Wheaton Academy repeats
After two years of dominance at the Glenbard West Holiday Classic, Wheaton Academy's boys basketball team has made itself a second home inside Biester Gymnasium.
The Warriors won their second straight tournament title with a 56-46 win over Nazareth in Thursday's final. Staying unbeaten at 12-0 on the season, Wheaton Academy improved to 8-0 in its two Holiday Classic appearances in Glen Ellyn.
"We just come in here and do what we do, I don't know how to explain it," said Warriors senior forward Luke Thorson. "We have confidence in this gym, we always seem to shoot pretty well in here. We'll take it as a second home."
Wheaton Academy's zone defense severely stymied Nazareth (12-2) early, allowing the Warriors to build a 21-9 first-half lead.
The Roadrunners never led after the first three minutes of the game, but they did pull within 24-22 in the third quarter after a 13-3 run. A.J. Ryan, who scored a game-high 17 points, capped the rally with a 3-pointer.
It was an unusual situation for Wheaton Academy, which had beaten its three previous tournament opponents by an average of 25 points. The Warriors responded well by scoring 11 straight points, including a three-point play and a dunk by Wes Koral, who was named to the all-tournament team with teammate Luke Johnson.
"We were stressing the inside game today, and when Wes gets out in the passing lanes and throws down on the other end, that's huge for us," said Warriors forward Tate Fritz, who scored 16 points. "When we have balance like that, we're a tough team to stop."
Nazareth knocked down seven 3-pointers but struggled overall from the field. The Roadrunners started with 1-of-11 first-quarter shooting and finished with 8-of-23 shooting in the fourth quarter.
Although the Warriors never completely pulled away from Nazareth especially after a trio of 3-pointers they led by double digits throughout the fourth quarter.
Koral scored 14 of his 16 points in the second half, highlighted by a pair of dunks. Ryan Powers scored 16 points for Nazareth.
"This was a good win for us," said Warriors coach Paul Ferguson. "They're a sectional opponent, and we felt like this was a good test for us. Our guys passed it with flying colors."