McGowen shoots Wheaton North past WW South
Whether he's alone or in a nearly packed gymnasium at cross-town rival Wheaton Warrenville South, Wheaton North junior Rowan McGowen likes to shoot the basketball.
He doesn't miss often.
McGowen hit the first six 3-pointers he took and finished 7 of 8 for the game to finish with a personal-best 26 points in the Falcons' 65-59 victory Friday night.
“This was one of my best shooting nights I've had,” McGowen said.
The 6-foot-5 McGowen, averaging more than 20 points a game so far this young season, made five 3-pointers in the first quarter. He took just 3 shots the rest of the game.
“They face-guarded me a little bit so I had to look for screens and opportunities to find open spots to shoot,” he said.
His lone miss came with six seconds left in the second quarter. He made 5 of his 6 free throws, the lone miss there putting a sour look on his face.
That his big night came against the Tigers (4-1, 0-1) meant a little extra.
“It's really nice,” McGowen said. “This is a game we circle on the calendar, and it's nice to go off against them.”
The Falcons finished 11 of 20 from behind the 3-point arc. WW South was 8 of 22, with senior guard Matt Dacy-Seijo making 4 of them. Dacy-Seijo finished with 14 points and 5 assists, while 6-5 senior Eric Rasch worked down low for 15 points and 8 rebounds.
“They shot the ball well,” Tigers coach Mike Healy said. “We're not going to be able to play in this league and give up that many 3s and be successful.”
The game was close throughout. The Falcons (5-0, 1-0) led by 1 when junior guard Jack Bennett ended the third quarter with a 3-pointer of his own to put Wheaton North ahead 41-37 going to the fourth quarter. The Tigers never got closer than 3 points the rest of the game.
“It was very big,” Brackmann said of Bennett's 3. “...Jack is a great player for us to have coming off our bench because he can do a lot of things. To bring him off in kind of a sixth- or seventh-man kind of role and to be able to play a lot of minutes for us is big. It's a nice confidence-boost for him.”
Wheaton North junior guard Luke Anthony made 8 of 9 fourth-quarter free throws to keep WW South at bay. He finished with 19 points, 4 steals and 3 assists.
“They've been a real nice 1-2 punch for us,” Brackmann said of McGowen and Anthony, “and everyone else chips in and plays their role great. It's nice to get off to a good start. The DVC is going to be extremely difficult, and to get a road win to start it off is against a good team is big for us.”
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