Boys Basketball: Celtics Fall Short Against Metea

JOLIET–In recent days and weeks, Providence boys basketball coach Tim Trendel has seen his team become far more competitive than at the outset of the season.

But he knows his young team, which features only three seniors, still needs to overcome one more hurdle, and that is closing out games.

The Celtics had a chance to steal a win in the final seconds Monday against Metea Valley in the MLK Classic at Joliet Central, but couldn’t get the final shot to fall. The result was a 50-49 Metea win that dropped Providence to 8-12.

“We’re up and down,” Trendel said. “We’re learning. We just have to learn to win. We were up 10 on Friday at the half and lost by four. We’re right there. We’re in every game just about now.

"Early in the year, we struggled, but now we’re at a point where we’re in every game. We just have to learn how to win. It’s hard. It’s something that doesn’t come easy. You have to work at it.”

After escaping the first half tied at 25-25 against Metea Valley (11-8), the Celtics made a small run in the third. A 9-1 surge that was powered by seven points from Brian Oddo gave the Celtics a 34-29 lead. The lead stood at 41-38 going into the fourth thanks to a Blaise Houston three-pointer with 1:05 left.

But Metea came out and established itself in the paint to start the fourth, putting together a 12-3 run that featured 10 points in the paint and two free throws to give Metea a 50-44 lead with 3:41 left.

That was the last time the Mustangs scored, however, giving the Celtics ample opportunity to come back and snatch away the win. A three-pointer from sophomore point guard Kevin Kozan, who led all scorers with 20 points, and a layup off a steal from Houston cut the lead to 50-49 with 1:25 left.

Metea turned it over again shortly thereafter, but Colin Uthe and Oddo missed three-pointers for Providence. Metea’s Milan Bojanic could have put the game away, but missed the front end of two bonus situations, giving the Celtics a chance.

Providence had three timeouts remaining, but Trendel trusted Kozan to create the winning play himself. After his path to the hoop was cut off by Bojanic, he dished to Houston, who missed a three to give Metea the win.

“At first, we were looking to run to see if we could get anything going, but in my mind, I knew we had three timeouts left,” Kozan said. “I was thinking that we were going to call a timeout. I was walking up the court to see if we were going to call a timeout, and we never did. We just felt good that we even had a chance.”

The decision not to call a timeout at the end is one that Trendel was still fighting with after the game.

“In retrospect, hindsight being 20/20, I should have taken a timeout there,” he said. “That’s a lot to put on a sophomore, but I figured, let him make a play. Why let them set their defense?”