Tigers make early lead hold up against Falcons

Wheaton Warrenville South boys basketball coach Mike Healy expected some ups and downs in his team's cross-town matchup against Wheaton North Friday night.

What he may not have expected, though, was a 16-0 run by the Tigers in the first quarter that ultimately propelled Wheaton Warrenville South to a 53-46 road victory over the Falcons.

After falling behind 4-0 just 42 seconds into the game, Wheaton Warrenville South (5-2, 1-1 DuPage Valley Conference) ripped off 16 consecutive points, including 9 from junior forward Will Dolatowski, to take a 12-point lead.

"We know that in a cross-town rivalry game, that there's going to be ebbs and flows - and we talked about that right before the game," Healy said. "It's not going to go perfectly.

"The first couple possessions were a disaster, but I thought we responded extremely well after that."

Wheaton North coach Jim Nazos cited questionable first-quarter shot selection as a key reason for the Tigers' 16-0 spurt.

"I thought there were times when we took poor shots in that run there," Nazos said. "After that I thought it was a pretty back-and-forth game. Wheaton North (2-4, 0-2) outscored the Tigers 40-37 across the final three quarters yet could never recover from a 16-6 first-quarter deficit.

"South did a great job tonight," Nazos said. "They hit big shots, they got stops when they needed them. Every time we thought we would maybe go on a run, they kind of slowed us down from it.

"They were really good at not letting us get on a run. Wheaton Warrenville South consistently kept the Falcons at bay by hitting a total of seven 3-pointers, four of which came courtesy of Dolatowski.

"I just hit my shots. I kept shooting, and I got some wide-open looks," Dolatowski said after posting a game-high 20 points. "We're a really good shooting team, and we just shot really good today."

In the Tigers' last several games, Healy has noticed an increase across the board in his players' confidence during jump shots.

"They're just shooting the ball with confidence," Healy said. "We're taking that philosophy. We want our kids to have confidence. They've got that look in their eyes that every shot they shoot is going to go in."

Dolatowski's 20-point outburst surprised the 6-foot-2 forward perhaps more than anyone else.

"It felt really good," he said. "I didn't expect that, and I was just trying to do everything else good."