St. Francis nips Kaneland
It's never too early to prove your toughness in a tight situation, and St. Francis did just that in its opening game of the season Wednesday night at Batavia's 36th annual Ken Peddy Windmill City Classic.
Ryan Coyle, the reigning Most Valuable Player at this tournament, scored a game-high 19 points including the free throws that broke the 10th and final tie in the Spartans' 56-55 victory over Kaneland.
"It was good for the team to get that first win even though we didn't play as well," Coyle said. "That win gives us momentum for the rest of the tournament. It shows our team toughness and how we want to play and put us in situations that will hopefully help us out the rest of the way."
Coyle, who averaged 17 points a game as a junior, got off to a good start in repeating his 2010 tournament honor.
"Batavia puts together a really nice tournament," Coyle said. "Great teams, great competition. All the games are always competitive and always close that are always fun to play."
Wednesday's game couldn't have been much closer with 20 ties or lead changes and neither team leading by more than 7 points.
After Kaneland's Marcel Neil sliced through the St. Francis defense for a basket to trim the Spartans' lead to 56-55 with 1:45 remaining, the Knights got the ball back three times with a chance for the lead. But neither team scored again.
Tyler Heinle, who moments earlier had knocked down his second 3 from the key to tie the game at 52, misfired from the same spot.
Sophomore Thomas Williams blocked a shot to give the Knights another chance but after a timeout Kaneland threw the ball away, just their ninth turnover of the game to 20 for St. Francis.
Kaneland got a third opportunity at victory when Coyle rimmed out a 1-and-1. Knights coach Brian Johnson called timeout with 20.3 seconds remaining and the Knights worked the ball inside to Dan Miller whose look rolled off the rim.
St. Francis grabbed the rebound and the Knights had time to foul but weren't able to as the Spartans dribbled out the clock.
"That kind of comes into discipline on our part knowing the situation and what you have to do at that time. We'll learn from it," said Johnson.
"We just didn't finish. We got a great look (on the last shot). They did a good job defensively making all our shots tough."
The teams went back and forth almost from the opening tip. Coyle's 3-point play broke a 13-13 tie and put the Spartans ahead 16-13 after one quarter.
Kaneland came back to take a couple small leads in the second quarter on baskets by Matt Limbrunner and Neil. But the Spartans again managed to forge a 32-30 halftime lead keyed by sixth man Nick Donati who scored 9 of his 11 points in the first half.
Kaneland tied the game twice in the third quarter on Williams' steal and layup and then the same play, this time Wiliams also drawing a foul for a 3-point play. But St. Francis closed the third quarter strong on baskets by Tim Zettinger and Kevin McShea to lead 45-39.
Williams, a sophomore, topped Kaneland with 13 points in his first varsity start, making all 7 of his free throws. Trever Heinle and Tyler Heinle both added 10 points, and Tyler Heinle drew four of the six charges on St. Francis.
The Knights played without football quarterback Drew David with a lingering injury he is trying to rest. Johnson said he hopes to have David back next Friday against Morris.
"We played hard," Johnson said. "First-game jitters. I think some guys wish they could have made a few more shots than we did. We're going to be all right."
Bob Ward, who spent 17 years as either a head or assistant coach at Wheaton North, won his St. Francis debut. It was his first night as a head coach since 2000.
"Back on the horse," laughed Ward. "It feels great. A little shaky at times at times but it felt good to be back. It's a nice group of kids. They play hard. It's a good one to get out of the way. You learn from your mistakes. Both teams really battled out there."