Sandburg’s Will Johnson had seen enough.
The junior forward had earlier witnessed the Eagles lose a pair of regular-season games to Lockport by 27 and 16 points, respectively, in the SouthWest Suburban Conference.
The Porters owned a 17-point lead Wednesday in the second quarter. And that was enough.
“We lost two games to these guys and I said, ‘Hey, somebody’s gotta do this,’’’ Johnson said. “I don’t want to go home early. I want to keep playing. My season isn’t over yet.”
The 6-foot-2 Johnson helped keep that season alive for Sandburg.
He had 21 points, nine rebounds and two blocked shots to spark the 10th-seeded Eagles to a wild 55-54 victory over sixth-seeded Lockport in a Class 4A Marist Regional semifinal in Chicago.
Connor Gleason scored 11 points for Sandburg (16-16). Jonah Johnson, Will’s twin brother, added 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Trace Schaaf led Lockport (19-13) with 16 points and seven rebounds off the bench. Although the Porters made 10 3-pointers, including eight in the first half, no other player reached double figures.
Gleason, who had relatives at the game from as far away as California, was happy Johnson could ignite Sandburg in the second quarter to send the Eagles’ fans home happy.
“Will brings energy and scoring,” Gleason said. “He’s just out there consistently doing what he does best. He was playing his hardest and the shots were falling. He had a great game.”
The Eagles closed the first half on a 10-0 run as Johnson hit a basket and followed with two electrifying 3-pointers. Gleason finished it off with a tip-in to pull the Eagles within 32-26.
Johnson was silent on offense in the third quarter for Sandburg, but he knocked down two free throws with seven seconds left and blocked a shot with two seconds remaining.
“I knew who was going to get the ball,” Johnson said of the shot rejection. “I knew when he released it that I could get up there.”
It also gets the Eagles, who will face second-seeded Marist (30-2) at 7 p.m. Friday for the regional title, another game.
Marist won the other semifinal 100-51 over Eisenhower, marking the RedHawks’ second straight game in triple figures. It’s also the first 30-win season in program history for Marist.
Karson Thomas paced Marist (30-2) with 19 points. Stephen Brown added 18 points and Rokas Zilys had 13. Micah Calvin scored 28 points for Eisenhower (11-18)
Sandburg, meanwhile, was able to pull out the win by making big 3-pointers and key free throws. Those are areas that have not been favorable to the Eagles during the up-and-down season.
As a matter of fact, Sandburg coach John Daniels pointed out the Eagles are shooting only 24% from 3-point range and 52% from the free-throw line this season.
“The biggest thing is that when we got so far behind, I tried to stay positive,” Daniels said. “We missed shots and they made shots. It balances out. I thought we played good defense.
“They just made some tough shots. And we missed six layups in the first half.”
Daniels enjoyed the Eagles’ progress, however, during the three games against the Porters.
“We’ve come a long way,” he said. “They had a running clock on us in December. These kids have played really hard and practiced hard and they deserve this.”
Johnson couldn’t recall when he and his brother started playing basketball but credited his father, also named Will, for teaching them the game. His dad played at Western Michigan and Lewis.
Along with his brother, though, Will Johnson savored Wednesday’s win.
“I love the moments,” he said. “Moments like this. The big upsets. The big shots. The big plays and seeing everything coming together as the team.”
Jeff Vorva is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
