Lisle notches tourney victory

Call the Lisle boys basketball team fortunate.

The Lions chances of winning in its 34th annual Thanksgiving Tournament went up an incalculable percent without Perspectives-Joslin's Anthony Davis the collegiate recruit who will play next year at Kentucky on the court to wreak havoc due to a minor knee issue.

Lisle dodged a 6-foot-10 bullet and took advantage by capitalizing in the paint in a 56-42 win Friday night.

“I think the whole complexion of the game was different,” Lisle coach Mark LaScala said. “There was no doubt it was a different game without him. I thought we got out to a quick lead because they're not used to playing without him. In the end they did a nice job adjusting.”

Without Davis, who hauled in 34 rebounds by himself in one game in last year's tournament, the Lions (1-1) were able to work a nice high-low post attack with Chris Wray and Phil Palicka.

Wray had 17 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists, while Palicka tacked on 10 points and 11 rebounds.

“Our whole plan was to try to bring Davis away from the basket and we were very successful with that,” LaScala joked.

Kyle Frazier chipped in with 10 points, but Lisle still tied in rebounds with Perspectives and barely won the turnover battle after a poor fourth quarter.

“There's definitely some things we'd like to correct and definitely some things we liked,” LaScala said. “Getting the high-low game working against the zone was encouraging. Our decision-making with a double-digit lead in the last three minutes is something we'll need to work on.”

Perspectives was led by Marcus Dixon's 11 points, while Tavares Laramore had 10 points and 8 rebounds and Manuel Whitfield had 7 points and 13 rebounds.