Nyshawn Turner is not often in the spotlight on a talented Rich Township boys basketball team. The senior forward more often makes his mark by doing the dirty work inside.
But with the Raptors on the ropes and their season in jeopardy Friday night, they looked to Turner to turn things around.
And he was ready.
“We’ve got a lot of guys,” Turner said. “Everybody’s got talent and we’re just deep. You never know when it’s going to be your night, so you’ve got to stay prepared.”
Turner made the most of the moment, scoring 11 of his 18 points in the third quarter as visiting Rich Township rallied from a 10-point halftime deficit for a 74-67 win over the host Griffins in the Class 4A Lincoln-Way East Regional championship game in Frankfort.
Turner also pulled down eight rebounds, while Jayden Williams scored 19 points and Al Brooks Jr. finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds for the third-seeded Raptors (22-8), who will host second-seeded Marist (31-2) at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday in a Rich Township Sectional semifinal.
Jamson Coulter and Kavon Ammons contributed seven points apiece for the Raptors, with Ammons adding 10 rebounds.
Evan Riiff scored 19 points, all in the first half, and Brenden Sanders ended up with 14 points and 10 rebounds to lead seventh-seeded Lincoln-Way East (18-12). Cooper Johnson added 11 points, Jaymon Hornsby followed with 10 and Will Buchanan had eight.
Lincoln-Way East made nine 3-pointers in the first half. Five were by Riiff, who came off the bench on fire. The underdog Griffins led 40-30 at halftime.
But Turner took over after the break. The Raptors went to him inside often and he usually scored or drew a foul, going 5 of 7 from the free-throw line in the third quarter.
“I feel like I was definitely rolling with some nice momentum,” Turner said. “It was nice, for sure. We practice free throws all the time, so I’m confident at the line.”
Turner threw down a dunk off a nice pass from Brooks to tie the game at 49-49 and the teams went to the fourth quarter tied 51-51.
The Raptors opened the fourth with a 9-3 surge and controlled things from there. Williams and Brooks dominated late, but they knew they would have been in trouble if not for Turner.
“It was amazing,” Williams said. “Nyshawn doesn’t get a lot of credit, but without him inside the paint, I don’t know what we’d be. We really need him for state.”
Turner, who also plays football, tries to bring that mentality to the basketball court.
“It’s all about the energy,” he said. “It never stops, from the football field to the court. It’s the same energy and the same intensity.
“In basketball, I feel like I’m the more physical guy, so I want to keep everybody going, staying together, and I want to push the defense and rebounding.”
Rich Township held the Griffins to two 3-pointers in the second half and kept Riiff scoreless.
“We were down,” Turner said. “It was tough. But we just had to stay together mentally. We knew we had to make the adjustment defensively to close out on their shooters.
“We weren’t coming here to lose.”
Williams considered it a wake-up call for a team with aspirations of winning a state title.
“In the first half, we didn’t play defense or rebound,” he said. “We should have never been down 10. Most of the threes in the first half were uncontested, so we just had to put pressure on them.
“Next week, we have to come out ready from the start. We have to treat every game like our last one.”
Turner made sure Friday night wasn’t the last one. Rich Township coach Lou Adams was thankful.
“Nyshawn was big for us,” Adams said. “He’s just tough. That’s what I love about him.
“It was Nyshawn’s night.”
