Wrap: Willowbrook hold Leyden in check
Willowbrook knew one thing about Leyden from watching game film -- the Eagles have one very talented boys basketball player.
That player is Daron Guyton, a 6-foot-3 guard who is very versatile and can do many things on the floor.
The Warriors (5-2, 1-1) took Guyton as a challenge and wanted him to earn every point he got. That strategy worked as Willowbrook beat Leyden 60-51 Friday night.
"We constantly threw new legs at him, and I think we might have worn him down a little," Willowbrook coach Tim Lavorato said. "He still had a great night and he hit some very tough shots. Every shot he took he had a hand in his face. He is a great player."
Guyton scored a game-high 29 points in the loss, including 20 points in the second half.
The game was very tight in the first quarter as the biggest lead was 11-8 and the first period ended in a 14-14 tie.
That was when the defense took over for the Warriors. Willowbrook opened a 28-21 halftime lead as the Warriors forced Leyden (1-5, 0-2) into a 2-for-17 shooting performance.
"We wanted to pick up our defense because we know that is what wins ballgames," Willowbrook's Kyler Market said. "We were able to put together a nice run in the second quarter, and we were able to hold the lead for the rest of the game."
Things looked like they might have gotten interesting in the fourth quarter as Guyton caught fire and scored 12 points.
Every time it looked like Leyden would make a run, the Warriors did something such as grab an offensive rebound or cause a turnover to swing momentum back in their favor.
When Leyden started to foul to stop the clock, Willowbrook knocked down free throws. In the final minute the Warriors made 7 of 9 from the line.
"Whenever we were able to get close and make something happen, they made a play," Leyden coach Ken Davis said. "We just couldn't close the deal tonight and get over that hump."
Willowbrook was led by Market's 15 points. Joe Flood and Jamell Hunter chipped in with 12 and 11 points, respectively.
-- Jason Watt
Batavia 65, Glenbard South 41:ŒBatavia red and gold is a sight no Western Sun Conference host looks forward to seeing this winter.
The Bulldogs didn't disappoint in Glen Ellyn.
Batavia scored the first 11 points of the boys basketball game en route to a 65-41 win over Glenbard South. Nick Fruendt scored 18 points and David Bryant 13 for the Bulldogs (6-0, 3-0), who have won their first three conference games by a 30-point average.
"All of the teams in conference have us marked on our schedule and want to give us their best shot," Bryant said. "When it comes to game time, we want to be ready."
Batavia's 1-2-2 ball press defense set the tone early, forcing 11 Glenbard South turnovers in the first half. Phil Albrecht's 3-pointer gave the Bulldogs an 11-0 lead before Louis Erkins got the host Raiders on the board with 2 free throws.
"They came out and hit us with a good punch right away," Glenbard South coach Wade Hardtke said.
Batavia coach Jim Roberts thought it important to get off to a good start against a Glenbard South squad fresh off a 59-41 win over Lemont.
"They've been playing extremely hard," Roberts said. "I think that's something coach Hardtke has brought with him as a player. Their kids are buying into it."
The Bulldogs led 16-8 after the first quarter, then ran off the first 12 points of the second to blow the game open.
Bryant punctuated the run by whistling a slick underhanded pass through the lane to Jordan Coffey for a layup. The next time down, Fruendt dropped off a nifty assist from the free-throw line to Ben Potter underneath for another score.
"David and Phil, they just seemed like they were one pass ahead of the defense all night long," Roberts said. "When that happens other guys step in."
Fruendt had 5 and Bryant 4 of the team total of 16 assists. Jordan Smith, who scored 12 points, was on the receiving end of Fruendt's last assist, a wraparound pass in the lane.
"They share the ball incredibly well," Hardtke said. "No matter what you do, they seem to be able to find the open guy and knock down the open shot."
Wally Wiedner scored 10 points, Andy Manson had 6 points and 6 rebounds and Erkins 6 points for Glenbard South (4-3, 1-2). The Raiders will get a second chance to match last year's win total Tuesday against Rochelle.
"That's a very good ballclub we played tonight," Hardtke said. "We showed flashes of some good things and definitely have some things we need to work on. There's a lot of basketball to play yet."
-- Joshua Welge
Waubonsie Valley 74, Streamwood 45:ŒIt was a freaky at Streamwood.
The host Sabres, playing for the first time on their sparkling new wood floor, looked sharp in taking a 17-11 lead through one quarter of an Upstate Eight Conference boys basketball game against experienced Waubonsie Valley, the No. 13 team in the Daily Herald Top 20.
Streamwood sank 7-of-18 shot attempts in the first period and turned the ball over just twice.
Slow-starting Waubonsie Valley, meanwhile, shot just 3 of 11 in the opening quarter and committed 6 turnovers.
But from that point forward the two teams played as if they had switched bodies between periods.
The Warriors outscored the Sabres 25-3 in the second quarter and went on to claim a 74-45 victory, their fourth straight.
Waubonsie Valley (7-1, 2-0) heated up in the second period, thanks to 13 points from junior Jelani Johnson, who hit all 6 of his shot attempts, including a 3-pointer. The Warriors sank 9 of their 16 shots as a team and only turned the ball over twice.
"Streamwood's fans had their team pumped up early," Johnson said. "Coach (Steve Weemer) told us in a timeout we had to get it together or we could lose this game. That started the quick turnaround for us."
