CASTILLO & CASTILLO
Rokas leads in points and Matas makes due with assists as Lemont holds off Sandburg rally
Twin brothers Rokas and Matas Castillo have a simple approach to having success as a junior guard combination for Lemont.
Whoever has the hot hand shoots the ball and the other one passes it to him.
“If he’s doing good, I’ll look for him,” Rokas said. “If I’m doing good, he’ll look for me. That’s how we get our energy.”
It worked pretty well Tuesday night. Rokas Castillo led the way with 16 points and Matas Castillo dished out seven assists as Lemont held off a furious comeback by host Sandburg and held on for a 58-55 victory.
Nojus Indrusaitis contributed 12 points and eight rebounds for Lemont (3-2). Matas Castillo and Joseph Pender each scored seven points. Patrick Gardner added six points and nine rebounds.
Ryan McPolin poured in 21 points for Sandburg (1-4), while Ty Binns added 13.
Matas Castillo was happy to take on the role of distributor.
“I saw Rokas was making shots, so I tried to get him the ball,” he said. “We have a lot of a connection together. It makes it easier on the court. On defense, we can switch without talking. On offense, we know where each other is going.”
Lemont coach Rick Runaas sees that connection play out constantly, creating positive results for his team.
“I’ve known them since they were little kids,” Runaas said. “The way they sense where each other is on the court is, I think, the most special thing.
“Watching them on defense and one will sense, ‘My brother’s going to get a steal here.’ So, he’ll start leaking out on offense and we’ll get easy opportunities. It’s like, ‘He’s going to get the ball, so I can go.’ ”
Rokas Castillo also earned some redemption.
He said his missed free throws were costly in a 56-55 season-opening loss to Bradley-Bourbonnais. But against Sandburg, he hit 9 of 10 at the line, including five consecutive conversions over the final 1:35 to help seal the win.
“In the first game, we kind of lost because I missed free throws,” he said. “I learned from those mistakes and practiced them.”
The late free throws were vital because Sandburg battled back from a 35-16 deficit at halftime. The Eagles then closed within 46-42 with 5:30 to go on a 3-point play from Binns.
After Lemont extended the lead back to 10, McPolin came up with a 3-point play and James White hit a 3-pointer to again cut the deficit to four with 23 seconds left. Rokas Castillo’s free throws, however, allowed Lemont to hang on.
White finished with eight points for the Eagles.
“The effort was good,” said firstyear Sandburg coach John Daniels, who formerly guided Stagg for 14 seasons. “We’re playing a lot of guys because I’m new and I’m trying to figure out what we’ve got.
“We’re trying to teach a system, man in motion, and I think everybody’s got to get a chance.”
Lemont has high expectations after going 12-1 in the spring but is still trying to figure things out with a young team led by a sophomore in Indrusaitis and juniors in the Castillo twins.
Even something like Tuesday’s road atmosphere is a different experience after the COVID-19 season.
“We spoke about it as a staff,” Runaas said. “They had a band and cheerleaders. Nojus has never seen a band or cheerleaders at a game. He played 13 games for us as a freshman last year with no cheerleaders, no band, nobody yelling at him saying, ‘You need to improve your dunk game.’
“It’s all new.”