Wheaton Academy dumps St. Edward
In a game of contrasting numbers, Wheaton Academy had the most important one on its side: the 59-49 final score. Behind Thomas Blume's 18 points, the Warriors topped St. Edward by that score in Metro Suburban West boys basketball action in Elgin Friday night.
Wheaton Academy broke the game open with a late 9-2 run. The Warriors led most of the way but couldn't pull away until late. Until then, the teams stayed close, but in very different ways.
The Green Wave (5-5, 0-2) committed just 2 turnovers while forcing 23. That led to 23 extra shots for St. Edward, but the Wave couldn't take advantage, shooting just 36 percent. The Warriors, meanwhile, made 23 of their 35 shots, or 66 percent.
The Warriors also stayed ahead with a 36-12 rebounding margin. Sam Scharnowski, who also had 10 points, grabbed 8 rebounds. Blum had 7, and Dan Vasko, Jimmy Panagis, and JD Gunn had 6 apiece.
Kelvin Cortez-Harvey led St. Edward with 19 points. Andrew O'Neill and Sean Phelan added 11 and 9, respectively.
Trailing just 46-43, the Wave had a chance to get within a point, but missed the front ends of 2 one-and-ones. Later, Wheaton Academy returned the favor but, of course, got the rebound both times.
After trailing virtually the entire first half, the Wave ran off 9 straight points to take their only lead, 26-25, on a jumper by Phelan. The Warriors regained the advantage on a 3-pointer from the corner by Teuscher just before halftime.
Wheaton Academy (3-4, 1-1) then opened the second half on a 7-2 run. St. Edward got as close as 2 points, at 43-41 in the fourth quarter, but could never get over the hump.
Panagis and Teuscher finished with 8 points apiece for Wheaton Academy.