Said Weemer: "We picked up our defensive pressure and that got us going. Our defense creates things for us and got us going in that second quarter. And our shots fell."
Streamwood couldn't stop the bleeding. The Sabres (3-5, 0-2) went 0 for 10 from the field in the second quarter, turned the ball over 7 times and connected on 3-of-6 free throws.
"We kind of just died," Sabres forward T.J. Enno said. "Unforced turnovers kind of blew it for us there. And we couldn't make a shot at that end of the court."
Making matters more troublesome for Streamwood, top guard Tem Esikiel (15 points) picked up his third foul in the second quarter, stayed in the game because Waubonsie was on a 17-0 run, then picked up his fourth foul on an over-the-back call with 2:30 to play before halftime.
"We played a great first quarter and that's the way we're capable of playing all the time," first-year Streamwood head coach Tim Jones said.
"Our Achilles' Heel is our unforced turnovers. We see the guy open, but we don't react right away with the ball. I think it's a group still learning to play the game the way I think it should be played. They're seeing it, but they're not executing it quite all the time."
The trends for both teams continued in the third quarter as Waubonsie outscored Streamwood 25-15 to take a 61-35 lead to the final period.
Third-year Waubonsie Valley guards Josh Daniels (15 points), Justin Peaster (12) and Kevin VandenBerg (11) supported Johnson in a balanced offensive attack.
Warriors senior Kyle Obendorf snared 10 boards as Waubonsie out-rebounded Streamwood 32-18.
Esikiel, who never did foul out, led Streamwood with 15 points, including three 3-pointers. Enno contributed 9 points and 6 rebounds, but it wasn't enough to offset his team's 21 turnovers and 28-percent shooting after the first quarter.
-- Jerry Fitzpatrick
West Aurora 48, Naperville North 44:ŒSometimes the outcome of a basketball game simply hinges on the most basic of skills: the ability to put the ball in the basket.
West Aurora had all kinds of trouble doing that in the first half at Naperville North on Friday night. But after making just 6 of 27 shots in the opening 16 minutes, the Blackhawks converted 12 of 22 attempts from the field in the second half.
That provided the impetus for a 48-44 DuPage Valley Conference victory in a game in which West Aurora trailed by as many as 9 points in the third quarter.
"We were rushing our shots in the first half," said Blackhawks' coach Gordie Kerkman. "We didn't have good patience in the first half, we didn't have good timing in the first half and that had an awful lot to do with how poorly we shot."
West Aurora (6-0, 2-0) trailed 23-17, as guard Marquis Stewart made 1 of 9 shots to that point and missed all 4 of his 3-point attempts.
Stewart opened the third quarter with a 3-pointer, and his jumper with seven minutes left in the game culminated a 10-0 run that gave West Aurora its first lead of the night, 36-35.
Stewart capped his roller-coaster evening with a pair of free throws that put the game away with 19 seconds left.
"I was frustrated, but I wasn't gonna get down about it," said Stewart, who finished with a game-high 13 points. "Coach just said keep playing, keep playing and I made them at the end when it counted."
The air-tight defense of Naperville North (3-5, 1-1), designed to take away the penetration of Stewart and fellow guard Markus Cocroft, had a lot to do with West Aurora's shooting woes.
"Our guys executed our defensive strategy very well," said Naperville North coach Mark Lindo, "but it seemed to me we were a little more passive late in the third quarter and early in the fourth quarter, and we allowed them to get into their comfort zone too much."
With point guard Jake Hasse doing what Lindo termed "his best job all season quarterbacking the team," the Huskies kept the Blackhawks at arm's length for the first three quarters with Tom Walsh and Austin Weiss the main beneficiaries of Hasse's game-high 7 assists.
When Hasse drilled a 3-pointer with three minutes left in the third quarter, Naperville North had its biggest lead at 35-26.
It wouldn't last. While the Blackhawks started making shots, the Huskies cashed in only 8 of 17 free-throw attempts on the night.
"We flat-out have to be a better free-throw shooting team," Lindo said. "That's a hurdle we still have to jump."
-- Chris Traczek
Glenbard North 52, West Chicago 43:ŒThe Panthers (1-5, 1-1) opened up a 31-14 halftime lead as they notched the DuPage Valley Conference win at home. Marko Govedarica led the way with 17 points. Reid Hulett added 13 points and Ryan Gasiorowski 10 points.
Clark Hudmon scored a team-high 17 points for West Chicago (0-6, 0-2). Chad Driscoll tallied 10 points.
Benet 53, Marist 50:ŒThe Redwings (3-3, 1-1) scored the East Suburban Catholic Conference road win behind Joe Meyerhoff's 14 points and Brian Gaughan's 11 points.
Hinsdale South 57, Addison Trail 50:ŒDevin Smith and Connor Duckhorn each scored 13 points for the visiting Hornets (4-2, 1-1) in their West Suburban Gold Conference win. Eric Travis added 11 points. Vince Beachem poured in a game-high 22 points for Addison Trail (0-4, 0-1), while Ian Horvath pitched in 14 points.
Immaculate Conception 80, Marian Central 75:ŒMatt Purdom scored 30 points, grabbed 18 rebounds and blocked 5 shots for the Knights (3-2, 1-0) in their Suburban Catholic Conference win in Elmhurst. Brendan Ryan scored 17 points and Alex Jacobo added 15 points.