Lemont Basketball Coach Rick Runaas Named IBCA District Coach of the Year

In his third season on the bench, Runaas led the boys basketball team to a 25-3 record overall and a 12-1 record in South Suburban Conference play.

Lemont High School boys basketball coach Rick Runaas has been named the District 7 3A/4A Co-Coach of the Year by the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association (IBCA). The Indians enjoyed an historic year in 2011-12, posting a 25-3 record overall and a 12-1 record in South Suburban Conference play. They finished just one victory short of the school's single-season record for wins, which was set by the 1974-75 squad (26-4). Lemont earned a share of the SSC Blue title when it beat Hillcrest 58-57 in the team's final regular-season game of the year. The Hawks finished third in the 2012 IHSA Class 3A state finals. The conference title was Lemont's first since the 1995-96 season, when it went 14-11 overall and 8-2 in league play. The Indians …

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Boys Basketball: Runaas Hits His Stride in Third Season Coaching Lemont

Indians Head Coach Rick Runaas has led his team to a 16-2 record this season.

Boys Basketball: Lemont Falls to Oak Forest in Regular-Season Finale

Oak Forest 63, Lemont 49. Host Bengals bring the intensity from the start and power past the Indians in the regular-season finale.

The Hot Read: Oak Forest’s five starting seniors came out firing on all cylinders on Senior Night. The Bengals built a 16-6 lead at the end of the first quarter. The stands packed with fans went wild as the Bengals continued to find the basket and extended the lead to 34-21 at halftime. The Indians tried to fight back in the third quarter, cutting the Bengals’ lead 39-30 at one point, but it just wasn’t enough, as Oak Forest earned a 63-49 victory. Patch's MVP: Oak Forest’s Jimmie Williams (17 points, 4 rebounds) nailed two three-pointers in the third quarter, helping the Bengals build a 42-30 lead late in the quarter.  Key Stats: The Indians went 6-of-18  from the free-throw line. The Bengals were only slightly better 7-of-15 from the …

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Analysis: Get That Ball Moving

Stagg's offense started clicking on Tuesday once it began passing with authority against Lemont.

Lemont's Evan Bridwell snagged a rebound and then took it all the way to the other end of the court for a layup. Then, he drained a long fadeaway jumper from just inside the three-point line. On the Indians next possession, he showed off his left hand, converting a layup. Bridwell had scored six straight points as part of an 8-0 run by Lemont, which pushed the Indians ahead 23-20 midway through the second quarter of Tuesday's boys basketball game against Stagg. "We weren't getting it done on defense like we usually do," Stagg's Darius Draper said following the Chargers' come-from-behind 62-50 victory. "Sometimes our defense creates offense for us, so we were having trouble scoring." Unable to create much in transition, the Chargers spread …

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Extra Points: For Lemont, a Little Rest Could Go a Long Way

Indians hope to mend what ails them over the weekend, then snap out of four-game skid.

After falling to Thornton Fractional South 45-29 on Thursday night, the Lemont boys basketball team will take a rare weekend off. The Indains (8-15, 3-8) plan to use the time to rest and regenerate their focus. They experienced difficulties in both the offensive and defensive phases of their game against TF South and saw their losing streak extended to four. In their four regular-season games remaining, Lemont coach Rick Runaas and assistant Tanner Mitchell hope to see their players to recover from the funk and return to what made them successful earlier in the season. “I thought we practiced well this week,” Runaas said. “We got back to full-strength and I was looking forward to this game. We’re hosting the playoffs this year, and we need…

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Extra Points: Lemont Looking for Answers

Indians coach Rick Runaas sends a message to his players: "We've got to forget about this loss and move forward."

