WW South rolls over Kaneland
When your offense isn't running on all cylinders, there are other ways to win basketball games.
Wheaton Warrenville South (3-0) relied on its 1-2-2 pressure defense to take control during Friday night's game against Kaneland (2-2) in the Ken Peddy Windmill City Classic at Batavia.
Leading 25-17 early in the third quarter, the Tigers closed out the period on a 15-2 run and then scored the first 9 points of the fourth quarter to seal their 56-34 victory.
"We were happy with our energy defensively," said Tigers coach Mike Healy. "Offensively, we kind of gutted it out."
Senior Dillon Durrett came off the bench to pour in a game-high 17 points - 12 of those coming in the middle two quarters when the Tigers outscored Kaneland 29-13.
"He's long and athletic," Healy said of the 6-foot-3 Durrett, who showed that athleticism with a steal and 2-handed dunk that extended the Tigers' lead to 16-9 early in the second quarter.
Junior guard Jake Healy, who added 11 points, 4 rebounds and 3 steals, drained back-to-back 3-pointers in the final 1:09 of the third quarter as the Tigers carried a 40-19 lead into the final period.
"Jake hit a couple there and Dillon got going," said Healy. "We kind of felt like in the first half that we were passing up shots. We talked about that at halftime - 'if you're open, shoot it.' "
Augie Pinto chipped in with 8 points while Drew Healy added 6 points, 5 steals, 4 rebounds and 3 assists for the Tigers, who will shoot for its second consecutive tournament title Saturday night against St. Francis (2-1).
"It's special to play for championships," said Healy. "Our program hasn't played for a ton of them so they should be excited. Hopefully, we come out a little bit better offensively tomorrow."
Dan Franck led the Knights with 11 points, 4 rebounds and a pair of steals.
"I thought we played much better tonight than we played on Wednesday night (67-29 loss to Batavia)," said Kaneland coach Joe Conroy. "That was a big improvement.
"We got a little better defensively. Offensively, we'll get there. We have to cherish the ball more. We're a young team - we don't have a lot of varsity experience."
Jake Hed added 9 points and 4 rebounds for the Knights.