Braden Clark drives to the hoop during Kewanee’s 64-59 OT win over Princeton. Clark scored a career-high 38 points in the win. [Photo by Dillon Price of the Kewanee Voice Student Journalism Program]

Tuesday night’s basketball game between the Kewanee Boilermakers and rival Princeton Tigers lived up to all the hype and then some. As expected, the atmosphere was what most basketball enthusiasts live for…a loud, packed house, a pumped up pep band and two teams ready to get after it to lay claim to a conference championship. 

Making the night even more special, was that it was Salute to Shaune Lewis Night, which was a night set aside to pay tribute to former KHS basketball coach, Shaune Lewis, who passed away on July 2, 2020. Coach Lew’s son, Blaise, is a senior guard on the Kewanee team and he was set to play in his final game in H.F. Brockman Gym. 

Is if that wasn’t enough, the game was knotted at 55 at the end of regulation and it would take an extra four minutes to decide a winner. Princeton had the momentum at the start of overtime and scored the first four points. The Boilers battled back and scored the next nine points, making the final score 64-59 to earn the hard-fought TRAC-East championship. 

Senior guard Blaise Lewis lays in two of his 12 points. [Photo by Dillon Price of The Kewanee Voice Student Journalism Program]

“What an amazing atmosphere tonight in Brockman Gym, very proud of how the team battled through a rough shooting night and still came out on top,” said a much-relieved Kewanee Coach Matt Clark.

The Boilers move to 21-8 on the season and complete their conference schedule with a record of 8-2, while Princeton slips to 14-13 and 7-3 in the TRAC-East. Sterling Newman was third at 20-11 and 6-4. 

Kewanee 64, Princeton 59

Princeton opened up the game by exploiting their size advantage in the post. The Tigers’ big man, 6’6″ Noah Laporte, only scored one basket but he drew the attention away from Princeton’s outside game as the Tigers pulled ahead 15-12 in the first quarter. 

Tyson Phillips and Jordan Reinhardt each hit a three and Daniel Sousa made five points for the Tigers, while Blaise Lewis scrapped his way to six first quarter points for Kewanee. The Boilers came up empty from 3-point land, missing all six attempts. 

Kewanee clawed their way back in front in the second quarter as Braden Clark scored nine points to help the Boilers to a 25-23 halftime lead. 

The Boilers’ 3-point shooting woes continued in the second quarter, so the emphasis at halftime became on shooting higher percentage shots. For Clark, that means driving to the hoop. The rugged senior drove his way to 14 third quarter points as Kewanee outscored Princeton 20-17 and a lead of five (45-40) heading into the fourth quarter. 

Lewis added four more for the Boilers and Tyson Phillips scored five third quarter points for the Tigers. LaPorte sat out most of the third quarter due to foul trouble, which was a key factor in having 5-point advantage. 

Princeton turned the tables in the fourth quarter and outscored Kewanee 15-10 to tie the score at 55 in regulation. Clark continued penetrating his way into the lane as he scored all 10 of Kewanee’s fourth quarter points. 

LaPorte made his way back into the court and scored eight points to aid in Princeton’s comeback. 

Colson Welgat went 2-2 at the line in overtime to help secure Kewanee’s win over Princeville. [Photo by Dillon Price of The Kewanee Voice Student Journalism Program]

Philips and Reinhardt scored two quick buckets in overtime, but Clark scored five points, Colson Welgat made two key free throws and Brayden Conley made a big put back bucket to give Kewanee the 64-59 win. 

Clark scored a career-high 38 points in the win, Lewis followed with 12 and Welgat added six on the night. 

“Brady set his career high tonight and it was much needed. His teammates kept getting him the ball in good spots and he kept delivering,” noted Clark. “He demanded the ball tonight, in a good way, and his teammates did their part to pull off a tough win.”

LaPorte led the Tigers with 13 points, Reinhardt had 12 and Phillips contributed 10 in vain. 

“Blaise kept us in the game in the first quarter with his six points on some tough shots,” said Matt Clark. “I thought we played hard and executed our game plan early to keep us in the game – to only be down three points after the first quarter,” he added.

“I can’t say enough how this team has bought into the program and the team first mentality of winning. From 5-4 back on December 12 to 21-8 with a conference championship shows the dedication to hard works this team has committed to.”

Key stats: 

Kewanee out-rebounded Princeton 34-22. 

Princeton had 14 turnovers, Kewanee had 9

Kewanee was 1 of 16 from 3-point land, Princeton was 5-14

Kewanee was 15-30 at the foul line, Princeton was 11-19