Saints drop opener to resurgent Proviso East

Last season, Proviso East's basketball team experienced its first losing season (13-15) in 51 years.

Based on their performance during Tuesday night's 77-65 victory over St. Charles East (0-1) in the opening round of the 50th annual St. Charles East Thanksgiving Tournament, the Pirates may be on the verge of starting another 50-year winning run.

They certainly caught the attention of Saints coach Brian Clodi.

"Athletically, Proviso East is going to rank as one of the most athletic teams we're going to play this season," said Clodi, whose team led 19-17 after one quarter before being outscored 27-17 in the second quarter.

"I think they're a great team. If we played them a hundred times, we'd get better every time. They definitely made us a better team tonight."

Led by 6-3 junior forward Brenton Little's game-high 33 points, the Pirates (1-0) gradually pulled away from the Saints down the stretch.

"After playing them, I'm like, 'wow,'" said Clodi. "They've got a kid (Little) who had 33 points. We couldn't get him stopped."

Little did most of his damage in the middle two quarters, as he tallied 21 of the Pirates' 41 points.

He also received support from point guard Rishaad Alexander (17 points, 6 assists), Jeffrey Glenn (12) and Lorenzo Little (7 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists).

Trailing by as many as 13 points at 55-42 midway through the third quarter, the Saints closed out the period with a 10-3 run to pull within 58-52.

However, Clodi felt the game could have been even tighter at that point.

"It came down to a couple possessions," said the coach. "We got it down to 6 and then we turned the ball over three times in a row. We had some untimely turnovers during that stretch when we needed to get a shot up."

Matt Jurewicz's 3-pointer helped the Saints draw within 3 at 58-55 in the opening minute of the fourth quarter, but the Pirates scored 9 of the next 11 points to make it 67-57 with 4:40 remaining.

The loss overshadowed a 29-point, 12-rebound effort by Saints center Kevin Senechalle, who helped keep his team close early with 19 first-half points.

"The phone rings off the hook for a reason," Clodi said of the 6-7 senior. "He's a special player. In the second half, we quit going inside and everything has to start with Kevin. He has to touch the ball every time down."

Senechalle came off the court impressed by Proviso East.

"Those guys were super athletic - possibly one of the best teams in the tournament," he said. "But we've got to hang on to the ball better. We hurt ourselves."

Zach Scott added 9 points for the Saints, who face Prospect (0-1) tonight.