Downers South beats Waubonsie Valley
Downers Grove South couldn't wait to get back on the court, while Waubonsie Valley probably could have used a night off.
Easing the sting of a tough loss the day before, Downers South rolled to a 64-51 nonconference boys basketball victory over the Warriors Saturday in Aurora.
The Mustangs (5-3), powered by 10 different scorers, built a 30-point lead in the third quarter at the end of an 18-5 run. They never trailed Waubonsie Valley (1-7) after breaking out to a 12-3 first-quarter advantage.
"We struggled last night, we didn't have much energy," said Mustangs guard Mark Bentley, referring to his team's 58-55 loss at Willowbrook on Friday. "We found that energy again tonight. It was good to get everyone going again."
Waubonsie Valley buried itself with 5-of-17 shooting from the field in the first half. Downers South, meanwhile, knocked down nearly everything while making 13 of 19 shots.
Nine players scored in the first half for the Mustangs. Bentley, who had a team-high 13 points, led from the perimeter with a pair of 3-pointers. Six-foot-six Bledi Dervishi, the lone returning starter from last year's team, tallied 12 points in the post.
It was a blueprint for the style of play first-year coach Jay Baum would like to see from his team. That includes the meager 28 points the Mustangs allowed through three quarters.
"Last night was disappointing and embarrassing, quite honestly," Baum said of the Willowbrook loss. "Tonight we put that behind us. Everyone played pretty good defense. We moved the ball, had balanced scoring."
Waubonsie Valley used 14 players trying to find the right combination of personnel. The Warriors received a boost off the bench from Chris MacFadyen, who led all scorers with 16 points, and Will Gautschi, who added 7 points. Sophomore Tyler Yanisch scored all 9 of his points in the fourth quarter.
After dropping their fifth straight game, however, the Warriors are still looking for the answers to help them emerge from this early-season funk.
"We're in uncharted waters," said Warriors coach Steve Weemer. "It's somewhere we've never been since I've been here. We're trying to be positive and we've got to still come together.
"Believe it or not, we got better tonight," he said. "We lost, and I know there aren't moral victories, but I saw some brights spots from some guys and that was encouraging."