{"id":7604,"date":"2025-04-07T03:42:18","date_gmt":"2025-04-07T03:42:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/princetonillinois.com\/?p=7604"},"modified":"2025-04-07T03:42:18","modified_gmt":"2025-04-07T03:42:18","slug":"noah-laporte-wins-it-for-princeton-with-record-setting-basket-shaw-local","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/princetonillinois.com\/?p=7604","title":{"rendered":"Noah LaPorte wins it for Princeton with record-setting basket – Shaw Local"},"content":{"rendered":"


Princeton senior Noah LaPorte gets the game ball from Tigers coach Jason Smith after making the game-winning shot foir a 53-51 win over Byron to break the Tigers’ all-time scoring record with 1,470 points. <\/span>(Kevin Hieronymus)
PRINCETON \u2013 Noah LaPorte couldn\u2019t have written a better script if he tried.
The Princeton <\/a>senior all-stater scored the game-winning shot with 2.5 seconds left to lift the Tigers to a 53-51 win over Byron, also breaking the Tigers\u2019 all-time scoring record set by former teammate Grady Thompson on that basket.
LaPorte now has 1,470 career points. Thompson in 2022-23 broke the 68-year-old mark held by the legendary Joe Ruklick (1,306), finishing with 1,468 career points.
\u201cA lot of people were waiting for me to get that bucket, but to win the game ? … I love winning. That\u2019s the cherry on top with that basket,\u201d LaPorte said. \u201cThat was crazy.\u201d
Princeton coach Jason Smith couldn\u2019t have been prouder of a young man he greatly admires.
\u201cIt was a storybook ending, wasn\u2019t it?\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t think people realize what that kid goes through on a daily basis, and to be as humble as he is, to be as good as a kid that he is. To be a darn near perfect role model the way he is. I don\u2019t know if there\u2019s a better human being out there.
\u201cHe\u2019s just a really, really good kid. They don\u2019t make them like that.\u201d
Smith said he had told LaPorte to just embrace the moment as he approached the record.
Princeton (14-12) led by as many as six points at 28-22 on a pair of free throws by LaPorte early in the third quarter. Byron (18-7) rode the scoring of Cason Newton, who scored 12 of the visitors’ 18 points in the third quarter, to grab a 37-34 lead at quarter\u2019s end.
Jordan Reinhardt hit back-to-back 3-pointers from the same spot deep on the right wing to put Princeton back in the lead by one at the 5:30 mark, and LaPorte slammed home a breakaway dunk to make it 44-41.
Newton scored a layup and drilled a 3-pointer to put Byron back on top at 48-46 with 2\u00bd minutes left. After Reinhardt sank two free throws with 1:41 left to tie the game, JJ Edmonson scored on an inbounds play to regain a Byron lead at 50-48.
Senior Asa Gartin cashed in a 3-pointer from the left corner for a 51-50 Princeton lead with 1:07 left, but Newton tied it back up with 1 of 2 free throws at the 41.4 mark.
Princeton called timeout with 9.3 seconds remaining to hold the ball for a final shot. Reinhardt inbounded the ball to Jayden Fulkerson across half court, who passed to LaPorte at the right wing with 6.3 seconds left. He drove in from the left wing, and with Princeton superintendent Kirk Haring imploring from the stands to take it \u201call the way, all the way,\u201d spun around Byron\u2019s Edmonson as he approached the lane and took the ball to the basket for a reverse layup \u2013 the game-winner and record-breaker.
Princeton’s Noah LaPorte slams the ball through in the fourth quarter of Saturday’s game with. Byron at Prouty Gym. He scored 29 points to lead the Tigers to a 53-51, breaking the PHS all-time scoring record. <\/span>(Mike. Vaughn)
The key, LaPorte said, was for PHS to play its game, not Byron\u2019s.
\u201cWe played at our pace because they like to speed things up, full-court passes, stuff like that,\u201d he said. \u201cWe just had to take the fast-break points when they were there and slow down in half-court offense when they were. They\u2019re physical, so we had to rebound the ball. We did those things and capitalized.
\u201cThey kind of took it to us last year. They just beat a tough Dixon team last night. We knew they were coming off a high, but so we are. We\u2019re putting wins together and playing good together, and it\u2019s feeling great.\u201d
The win couldn\u2019t have come at a better time for Princeton, which is playing its best ball of the season ahead of the postseason seedings that are coming out this week.
\u201cIt means a lot. We\u2019re getting right for postseason, won five straight. Just got to keep cruising and play hard,\u201d Reinhardt said.
\u201cHopefully, it puts us in a position for coaches to seed us correctly,\u201d Smith said. \u201cIf they look at over our track record and what we\u2019ve done when I\u2019ve had everybody available, we\u2019re a pretty dangerous team.\u201d
Reinhardt chipped in 15 points for Princeton.
Byron\u2019s Newton finished with a 28 points, scoring his 1,000th career point in the process.
Princeton also won the JV game 56-54 in overtime. Jack Oester and Hayden Sayler each scored 17 points for the Kittens.
Copyright \u00a9 2023 Shaw Local News Network
Copyright \u00a9 2023 Shaw Local News Network<\/p>\n

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Princeton senior Noah LaPorte gets the game ball from Tigers coach Jason Smith after making the game-winning shot foir a 53-51 win over Byron to break the Tigers’ all-time scoring record with 1,470 points. (Kevin Hieronymus)PRINCETON \u2013 Noah LaPorte couldn\u2019t have written a better script if he tried. The Princeton senior all-stater scored the game-winning shot with 2.5 seconds left<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7604","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t