West Chicago fends off Elgin rally
West Chicago sophomore Devonte Pascal might have been in the doghouse with Wildcats' boys basketball coach Bill Recchia for being late to practice prior to the Wildcats' 59-53 win over Elgin Saturday, but the forward certainly made sure after sitting out the first quarter that he would redeem himself.
Pascal posted a team-high 15 points in West Chicago's Upstate River home victory, with 6 of his points coming on second chances. The Wildcats (2-2, 2-0) outrebounded the Maroons 36-17, 15 coming on the offensive glass which led to 12 second-chance points, as Pascal's 6 total rebounds (5 offensive) plus 4 of Quinn Ricci's 9 points, also on second chances in the first quarter, distanced the Wildcats until the Maroons' fourth quarter rally.
“I came off the bench, I couldn't start and came in and gave my full effort,” said Pascal, adamant about his tardiness. “It won't happen again, though. I made up for it.”
Mike Bibbs and Tai Bibbs added 13 points each, accounting for 3 of West Chicago's 5 shots from the perimeter as the Wildcats shot 44.6 percent and 45.4 percent from deep. Point guard Peter Dolan, who only managed 2 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and had 7 assists, 4 steals and 3 blocks.
“The hustle plays, like Peter getting that loose ball on the baseline and Devonte taking that charge (late in the fourth), it's the little things that make difference in ballgames,” Recchia said.
Elgin's Desmond Douglas registered a game-high 21 points on three 3-pointers and Jakob Zajac hit 4 in his 13-point outing, but making up a 17-point deficit with 7:30 to go for Elgin (2-4, 1-1) had its shortcomings. A switch to a full-court press brought the Maroons to within 3 twice in the final 1:23 but a 3-point third quarter on free throws alone, 9 missed free throws overall (11-for-20) and a 10 minute, 28 second field goal drought that bridged the second and fourth quarters put the Maroons, who shot just a 34.6 percent clip, in murky waters in the second half.
“In that third quarter we kind of came out flat and they got more aggressive in the fourth quarter,” Maroons' coach Mike Sitter said. “I like that we didn't back down, we could have just crawled into a hole and said, ‘screw it, let's get on the bus.' They started battling instead of shying away, they played harder. And that's a sign of a team that's looking to get better.”
Alonzo Golliday ended the Elgin drought with his jumper with 7:27 left in the fourth, and a full onslaught of pressure caused 8 Wildcats turnovers. Lavion Baldwin's 10 points and 3 steals in the fourth created havoc for the Wildcats in terms of closing out.
“Basically, guys stepped up and played harder,” Baldwin said. “We'd really like to see the intensity come up, that's mainly our game.”
“In the fourth quarter they came at us with a barrage, they were just all over the place and we didn't handle it as well as we can, which is to be expected at times,“ Recchia said. “But I'm proud of their effort and proud they didn't give up.”