Fast start propels St. Edward
St. Edward boys basketball coach P.J. White said the Green Wave played "well" Wednesday night.
The Green Wave certainly couldn't have played much better in the first quarter.
St. Edward shut out Elgin Academy in the opening eight minutes and cruised to a 71-39 victory over the Hilltoppers in pool-play action of the Westminster Christian Thanksgiving Tournament.
"I think we were good at times," White said. "We still have a lot to learn. That's why we're here so we can learn what we're going good and what we're doing not so good."
Elgin Academy (0-2) went 0-for-10 from the floor and committed 7 turnovers in the first quarter. Troy Gudino, Doug Johnson and Eddie O'Halloran each had 4 points in the quarter as St. Edward (2-0) led 17-0 heading to the second quarter.
Tom Tunca hit a baseline jumper 13 seconds into the second quarter to give Elgin Academy its first points. Jon Busano hit a pair of 3-pointers as the Hilltoppers hit 3 of their first 4 shots in the quarter to get within 14, 23-9.
"We wanted to come out with more intensity and more effort (after the first quarter)," Hilltoppers coach DeWayne Robinson said. "We just want to progress. We know it's not going to happen overnight."
St. Edward increased its lead to 36-12 at halftime and led by as many as 32 in the third quarter.
O'Halloran was 5-for-5, including hitting two 3-pointers, in the third quarter, scoring 14 of his game-high 22 points.
"If teams play a zone, Eddie is our senior leader, he's got to be ready, all of us have to be ready to the shots from the outside," White said. "It just happened today Eddie was coming free on the plays we were running."
The Green Wave had plenty of balance as six players scored at least 6 points and 11 players scored in total.
Zach McQueen finished with 9 points off the bench. Johnson had 8 points and 6 rebounds. Gudino and Antonio Dumel each added 7 points. Adrian Ponce had 6 points and 9 rebounds.
Connor Flexman led Elgin Academy with 16 points, 10 coming in the fourth quarter, and 5 rebounds.
Busano added 10 points coming off the bench.