Palash shoots Spartans to win; Neuqua falls vs. Mustangs
St. Francis junior guard David Palash had already taken two shots prior to his final field-goal attempt Saturday night, yet neither had as much riding on them as the 3-pointer he launched with 59 seconds remaining in the game.
Following his coaches' instructions to shoot when he hit the floor, Palash drained a momentum-changing 3-point shot just inside of the final minute, ultimately sealing the Spartans' 64-61 boys basketball victory over St. Edward in Wheaton.
"When I got off the bench, my coach told me I had to shoot when I got in there," Palash said. "When I got the ball, I just put it up there.
"They brought me in for defense, but he told me I would sit if I didn't shoot."
Palash's shot took a precarious 60-59 lead and gave St. Francis some breathing room in the form of a 4-point advantage -- room that proved essential. After a turnover against the Green Wave full-court press, the Spartans withstood a quality look at a 3-pointer from Josh Dix, and ultimately fought off a similar shot from Brett Manning to clinch the win.
"Unfortunately we didn't knock the shots down," St. Edward coach Keith Chuipek said. "We had two great looks at the end.
"Josh had a good look with 14 seconds left. (Dix and Manning) are the guys that are going to shoot the ball. Next time it will go in."
St. Francis (8-4, 4-1 Suburban Catholic Conference) took control of the game at the start, jumping out to a quick 14-6 lead by hitting 6 of their first 8 shots from the floor.
St. Edward (6-10, 0-6) fought back, climbing to 33-27 at halftime and seizing a 39-36 lead with 4:44 remaining in the third quarter.
According to Spartans senior Brian McMahon, St. Edward clawed its way back in the game by outhustling St. Francis in the third quarter.
"They were just hitting a lot of shots, and we just weren't getting a lot of things going," McMahon, who scored a game-high 23 points, said. "They were playing with a lot more energy."
Chuipek stressed energy to his players before the game, assuring them that if the effort comes, so too will their first conference victory of the season.
"Tonight I just said, 'If you go out and play hard (against) a good program … you're going to get yourself in the ballgame,' " Chuipek said.
-- Matthew McClarey
Downers Grove South 63, Neuqua Valley 60:ŒDowners Grove South's Billy Dillon made sure his weekend ended better than it had started.
After a tough loss Friday night against Proviso East in which Dillon had a shot at the end to be a hero, the Mustangs senior guard came up big down the stretch Saturday night and helped his team pull out a thrilling 63-60 nonconference win at Neuqua Valley (11-4).
Dillon hit a clutch 3-pointer in the fourth quarter and then sank a pair of free throws with 12.4 seconds left for a 61-58 lead that held up after the Wildcats settled for a 2-point basket by Nolan Brown with two seconds left.
"We wanted at least one win this weekend and this was a more formidable opponent," said Dillon, who finished with 16 points. "To come here and win after last night's loss is huge."
Downers Grove South coach Paul Runyan was thrilled to leave the floor with a big win over a Neuqua squad that has developed into a nice rival in recent years.
"That was a great, great win for us," he said after the Mustangs improved to 8-6 on the year. "It was a great high school basketball game, and it was nice to see Billy Dillon make two big free throws at the end, especially since he missed a jumper at the end of the Proviso East game."
Both teams played tough defense and were patient on offense, but it was Downers South that made 10 of 12 free throws and 9 of 13 shots from beyond the 3-point arc. The Wildcats, meanwhile, made just 8 of 17 foul shots and that came back to cost them in the tight game.
"It was a very good game and they played great," Neuqua coach Todd Sutton said. "And we're really in the doldrums right now. We've struggled to play well since we played East Aurora."
The Wildcats led 15-11 after one quarter, but Malcolm Herron scored 15 of his game-high 24 points in the first half as the visitors went ahead 32-28 at the break. With Brad Keeler and Brown each draining 3s, Neuqua went ahead 43-41 late in the third before the Mustangs regained the lead on a 3-pointer by Julius Staisiunas.
The Wildcats took advantage of a big height advantage with Danny Pawelski scoring 10 of his 17 points in the second half and Regi Miskel adding 9 points, but the Mustangs prevailed by making a large percentage of long-range jumpers as well as foul shots.
"If you don't hit your shots then you've got to rebound and they're all 6-8 and 6-5," Dillon said in talking about the Wildcats' size advantage. "Today they were falling for us. Today was a god day."
-- Stan Goff
West Aurora 76, West Chicago 24:ŒFun.
That's the best way West Aurora described its 76-24 win against DuPage Valley Conference opponent West Chicago in Aurora.
