Munson rises for Lockport
Senior guard comes back from early foul trouble to contribute to victory over Andrew
Lockport senior Anthony Munson’s first challenge Friday night was keeping his cool.
The 5-foot-10 guard had to spend eight minutes on the bench in the first half with two fouls. Andrew took advantage and sped to an early lead.
Pouting wasn’t the answer. “I just kept thinking, ‘I owe my team one,’ ” Munson said. “I was frustrated at myself, but once I sat there and realized my mistakes, I decided to turn it around.”
He did it in a big way for the Porters during a 53-42 victory over the Thunderbolts in a SouthWest Suburban Conference crossover.
Munson finished with 18 points for the Porters (7-0). Alex Vassilakis added 11 points and six rebounds, while Julius Smith contributed 10 points and five steals.
Joey Burke scored 13 points for Andrew (6-2). Zain Jubeh added 12 points and Arnas Sakenis had 10. Michael Morawski contributed seven points and 15 rebounds.
When Munson returned midway through the second quarter, Lockport was scratching its way back from a 16-6 deficit.
It was 16-11 when Munson nailed a 3-pointer. He then followed up with two free throws to send the game into halftime in a deadlock.
On Lockport’s first possession of the third quarter, Munson broke the tie with another 3-pointer. He hit all of his final five shots and went 6-for-8 at the line.
Smith, who shares the backcourt duties with Munson, knows a hot hand when he sees one.
“We’ve been playing together since fifth grade,” Smith said. “We know each other’s chemistry. Whenever he’s having an ‘on’ game, I’ll just take the passenger seat and let him do him.
“This was his ‘on’ game. I didn’t want to get in the way, so I told him at halftime, ‘This is you. If you need
help, let me know. But I’m on the ride for defense. You’ve got it.’ And he drove us home.”
Smith was definitely the defensive leader for the Porters. The 5-11 guard had three steals in a row during one stretch.
In all, the Porters forced 27 turnovers. Andrew did hit eight 3-pointers but for the most part was driven to distraction.
“The game plan was to not let them get into the middle,” Smith said. “Early we were too heavy with that, and they hit us with three threes right away.
“We called a timeout. I talked to my guys collectively and said, ‘Let’s settle in, calm down and protect our 3-point line. This is our house.’”
Munson basically took care of the rest. When the final buzzer sounded, he had the ball at midcourt with a big smile on his face.
It’s a look that Lockport coach Brett Hespell is getting used to enjoying.
“He’s got some skill, but he’s got a swagger about him,” Hespell said of Munson. “He just is confident he’s going to win. We
need that.
“Anthony is a huge part of what we do. When he came back in after those fouls, he changed the tenor of things. He’s our leader on the floor, for sure.”
For Andrew, it wasn’t only a struggle running the offense, it was also a tough night shooting.
A veritable scoring machine in most games, Morawski shot 2-for10 from the floor and 2-for-6 at the line. He did, however, dominate on the boards.
In general, the Thunderbolts were out of sync.
“Our rotation is sort of short-handed with some injuries,” Andrew coach Dave Wilson said. “I think some of our guys get a little worn down by the third and fourth quarter. We’re going to have to figure out if someone can step up from the bench to give us some minutes.
“Lockport is very athletic and quick. It was a battle of our size versus their quickness. It took Lockport a little while to adapt, but when they found out what was successful, they stuck with it. I give them a lot of credit.”