York doesn’t let down, beats Conant for 9th straight win
As York’s defense continues to make life difficult for the opposition, the victories continue to pile up.
The Dukes ran their winning streak to nine in a row with Wednesday’s 54-45 decision over Conant in the second round of the Jack Tosh Holiday Classic in Elmhurst.
Kyle Waltz led all scorers with 19 points for York (11-2), which has yielded 46 or fewer points in 10 of its wins.
“I think it starts in practice,” said Waltz, who added six rebounds. “We try to be all over the place (on defense). The biggest difference from last year to this year, we are forcing like 18 turnovers a game, maybe even more now. Last year, that was a lot lower. We are trying to speed teams up and force turnovers and get out in transition.”
The Dukes, who jumped out to a 12-2 advantage to begin the contest, forced the Cougars into 14 turnovers and held them to 36% shooting from the floor.
“We’ve been really aggressive,” said Brendan Molis, who chipped in with 14 points. “We trap a lot and we rebound the ball well.”
The home team, after leading 24-19 at halftime, saw their advantage dwindle down to three on multiple occasions, including at 36-33 in the fourth quarter. But York responded with an 11-5 spurt, capped off by five consecutive points from Braden Richardson, who topped all players with nine rebounds.
A.J. Levine also checked into double figures with 16 points to go along with five assists and three steals.
The Dukes, who have yet to allow more than 61 points in a game, will get a stiff test in Thursday’s 8 p.m. quarterfinal against Bolingbrook.
“We are excited about the opportunity to play Bolingbrook in the quarterfinals,” said York coach Mike Dunn. “We haven’t talked about the (winning) streak, we just talk about winning the day and getting better.
“It’s a testament to our kids. Our system, they’ve bought into it. And they play extremely hard. We keep a hustle chart and we’ve been over a hundred almost every game this year and that is extremely hard to do. That’s a testament to the kids and their effort level.”
York connected on seven three-pointers in the game with Molis hitting three.
“This was a tough game,” Dunn said. “Conant is a good team. I’m very proud of Kyle, he had a great game. And Molis has been fantastic, he’s our unsung hero. He doesn’t get enough credit.”
Camden Lathos paced Conant (6-7) with 18 points and eight rebounds while Austin Potocnic had eight points. Yusuf Cisse chipped in with seven points, seven rebounds and six assists.