ST. CHARLES – There are schedule “quirks,” and then there is the case of Lutheran St. Charles.
The Cougars boys basketball team loaded its schedule with heavyweights this season; more precisely, front-loaded its schedule.
Lutheran St. Charles had not played a game in 21 days before stepping on the floor Wednesday in a win-or-go home scenario.
“It’s been almost a month since we played, so practices have been creative trying to find ways to keep them engaged and to keep their energy level high,” Lutheran St. Charles coach Corey Dowden Sr. said. “I definitely expected us to come out rusty.”
Instead, the Cougars were a well-oiled machine.
Powered by a 25-point effort by senior Demetris Phillips, Lutheran St. Charles jumped out to a double-digit, first quarter lead and never looked back in defeating Winfield 73-50 in a Class 4 District 7 semifinal Wednesday at St. Charles West.
The Cougars (12-15) advanced to face Orchard Farm (20-8) in the district championship game at 7 p.m. Friday at St. Charles West.
Orchard Farm defeated St. Charles West 67-62 in overtime in the other semifinal.
Lutheran St. Charles earned the top seed in its district tournament by earning wins against high-quality opponents like Lutheran North, Union and St. Dominic, but also suffered its share of setbacks, including a five-game losing streak in early January.
Dowden had to strike the delicate chord of telling his players they were getting better as a team despite trudging through another handshake line on the losing end of the scoreboard.
“I kept reminding these guys that we were playing against extremely tough competition and when it gets to districts, it will pay off,” Dowden said.
The Cougars cashed in quickly on Wednesday.
Consecutive corner 3’s by junior Zeke Brown and senior Brady Connor gave Lutheran St. Charles an early lead it would never relinquish, as senior guard CJ Holloway orchestrated a potent Cougars’ offense that put up 25 first-quarter points.
Holloway utilized dribble penetration to find open three-point shooters, demonstrated a smooth mid-range jumper and organized a devastating transition attack for Lutheran St. Charles.
“For the past three weeks, Coach (Dowden) has been telling us we need to be the best we can be in our own role, and my role is to score and create at all three levels,” Holloway said. “Whenever I can get my shot, I’m going to get it, but I also like to get my teammates good looks.”
One of those teammates is the 6-foot-5 Phillips, who showed he was much more than a force on the low block. Phillips dove on the floor for loose balls, sprinted the floor in transition and even ran the fast break himself on occasion.
“I was always told to play every game like its my last one, so regardless of the score, up 15, down two, I have to play the way I want to play if we want to win,” said Phillips, who averaged 20.9 points and 10.7 rebounds during the regular season.
Phillips scored 14 points and collected eight rebounds in the first half alone as Lutheran St. Charles took a 17-point lead into intermission.
“I think two things make (Phillips) so effective. His versatility at that size, being that agile handling the ball, and his basketball IQ is pretty high for a high school basketball player,” Dowden said.
The presence of Phillips and the creativity of Holloway opened the path for 11 different Cougars to find the scoresheet.
“I told these guys that we have the pieces to be successful, and it will be a different guy every night, so just to be ready when your number is called, and they have done a really good job buying into that,” Dowden said.
Powered by 19 points from junior Brady Creech and 16 from senior Peter Nicholl, Winfield sliced the deficit to 55-40 heading into the fourth quarter, but nine points by Phillips in the opening four minutes thwarted any hopes of a late comeback attempt for the Warriors.
Between Jan. 3-17, the talented Cougars lost eight out of 10 games, a stretch that Phillips remembered as challenging.
“Losing those games, we had to find a way to find the positives. There were ups and downs, but we had to keep it together,” Phillips said.
Holloway added, “It made us work better as a team. I think it brought us closer.”