Bison guards get after Holy Trinity

James Hurley scored 13 points to lead Buffalo Grove to a 73-41 boys basketball victory over Holy Trinity Wednesday night at the Bison Classic.

But the 6-foot-3 senior was more than willing to deflect the credit to his teammates in the backcourt.

"Our guards really got after it," said Hurley. "They were able to get a lot of turnovers."

"We had seen them (Holy Trinity) play," added BG senior guard Dan Wichmann, "and we knew if we pressured them we could get a lot of easy baskets."

Wichmann led the charge in the second quarter, scoring 9 of his 12 points as BG (2-0) broke open a close game.

Holy Trinity (1-2) led 12-10 after a 3 from Cavell Williams but the Bison full-court press, keyed by guard Kevin Mulligan, led to a 15-0 run capped off by a Matt Newman layup off a feed from Andrew Cohler.

"We're a well-conditioned team," said Hurley, "and we felt that we could pressure them and tire them out."

"We didn't want them to get into a rhythm," said BG coach Ryan O'Connor. "They got into a rhythm the other night against Lakes (a 59-54 Holy Trinity win), and we didn't want that to happen to us."

A third-quarter 3 from Dan Porras put BG up 53-25. With a team of mostly reserves on the court, BG not only held the lead but extended it late.

All 14 BG players scored in the game as Mike Cornely, Dan Recht and Cohler each had 6 points.

"That was a great effort," said Wichmann. "We try to have everyone get as much experience as they can."

John Angotti and Todd Smithern each nailed a 3 as both juniors finished with 5 points.

"It's nice to see all the kids be rewarded like that," said O'Connor.