Senior forward Jacob Bereza allowed himself a slight smile and a small fist pump to Lincoln-Way West’s student section.
Just a split second to savor history after leading the Warriors to their first conference championship in program history.
“It hasn’t sunk in yet,” Bereza said, mere minutes after the game had ended. “I’ll change clothes, walk out, and maybe when I get to the car, it will sink in.”
Bereza drove the car Tuesday night with 18 points, including nine in the second quarter, to lift for host Lincoln-Way West to a 61-54 SouthWest Suburban Red victory over Andrew in New Lenox that clinched a co-championship with Stagg.
Senior forward Eli Bach led the Warriors (16-14, 5-3) by scoring 10 of his 19 points in the fourth quarter. Wyatt Carlson added 11.
Athan Berchos paced Andrew (17-12, 4-4) with 24 points and Grantas Sakenis had 13.
Bereza started playing competitive basketball in eighth grade, working his way up to being a valuable starter for the Warriors.
His minutes were down in the previous two games because he was banged up, but he was ready to go Tuesday night.
“When he gets it going, he can really fill the bucket,” Lincoln-Way West coach Tanner Mitchell said of Bereza. “When he’s on, he’s such a huge help.
“He’s been dealing with an ankle injury the last week and it’s starting to feel better now. He had the weekend off to rest and really came out fresh.”
Bach was glad to see his teammate get back into form.
“Man, that kid brings a ton of heart and a ton of grit,” Bach said of Bereza. “When he’s on, he’s on and we love him for it.”
From Jan. 16 through Jan. 26, the Warriors lost six games in a row, and the school of thought was not quite on making school history. That made them appreciate this accomplishment even more.
“It’s really special,” Mitchell said. “Any time you get the first-time anything in school history, it’s always special.
“Boy, if you would have told me two or three weeks ago we were going to win this thing in the final week of the season, I don’t know if I would have believed you.”
The conference really tightened up Friday night. Stagg entered action with a 4-2 record, followed by Andrew at 4-3 and Lincoln-Way West and Bradley-Bourbonnais at 3-3.
When the smoke cleared, four of the five teams had 4-3 records, setting up Tuesday’s scenario guaranteeing two winning teams sharing the conference title. Stagg beat Bradley 50-45 Tuesday for its piece of the pie.
“It’s pretty cool we were able to do it with this team,” Bach said. “We had a really low point for a while and lost a couple of games in a row, but then we started rolling.”
“It was great to do this senior year and senior night,” Bereza said. “This was a little more special than a normal game.”
The 6-foot-3 Bereza, a two-sport athlete, will soon have a decision to make regarding his future.
Basketball? Football? Neither?
He said he will make that move after the season.
“I don’t know if I’m going to take the academic route or the athletic route,” Bereza said. “I’m looking at a few schools for engineering such as Purdue or Louisville academic-wise. We’ll see.”
He confirmed he will miss this team when the season is over.
“These are pretty much my only friends, so it’s more than just basketball for me,” Bereza said. “It’s also about playing a sport and representing your school.
“We’ve had a lot of ups and downs, but the highs have been really high. I’m really glad they happened my senior year.”
Jeff Vorva is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
