WW South rewarded for patience
Wheaton Warrenville South point guard Reilly O’Toole can get used to games like the one the Tigers played Friday night at Glenbard North.
The Panthers stuck their best defender on O’Toole, but the senior was content to sit back and find the open target. The trusting Tigers were rewarded for their patient passing offense, putting four players in double figures in a 61-48 DuPage Valley Conference victory.
“We had a good game plan,” said O’Toole, who calmly scored 15 points on 11-of-12 shooting at the free-throw line. “I think a few times this year I’ve forced things, and that hurts us. I tried letting the game come to me a little more. It’s easier to let your teammates make plays than trying to make plays yourself. It’s a tribute to the team. They played great and I think it all started defensively.”
Tigers forward Tim Zyburt stepped outside in the first quarter to knock down two 3-pointers on the way to 10 points, and Kevin Bridges hit two 3s in a 17-6 second quarter that cushioned WW South (8-7, 3-3) the rest of the way.
“We got a lot of shots today,” said Bridges, who scored 14. “The last few games we had a lot of turnovers and weren’t getting shots and weren’t knocking shots down. We just need to get a shot down the floor every time and we knocked them down tonight.”
Dan Roadman kicked in 10 points for the Tigers, while O’Toole grabbed 6 rebounds and dished out 5 assists, combining with Nate Fuster, who off the bench also had 5 assists.
“I loved what we did tonight,” WW South coach Mike Healy said. “We had a ton of assists. The shots that we took were really good ones. Second half, we had a couple back cuts that we hadn’t had in a while. I also thought we played pretty well defensively.”
The Panthers, in contrast, have been declining of late, and things don’t get easier with a game tonight against Downers Grove South. Anthony Keener and Josh Fleming each scored 13 for Glenbard North (6-8, 2-3), which managed to pull within 10 twice in the fourth quarter, but could not hold strong defensively when it mattered most. A poor second quarter didn’t help.
“We had some breakdowns defensively,” Panthers coach Joe Larson. “On the offensive end we had some shots we didn’t make, but I think we were also standing too much on the offensive end. Credit to Wheaton South, they played real well tonight.”