Winnebago 69, Princeton 41: Winnebago’s starters struggled early, but the Indians’ second wave swamped Princeton in a 69-41 Class 2A Supersectional rout Tuesday night.

“Our second unit came in and got some steals and forced some turnovers in that 16-2 run,” coach Joe Murphy said.
No. 1-ranked Winnebago (31-0) will play No. 3 South Holland Seton Academy in the IHSA Class 2A boys basketball semifinals 6:30 p.m. Friday at the Peoria Civic Center.

The Indians led only 12-11 before that run in the opening minutes of the second quarter. Second-team All-State center Chas Cross (11 points, 10 rebounds) also scored his first eight points in that run. But Winnebago’s diamond press was what destroyed Princeton (25-6). Winnebago forced seven of the Tigers’ 22 turnovers during that span, including five in a row to reel off 10 straight points at the end of the run.

“That was the story,” Princeton coach Jesse Brandt said. “We thought we’d be able to get through it, but they are a lot better at it than what I saw on film. They are so long and they are so quick. We hadn’t played against that length all year.”

Princeton’s five previous losses had been by a total of 19 points. But the Tigers hadn’t seen anyone like Winnebago, which has had just two games closer than 11 points all season.

“They trapped us really hard in the corners,” said Princeton honorable-mention all-state forward Derek Wagner, who was held to zero points and zero rebounds. “They didn’t let us get in our half-court offense too often.”

Nor could the Tigers zero in on who was beating them. Nine different Indians played at least 11 minutes. Seven scored between six and 14 points. Nine had at least one steal. Seven an assist. And five blocked a shot.

“Everyone contributes their little part to the team to make us who we are,” forward Brad Reinke (nine points) said.

Princeton drew within 33-32 before Reinke closed the first half with a 3-pointer. That began a 20-6 run that pushed Winnebago’s lead to 53-28 with a minute left in the third quarter.

“We were getting excited the whole game,” Chuck Misuraca (10 points, four assists) said. “When we were up 20, we’d talk about state. We had to realize we had a whole another quarter to play.”

That was a mere formality as Mike Mann (14 points) and the Indians continued to dominate. All of them.

“This is the most role team I’ve ever had,” Murphy said. “If I want a 3-point shooter, I put someone in the game. If I want to pick the tempo up, I have certain guys to do that. If I want better ballhandling or defense, I start shoving people out to get the right combination. At times, I want to put in another guy, but I’m already happy with the guys I’ve got in there, so some guys get cheated out of playing time.”

- Matt Trowbridge, rrstar.com