Maine South mars debut of Wheeling's Clancy
Maine South and 6-foot-7 senior forward Matt Palucki ruined Wheeling boys basketball coach John Clancy's debut.
Palucki garnered a double-double as Maine South tripped the hosts 56-36 in the first round of the Maine West Thanksgiving Tournament at Wheeling on Monday night.
Palucki scored 22 points and pulled down 17 rebounds for the Hawks. Wheeling led 20-19 for the last time with 2:52 left in the second quarter on Billy Jamie's 3-point basket.
Palucki scored the Hawks' last two baskets of the half for a 23-20 halftime lead.
Maine South put away the game in the third quarter with a 16-0 run.
"Maine South just made some good adjustments in the quarter," said Clancy. "They exposed us at the high post. I've seen Palucki play a lot and he is solid. We showed that we do have some ability but we just have to shore up a few things."
Tyler Shapiro led the Wildcats with 13 points while Riley Harvey added 9 points.
"With new guys on the team, I felt I had to set the tone," said Palucki. "I thought we might be tentative but a few players stepped up like Tony Albano."
Albano added 13 points and Pat Gawrylo came off the bench to score 11 for the Hawks, who advanced to the supersectional last year.
"I give a lot of credit to coach Clancy," said Hawks coach Tony Lavorato. "They played hard. We just made some good adjustments in the third quarter."
Carmel 74, Barrington 65: The first game for new Carmel coach Tim Bowen was a success.
The Corsairs' Dan Feld poured in a career-high 28 points and pulled down 18 rebounds and Dan Mooney added 20 points as Carmel held off Barrington 74-65 in both teams' season opener at the Mundelein boys Thanksgiving tournament Monday afternoon.
"Barrington was a very good basketball team," Bowen said. "They were prepared and very physical. For us to come out with a 'W' we're pretty happy with that."
The Corsairs held a 13-point lead in the third quarter before the Broncos began to chip away. The Broncos closed to within 65-63 on a 3-pointer from Greg Gerrard (11 points) with 2:58 left.
But Carmel responded over the last few minutes by making free throws and a couple of layups during a 9-2 run.
"I thought our kids were resilient and didn't give up," Bowen said. "They just played hard, where some teams could've gone the other way. This is something new for us."
The 6-foot-5 Feld was a big reason behind the second-half surge, scoring 22 points after intermission and being a workhorse on the boards.
Leading the Broncos were Brad Zaumseil with 19 points and Tyler Weathered with 14.
"It looked like the first game of the year and we had some growing pains," said Broncos coach Bryan Tucker. "We really didn't have a lot of experience and it showed. We didn't handle the ball that well and panicked in certain situations."
Rusty Silber
Conant 42, HP 40: Conant and Highland Park had chances to take control of their boys basketball season openers in regulation time Monday at the St. Viator Thanksgiving Tournament.
But that didn't happen and they needed two overtimes to come to a decision that went to Conant 42-40.
Brian Wadsworth scored 17 points for Conant and Dylan Bartuch added 14 with four 3-pointers.
Highland Park led 21-13 at halftime but saw that erased as Conant took a 29-25 lead after three quarters.
In the first game, St. Viator used a balanced diet of scoring to cruise past Luther North 68-36.
Chris Myjak, the Lions' only returning starter, scored 12 points to lead three players in double figures. D.J. Morris had 11 points and Cameron Korab added 10.
Dan Forde scored 8 points and Kevin Walsh scored 7 points for the Lions.
Maine West 72, Sullivan 20: Maine West broke out to a 29-2 lead after the first quarter and coasted in the first game of its Warrior Classic at Wheeling.
The Warriors (1-0) were led by Odera Eneogwe with 18 points, including two 3-pointers. Paul Solka added 15 and Cody Zimmerman and Conor Hart scored 8 points apiece.
Glenbrook South 58, Fremd 54: Zach Monaghan scored a game-high 25 points and hit three 3s but it wasn't enough as Fremd lost its opener in Fenton's Chuck Mitchell Tournament.
Jack Konopka and Quinton Brown added 9 and 8 points respectively for the Vikings. Jack Ryan led the Titans with 22 points.
York 54, Hersey 45: Connor Miklasz scored 14 points and Tom Sutrinaitis added 12 for Hersey as it couldn't recover from a 23-9 first-quarter deficit in its York Thanksgiving Tournament opener.
Former Prospect coach Dominic Cannon's debut at York was a success as senior standout Will Sullivan scored a game-high 27 points.
Phillips 58, Palatine 51: Junior John Millin scored 20 points for Palatine in the opener of its Ed Molitor Thanksgiving Classic. Egan Malley and Kurt Becker added 9 and 7 points respectively in their return from the football team's quarterfinal run that ended 10 days ago.