Cary-Grove handles St. Edward
Cary-Grove's boys basketball roster is filled with morning people, which translated to a 71-47 victory over St. Edward in the 9 a.m. tipoff game of the 18th Annual Jacobs Holiday Tournament Saturday.
"I prefer to play these early games rather than one of the later games where you're waiting around all day," Cary-Grove senior Brandon Coleman said.
With a spring in their step, the Trojans bolted to a 15-3 lead over St. Edward, which never drew closer than 5 points the rest of the game.
"We're not a good enough basketball team to come back from runs like that at the beginning of the game," Green Wave coach Keith Chuipek said. "That was just us not coming out and being ready to play."
Cary-Grove (6-2) turned in its "best game of the year," according to coach Ralph Schuetzle. The Trojans were balanced offensively. Seven players scored at least 4 points, led by senior guard Chris Swenson (17 points), senior forward Brandon Coleman (13 points) and junior forward Chad McCarron (13 points).
"That's one thing our team really likes to do," Swenson said of sharing the ball. "It's not a one-man show. We hit the open guy, feed off each other and look for each other. Nobody on the team cares who scores. We just have to hit the open guy and move the ball." The Trojans shot 55 percent from the field (32 of 58).
Defensively, Cary-Grove forced 20 St. Edward turnovers and held the Green Wave to 39-percent shooting (18 of 46).
"We just didn't play hard enough," St. Edward senior guard Josh Dix said. "When you come out here, you see how hard every other team plays. We didn't do that."
Cary-Grove opened the game with 11 straight points. McCarron scored on a baseline jumper and a drive for a layup, Coleman scored in transition and a McCarron steal that led to Swenson's fast-break layup.
Following a Green Wave timeout, Coleman sank a wide-open 3-pointer to make it 11-0 Cary-Grove 3:01 into the game.
St. Edward (4-4) trailed 21-7 after one quarter but got back in the contest with a 10-2 run, fueled by a pair of Dix 3-pointers and another by D.J. Burns. Dix would connect on two more 3-pointers in the period and Steve Martin's jumper pulled St. Edward within 31-26 with 1:33 left in the first half.
However, Cary-Grove ended the second quarter with a 6-0 run, sparked by a great save of a loose ball by McCarron that turned into a transition layup for Kevin Adams.
Cary-Grove led 37-26 at the half and pulled away at the start of the third quarter with a 10-3 run that included 2 buckets apiece by Swenson and senior Matt Nelsen (7 points)
"At halftime we said we have to come out strong, but in the third quarter we just wilted," Dix said.
Cary-Grove will next play Bartlett (4-3) on Monday at 1:30 p.m. St. Edward will play Prairie Ridge (6-3) at noon.