarter, the Titans were in total control, 44-31.

Forced to extend their defense to full court the Knights were trapped into a game that the Titans' thrive at.

The game turned into a free throw shooting and lay up drill for Uplift.

When they weren't hitting free throws, 10-of-18 for the game, they were breaking the pressure and scoing on fast breaks.

Daniel Soetan, a 6-foot-4 senior guard, netted eight points with four of the points on back-to-back fast break slam dunks.

Jacobs added another dunk for the Titans as the lead had ballooned to 60-46 with 3:08 remaining.

Reserves finished off the final minutes of the game with the Titans closing the game with a 7-0 run to reach the 22-point spread.

“We will be okay, we have another game tomorrow so we have an opportunity to redeem ourselves tomorrow,” said Coach Schadegg.

Uplift ended up shooting the ball pretty well as they connected on 26-of-54 overall (48.1 percent) while hitting 10-of-21 from the arc.

They ended up with twice as many assists (17) as they had turnovers (8) as they took care of the ball for the most part in the semifinal win.

“That is fantastic. We usually turn the ball over a little more than that but I think my guys were extremely focused on offense tonight,” said Coach Taylor. “I wanted them to be more set oriented than freelance oriented. They played together that way and they were really tough to beat tonight. They have really bought in on playing this way.”