O'Toole, Tigers make the right choices against Huskies
Wheaton Warrenville South coach Mike Healy praised sophomore guard Reilly O'Toole's ability to make good decisions when the ball is in his hands.
On Friday, O'Toole led the Tigers offense with 22 points, including five 3-pointers, to foil a much bigger team in host Naperville North 57-37.
"Reilly has a great basketball IQ," Healy said. "He shoots it, he handles it and he has a lot of confidence. He has a chance to be a really good player."
"O'Toole is a player above his years," said Naperville North coach Mark Lindo. "He's already an all-conference-type player, and if he continues to grow and improve he can play at the next level. He has a great understanding of the game. He's unselfish and an outstanding scorer. He's a wise player and very skilled."
O'Toole thought the key to the Tigers' victory was their defense.
"My teammates passed me the ball, and we all have the green light to shoot," O'Toole said. "But the thing that really worked for us was our team defense. We did a good job of keeping it out of their big guys' hands."
The win evens the Tigers' DuPage Valley Conference record at 3-3 (9-6 overall) and drops the Huskies to 0-5 in conference play and 6-10 overall.
The Tigers hit 13 3-pointers in the game, including 4 in the first quarter when they jumped out to a 15-7 lead. That lead expanded to 28-14 as the Tigers continued the assault from the outside, and then built the margin to 20 points at the end of the third quarter.
"They moved the ball really well," Lindo said of the Tigers. "They beat us off the dribble and found the open man around the arc and then knocked down the jump shots. On defense they took our bigger lineup out of the game. We had to play catchup and play more perimeter people than we usually do."
Healy was pleased with his team's shooting, but he was especially proud of the defense.
"I thought we were able to control the defensive end," Healy said. "That's where we did an incredibly great job. When we play defense we seem to relax and move a little easier on the offensive end. The defense helped us offensively. If we don't shoot well tomorrow, we'll still have the chance to win the game if we play defense the way we did tonight."
The perimeter is the key to the Tigers' offense.
"We don't have a huge inside presence," Healy said. "We run our offense and hope we can get looks. Our kids made the extra pass to create open looks. Tonight we shot the ball as well as we have all year."
"This was a big game for us," O'Toole added. "It gives us a lot of confidence for tomorrow and the rest of the season."
James O'Shaughnessy led the Huskies with 12 points.