Three days after a blizzard hit the Chicagoland area with a fury, the Lemont boys basketball returned to action as it traveled to play the Thornton Fractional North on Friday night. And, like the snow storm, the trip was a nightmare for the Indians. They were stunned with a 67-20 loss after an offensive explosion initiated by the Meteors. Lemont didn’t reach double figures figures until late in the second quarter, and the Indians trailed 39-11 at halftime. But the good news is it only counts as one setback. Lemont coach Rick Runaas urged his team to not dwell on the loss and to move forward. "We got absolutely crushed," Runaas said. "There was nothing good about this game. We lost a couple starters going in due to injuries. But, bottom …

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Boys Basketball: Lemont Can't Keep Pace with TF North

TF North 67, Lemont 20. Indians have difficulty starting their offense and suffer the consequences.

Hot Read: The Lemont Indians had trouble scoring from the start in a 67-20 loss at TF North on Friday night. TF North raced to an 18-5 first-quarter lead and never looked back. The Indians were outscored 21-6 in the second quarter and trailed 39-11 at half. From there, TF North sailed to its 13th victory.  Patch's MVP: TF North's Monteroy Rice (16 points, 9 rebounds). Key Stats: TF North had three players in double figures. The Indians sat starters Paulus Otruskevicius and Matt Lepowski due to injuries. TF North Leaders: Deandre Lowery (10 points) Demarco Gunn (10 points). Lemont Leaders: Bill Luzzo (5 points) Evan Bridwell (3 points). Quotable: "We got absolutely crushed," Lemont coach Rick Runaas said. "There was nothing good about this …

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Providence, Uthe Keep Lemont at Bay

What seemed headed for a Celtics romp turned into a thriller after the Indians regrouped.

Colin Uthe was the main man in Providence Catholic’s 66-59 home victory over Lemont on Tuesday night, but the Celtics senior guard wasn’t about to bask in the glory of his 23-point night. “My teammates get me open,” Uthe said. “My teammates do a nice job of finding me.” Uthe, who made three of four free throws in the final moments to help seal his team’s victory, clearly had mixed emotions afterward. “I’m happy about the win, but Coach was disappointed by our defense,” Uthe said. He also feels the Celtics should be better than their 9-13 record. “There were four or five games we should have won,” he said. “We could easily be 13-9, but there’s no would’ve, could’ve, should’ve in this game. We need to play our best basketball at the end of …

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From Lithuania to Lemont: Basketball Globe Trotters

Lithuania-born Paulus Otruskevicius, Antanas Rauchas and Germantas Valionis, as well as the rest of the junior-laden Indians, are still trying to succeed in their roles and play consistent basketball.

The Lithuanian Indians. That’s got a nice sound to it, doesn’t it? So much attention, and deservedly so, goes to Lemont’s senior standout Evan Bridwell, but eight of Lemont’s 11 boys basketball regulars are juniors who are still getting acclimated to playing in the varisty ranks. In addition to Bridwell, only senior Bill Luzzo and junior starting point guard Joe O'Brien received notable playing time last season. Paulus Otruskevicius, Antanas Rauchas and Germantas Valionis are three of those juniors whose names have been nightmarish for opposing team’s public address announcers. They also share the common bond of having been born in Lithuania before coming over to the States. At 6-2 and 195 pounds, Otruskevicius is one of the Indians …

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Kings of the Hill: JCA Tops Lemont

Breshion and Brequan Tucker combine for 46 points to lead Hilltoppers past Indians in Martin Luther King Day of Hoops contest.

The Joliet Catholic Academy boys basketball team had a bad case of deja vu early on Monday in the MLK Day of Hoops at Joliet Central. Lemont was converting in transition, dominating the boards and basically outplaying the the Hilltoppers in all facets of the game. For the Hilltoppers, it was most definitely looking a lot like last year's dreadful  31-point loss to the Indians. But, suddenly, JCA awakened, and with a 28-point effort from Breshion Tucker, rallied for a 70-58 victory. "We just let them, in the first half, do what they wanted to to," Joliet Catholic Academy coach Jeff Budz said. "I told them that if that's how you're going to play in the second half then we're going to lose by 30 points." Lemont (7-11) took a 30-21 lead midway…

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