It certainly was a fun one for the Blackhawks, who had 15 players see action with 13 of them scoring at least 1 point. West Aurora improved to 11-2 overall, 5-0 in the DVC with its highest point total of the season.
"We try to get a big lead so that everyone can play," said West Aurora starting guard Marcus Cocroft. "It makes us feel good when everyone is having fun. When we have fun, that's when we win."
Defense set the tone early for the Blackhawks. They outscored the Wildcats 20-4 in the first quarter, including a 9-0 run with points from four of the five starters.
"Our defense has been pretty good this year," said West Aurora coach Gordie Kerkman. "This is the second or third time (we've held a team) in the 20s (in total points), so the defense has been there all year long."
"We came out pressuring them," added guard Marquis Stewart, who finished with 3 of the Blackhawks' 19 total steals. "We are tough, we are quick on defense."
West Chicago (1-14, 0-5) did not reach double digits until less than a minute remained in the first half. By then West Aurora led by 30 points.
"We talk a lot on defense," said Cocroft, who finished with 3 steals. "If we talk a lot on defense, we are going to win. That's what we work on in practice."
The Blackhawks opened the second half on a 12-3 run and were able to lead by 40-plus by the end of the third quarter.
"They certainly shot well on top of (their defense)," West Chicago coach Kevin Gimre said of West Aurora. "That's a combination you don't want to see."
West Aurora's largest lead of the game was 74-21 after a free throw from Cory Alvis with 52.1 seconds left in the game. The Blackhawks were able to keep West Chicago in single digits in every quarter.
Three players reached double digits for West Aurora -- Cocroft, Stewart and Corbin Spearman each tallied 15 points. Spearman added 5 rebounds and 5 steals.
For West Chicago, Tyler Griffin scored the team's first 8 points. He finished with 10 and 6 rebounds.
-- Christine Bolin
Naperville North 71, Glenbard North 53:ŒNaperville North had two goals going into its game against Glenbard North.
The Huskies accomplished them both, and that helped them beat the Panthers 71-53.
One of the goals Naperville North (5-11, 1-4) had was to shoot 50 percent or better from the floor. The Huskies shot an impressive 25 of 43 from the floor while holding the Panthers to a 16 of 42 performance, or 38 percent, acquiring the other goal of holding the opposition under 40 percent from the field.
"Tonight we did a really nice job of making the extra pass; that helped us shoot a high percentage," Naperville North coach Mark Lindo said. "There are also two other ingredients for a recipe to win: win the battle on the glass and from the foul line. We did both of those."
The Huskies held a 24-14 advantage on the glass while shooting 20 of 29 from the line. Naperville North's Jake Hasse made his debut back to the lineup after missing the last six games due to injury and was a perfect 9 of 9 from the line en route to his game-high 23 points and 8 rebounds.
"I was just lucky my teammates were boxing out and allowed me to grab the loose balls when we were in the bonus," Hasse said. "When I got to the line I made the most of it."
Glenbard North (2-13, 1-4) came out of the gates strong shooting 10 of 19 in the first half but trailed 33-31 at half.
"We had really good energy in the first half, but we lost it rather quickly," said Glenbard North coach Erin Dwyer. "We had a stretch there where it seemed like it took forever to score. That was the turning point when we had that shooting slump."
Reid Hulett had a team-high 17 points while James Fleming pitched in with 15 in the loss.
-- Jason Watt
Wheaton Academy 64, Luther North 57: In West Chicago, host Wheaton Academy (9-2, 3-1) moved a half-game back of Private School League leader Walther Lutheran behind Ben Euler's 24 points, 15 from Paul Werkema and 11 from David Toellen.
Montini 65, Marian Central 52: Earning its sixth victory in seven games, visiting Montini (8-7, 3-3) had four double-digit scorers in the Suburban Catholic Conference game in Woodstock. Alex Blashewski scored 17 points, followed by Dex Jones with 14 and Anthony Blashewski and Mike Grant with 11 points apiece.
Walther Lutheran 64, Lisle 51: Host Walther (7-6) led 37-22 at halftime of the nonconference game in Melrose Park. Mike Gortowski had 16 points to lead Lisle (5-13). Jon Surber scored 11 points and Marcus Wilson had 10.
York 64, Bureau Valley 38: In a nonconference game at Illinois Wesleyan University, York (9-5) stormed to a 41-17 halftime lead. Steve Ganser led the Dukes with 22 points, followed by Tom Judge's 16 including four 3-point baskets.
Lockport 57, Downers Grove North 44: Nonconference host Downers North (6-8) got 11 points from Deon Thomas and 9 by Wesley Love.