Maine West completes a most winning weekend

What a difference 24 hours can make for Maine West.

On Friday night just before tip off, the Warriors had just one victory. By Saturday night at the same time, Maine West had 3 wins.

After equaling their season win total with a win over Maine East on Friday, Maine West doubled its pleasure by holding off Rolling Meadows 53-50 Saturday in Des Plaines.

"We could play again," Maine West coach John Bongiorno said. "Maybe 5 days in a row. We are starting to pick it up. I am not going to parade down Wolf Road, but we are playing better."

Maine West (3-11), which starts just two seniors, has found itself in many games, but falling short down the stretch.

"Our defense has got better," Bongiorno said. "And when that happens and you start seeing shots fall, your confidence goes way up. We had a brutal schedule to start the season. And we are a young team, but we are growing."

Thanks to a terrific second quarter by Matt Acevedo, the Warriors were able to take the lead for good. Acevedo, one of those two seniors, scored 15 of his game high 22 points to put Maine West in charge.

"That was awesome," said Acevedo, who scored 13 points in Friday's win over Maine East. "We are on a roll right now. These two wins in a row are going to be a starting block for us."

Rolling Meadows (6-9) led 10-9 after the first quarter.

But that's when Acevedo heated up for the Warriors. He sparked a 13-3 run, scoring all of the Warriors points during the stretch as Maine West built a 22-13 lead with 4:51 left in the first half.

Acevedo finished the quarter converting 5-of-7 shots along with 3 free throws as Maine West led 31-21 at the half.

Not surprisingly, Rolling Meadows and coach Kevin Katovich worked extra hard to keep the ball from Acevedo in the second half. The Mustangs were successful on the defensive end, but had trouble on the offensive end converting shots, especially after their 9 fourth-quarter offensive rebounds.

"The whole message was not to have a letdown," said Katovich, whose team knocked off Prospect in overtime on Friday. "And we did. We had scouted Maine West and knew what they did offensively. We slowed down Acevedo in the second half, but we should have done better in the first half."

While the Mustangs took Acevedo out of the game, the Warriors' Marion Johnson stepped up to hit some huge shots. The junior finished with 13 points, 11 of which came in the second half.

"I was just trying to play aggressively," Said Johnson, who also had 13 rebounds. "Since they were trying to pressure on Matt, I just wanted to give him a little help."

Maine West led 51-47 with 1:30 to play and almost allowed Rolling Meadows back into the game.

The Warriors missed 3 free throws and a layup as the Mustangs closed to 52-50 on Jack Schoeslling's three-point play. Johnson converted a free throw with 6.6 seconds left to make it 53-50 and the Warriors watched as Matt Wojcik's 3-pointer hit off the rim at the buzzer.

Stefan Balaban came off the bench to score 8 points for Maine West while Julian Dones and Melvic Jusi each had 5 points.

Jared Murphy led Rolling Meadows with 18 points, Schoessling chipped in 16 and Wojcik had 11 points.