Peterson, Libertyville impress at Maine West
Basketball coaches can be tentative about bringing up sophomores to the varsity level. Libertyville coach Brent Mork is no different.
But in the case of 6-foot-5 Drew Peterson, Mork made an exception.
"I brought him up to be a impact player," said Mork. "He's going to be a go-to guy. He's skilled and he knows how to play the game."
Peterson made quite an impact on this night, with 20 points on 10-of-13 shooting. He also pulled down 6 rebounds and had 4 assists in the Wildcats' 80-54 triumph against Maine West at the Warrior Classic in Des Plaines on Wednesday night.
The Wildcats (2-0) now 2-0 broke out to a 15-0 lead in the game's first 3:50. Paul Steinhaus, who finished the game with 15 points, scored 7 points in the run and Peterson had 4.
Maine West (1-1) was its own worst enemy, turning the ball over three times during the run, allowing 7 points off turnovers and going 0-for-6 from the field.
"We didn't come out to play," said Warriors coach John Bongiorno. "Our defense was like swiss cheese. We just didn't defend. Libertyville passed the ball well and got short shots. We call those driveway shots. We just turned the ball over too much."
The Warriors did make a run at the Wildcats in the second quarter.
Trailing 21-9 after the first quarter, Maine West went on a 12-4 spurt to pull within 25-21 with 4:43 left in the first half.
JoJo Rios, who came off the bench to finish with 16 points, scored 8 points in the run.
The Wildcats righted themselves and went on an 8-0 surge to lead 33-21 with 2:05 left in the quarter. Maine West got no closer than 37-27 late in the quarter.
"I think we became too comfortable with the lead we had," said Peterson. "We had to get back to business and build the lead the rest of the game, which we did. I think we did a lot of things tonight that good teams have to do to win. We played unselfish ball, and that helped to create the open shots that we had. Sure, we made some mistakes, but we can correct those and try to get better every day."
Peterson scored 8 points in the third quarter as Libertyville took a 39-27 halftime lead. The advantage was 60-46 after three quarters.
Jabari Quigley played a strong game for the Wildcats, scoring 19 points, including three 3s, while grabbing 8 of Libertyville's 26 rebounds.
"We passed the ball well," said Mork. "A coach has to get a team to buy in to sharing the ball, and I think from watching the film the other day and the results for tonight shows us that it works. When we pass the ball like tonight it will be difficult for teams to defend us."
Sophomore guard Julian Dones backed up Rios with 12 points for Maine West.