SPORTS SPOTLIGHT BY JOHN MONTGOMERY
There is no place like home court advantage especially in the Class 4A state basketball playoffs. New Trier (26-7) rallied from an 11-point deficit in the first quarter with nine three point baskets to stun St Patrick (26-5) 54-41 on Friday night at Winnetka.
"We have good three point shooters on our team," New Trier head coach Scott Fricke said after the win. "We felt like we were getting good looks in the first half. We just had to stick with the game plan."
The Trevians also played better defense in the second half after falling behind 29-20. The Shamrocks struggled against physical man-to-man defense while New Trier made seven three point shots. New Trier scored the first 12 points of the third quarter and never looked back to earn matchup at Loyola sectional next week against top seeded DePaul Prep (29-3) who is seeking a fourth straight state basketball title. Shamrocks scored only 12 points in the second half.
"Our defense won the game," Fricke stated before accepting regional plaque and cutting down the nets to celebrate the victory.
Dan Houlihan led New Trier's balanced attack with 25 points while freshman Den Wallace added 13 points as all five starters scored for the Trevians after that slow start in first quarter.
New Trier has a three guard offense led by Chris Kirkpatrick who recently returned from a knee injury. Kirkpatrick got off to a slow start in the first half, but he did job directing the offense in the second half while adding two three pointers. Point guards are asked to do more than just pass these days.
“He does everything for us," Fricke said. "He is a great leader. Our guys stepped up when he was injured and now they are playing great for us with him back in the lineup."
There is still probably one issue that the IHSA needs to address in Postseason play. New Trier was seeded lower than St Patrick and was able to host the regional which was a huge advantage. Shamrocks have hosted regional championship games in the past as well not sure if they had state playoff games while being lower seed. This issue of neutral sites really came to light in 1984 NCAA men's basketball tournament when Kentucky hosted and beat Illinois at Rupp Arena in regional championship game.
Security might be another issue as well since someone threw a rock at the St. Patrick team bus after the game. Poor sportsmanship is a big problem these days.