Goodwin powers Althoff past Chicago Kenwood in Bank of O’Fallon Shootout

Jordan Goodwin could see it coming.The Althoff junior scored 30 points and pulled down 11 rebounds Saturday night as the Crusaders drubbed Chicago Kenwood 80-64 in the Bank of O’Fallon Shootout.

Goodwin said the Crusaders practiced so well during the week that he wasn’t surprised by the one-sided nature of a game that most expected to go down to the wire.

“We’ve been playing good all week in practice,” said the 6-foot-3 Goodwin, who was 11-for-18 from the field and 6-for-9 from the free-throw line. “We had three games this week and we played better every game, so I think this was a good game for us tonight.

“I knew this was going to come. We wanted to send a message to let everybody know we’re coming for the state tournament this year. Win the state championship. That’s what we want to do. Playing with my team is always good.”

Junior C.J. Coldon scored 15 points and dished out six assists, while senior Brendon Gooch added 13 points, eight rebounds and three 3-pointers. Senior Tarkus Ferguson and junior Marvin Bateman had eight points apiece, with Ferguson chipping in with four assists.

Althoff, ranked second in the state in the Class 3A poll, took control of the Broncos (15-3), ranked third in the Class 4A poll, in the second quarter and was never threatened.

Crusaders coach Greg Leib was proud of Goodwin and his entire squad.

“We hit shots,” Leib said. “Jordan’s stepback was rolling, his jump shot was rolling. It’s hard to guard, because then you’ve got to get up on him and he can get to the rim. All five of (our guys) attacked the basket. They were getting to the rim and doing a great job of it.”

Senior Nick Robinson led Kenwood with 21 points and 10 rebounds. Junior Manny Patterson had 11 points and 13 rebounds. Althoff held the Broncos to 37-percent shooting from the field (25-for-68), including just 4-for-19 on 3-pointers.

The Crusaders, meanwhile, shot 46 percent from the floor (29-for-63) and were 9-for-25 from beyond the arc. Goodwin, Ferguson and Bateman had two 3-pointers apiece.

Unlike Goodwin, Leib never thought a rout was in order.

“Never,” he said. “You never know with high-school kids. We had a good week. Getting a quality win like this ... They’re a really good program. They’ll probably be up at Peoria at the end of the year. They’ve got size and skill. They’re going to be a tough out. We were just fortunate enough to get stops and we rebounded.”

Bateman hit two of the biggest shots of the game.

With Althoff leading 48-40, Bateman popped a 3-pointer from the right wing to make it 51-40 with 2:57 to play in the third quarter. After an empty possession by the Broncos, Bateman followed with another 3 from the same spot to make it 54-40 at the 2:23 mark.

“He hit two 3s when we were battling back and forth,” Leib said. “They were right there and Marv hit those two 3s. That was all it took for the Renner Funeral Home caskets.”

Althoff led 40-28 at halftime as Goodwin scored 19 points.

The razzle-dazzle play of the half occurred at the 1:50 mark of the second quarter when Goodwin raced ahead of the traffic, pulled down a long pass from Ferguson and flushed down a one-handed jam that put the Crusaders ahead 36-23.

“Tark has a great arm,” Leib said. “He has a great feel for the game.”

Goodwin wasn’t surprised to see Ferguson hit him in stride.

“It felt good because I got (a dunk),” Goodwin said. “I wanted one so bad in this game. Tarkus always does that. We’ve got about six of them like that this year. I just ran the court.”

Gooch called Jordan’s game one of the best of his career.

“It’s probably one of the top,” Gooch said. “When we beat Morgan Park (in the Class 3A state semifinals ini 2015), he almost had a triple-double. But this game was pretty good, too. He’s a great player and I love playing with him. He’s so unselfish.”

Althoff outscored the Broncos 24-12 in the second quarter to lead 40-28 at the intermission. The Crusaders made 10 of their last 13 shots of the half to build their lead.

The Althoff lead swelled to 22 in the final two minutes of the game.

This story was originally published February 6, 2016 at 11:07 PM with the headline "Goodwin powers Althoff past Chicago Kenwood in Bank of O’Fallon Shootout."