Lockport beats Joliet West to win its first regional in 15 years

There are certain communities where high school sports are just more important, more a part of the everyday fabric of life. Lockport is one of those places. And younger fans may not realize that at its heart, Lockport is a basketball city.

That’s probably one of the reasons two grown men ripped off their shirts and celebrated wildly on the court shortly after the host Porters knocked off rival Joliet West 58-30 on Friday to win their first regional championship since 2011.

“We just wanted it more,” Lockport junior Nedas Venckus said. “We came out ready to die on the court. We had to win.”

The Porters (27-5) had not even played in a regional title game for 15 years.

“I was reminded a few times of the drought,” Lockport coach Dave Wilson said. “It was a goal of ours as a program. I’ve had a brilliant coaching staff and the kids bought in from the start.

“Lockport is really good at a lot of sports, and they achieve at a high level. We talk about it as a basketball program. We watch football making runs in the state playoffs. We watch volleyball go down state. Softball, baseball. It is a challenge to keep up.”

Wilson is in his third year at Lockport, and his team was at home and favored to win, but Joliet West (21-11) played very well against some of the best teams in the area over the final month of the regular season.

The Tigers’ plan was physical man defense on Lockport’s star juniors, twins Nedas and Nojus Venckus. It worked very well for one quarter.

“In the first quarter we could not move,” Wilson said. “So, we had to modify and adapt. The twins beat up on each other every day. There is nothing like brotherly physicality, brotherly love. Every day since they were two years old, they are beating each other up and it prepares them for a moment like this. They were able to weather the storm."

The Porters brought the storm in the second quarter, limiting Joliet West to just one free throw. Lockport took total control of the game with a 22-0 and held the Tiger without a field goal for a 14:16 stretch that spanned from midway through the first quarter into the start of the third quarter.

“Before the game started coach said intensity is our competitive advantage,” Nojus Venckus said. “And straight from the jump we knew we had to be more intense, more aggressive than them. We tried to slow down because they are a fast team. You saw what happened.”

Nedas Venckus finished with 15 points and five rebounds and Nojus added 14 points. Senior Trace Schaaf scored seven and point guard Nathan Munson added seven points and six assists.

All the Lockport adults were focused on the 15-year drought, but the players weren’t even aware of it until they snapped it.

“We did not know before the game, but it feels great to be a part of history now,” Munson said.

Joshua Calvert led Joliet West with eight points. Brockton Goehrke and Aamir Shannon each scored six.

“That’s why you can’t expect things,” Tigers coach Jeremy Kreiger said. “You have to go earn them. We didn’t earn it. [Lockport] has played well all year, and they earned the right to cut their nets down on the home court. That is something those kids will never forget.”

The Porters will face Rich in the Class 4A Joliet West sectional semifinals on Wednesday.