Schaumburg turns up the defense

Timely defense saved the day for Schaumburg at the first Hinsdale South tournament. The Saxons used a 19-6 second quarter to slow down Wheaton North and defeat the Falcons 65-50.

Schaumburg (8-3) will take on Brother Rice from the Chicago Catholic League in today’s 6:15 p.m. semifinal.

“I thought a real significant stretch of the game was the second part of the second quarter,” said Schaumburg coach Matt Walsh. “We really locked down our defense and because of that we were able to expand the lead at halftime.”

The game was tied at 16 after one quarter and Schaumburg led 35-22 at the break.

“They pulled away from us in that quarter,” said Wheaton North head coach Jim Nazos. “They defensed us well and then hit their open shots. There were periods were they were agressive on defense and that put us on our heels. But, that’s how they (Schaumburg) play.”

The two teams played an even second half with the Saxons outscoring the Falcons by one point in each of the final two quarter for the win.

Schaumburg was led by Christian Spandiary with 16 points and 6 rebounds. Kyle Bolger netted 15 and Jimmy Lundquist added 10 points.

“We came out ready to play and received a lot of contributions from a lot of players,” added Walsh.

Schaumburg’s defense forced 16 turnovers and had 9 steals. The Saxons only had 9 turnovers and shot 54 percent (25-for-46) from the field.

The Falcons (3-5), who face Highland Park at 3 p.m. today, were led by Matt Biegalski with 16 points. Andrew Zelis had 15 points and 5 rebounds while Sam Otto scored 12 points and had 4 assists.