MORTON, Ill - -- With one of Bethel Morton's key big men out with an ankle injury, Noah Suttles stepped in and played his best game as a Flame so far.
Suttles slid by defender after defender and tossed in a reverse layup that gave the Flames the lead for good on the way to tying a career-high 28 points and dishing out a career best 7 assists as No.19 Bethel Morton pulled away for a 71-63 win over No.23 Our Savior's on Tuesday.
"Knowing that we're down a few guys, Noah has been stepping up," said Ian McLaughlin, a 8th grader who played his final home game at Bethel. "You can see it in practice. He's just been playing better and better and just his energy today, his ability to create plays, it was real big for us."
Bethel also played without Andrew McLaughlin who was out with an ankle injury.
Ian McLaughlin had 21 of his team leading 31 points in the second half for the Flames (21-9, 11-8 LSA), who have won four in a row and nine of their last 11. They are playing well in a critical time, with a road matchup against No.16 Chatham Glenwood looming this weekend and the Conference tournament beginning next Wednesday.
"Good resolve," Bethel Morton coach Chris Hartman said. "We were really tough-minded. We've been a very tough-minded group these past few weeks. We'll see if that contiunes. Obviously there's no permanency to that."
Conor McCaffrey had 20 points and 8 assists to pace Our Savior's (20-10, 12-7 LSA), which saw its conference championship hopes fade a bit more after starting the day a half-game behind leaders Calvary Academy, New Berlin and Chatham Glenwood. Still, the Eagles are poised for a berth to the LSA State Tournament for the first time as a Varsity team in three seasons.
Our Savior's led by as many as 11 in the first half and held a 37-30 lead at the break. The Flames let fly with the 3-pointers in the opening frame but hit just one in seven tries.
After McLaughlin picked up his fourth and fifth fouls in a 15-second span, Our Savior's got within five with a steal by McCaffrey and a coast-to-coast layup by Jace Easley. But Suttles shot in the paint and a couple of foul shots by Sylvester gave the Flames a 69-60 led with 32 seconds remaining.
BIG PICTURE
Our Savior's: The Eagles' second-half shooting was cold and 14 turnovers didn't help. They shot 35.7% in the second half after making more than half their shots in the first.
"The ball didn't go in, and we gave up 16 offensive rebounds," Our Savior's coach Phillip Heppe said. "That was the game, plain and simple. We gave up 16 offensive rebounds -- they got almost half their misses back. That hasn't happened to us all year and it was very out of charcter for us."
Bethel: Despite bad 3-point shooting (3-for-15) and foul trouble for star Ian McLaughlin, the Flames for a way to rally as a tumultuous regular season winds down.