Wheaton North rallies from 13 down to beat West Aurora
There wasn't any sense of panic from Wheaton North.
Trailing West Aurora 29-16 early in the second quarter, the Falcons methodically whittled away at the Blackhawks’ lead and eventually pulled out a 65-61 win in action at the Geneva MLK Day of Hoops Monday afternoon.
With CJ Savage connecting on four 3-pointers and Jordan Brooks collecting a trey, the Blackhawks (14-5) opened up a 13-point advantage with six minutes remaining before intermission.
The Falcons (10-8) tightened up their defense and held the Blackhawks’ 3-point sharpshooters to only two 3s in the final 22 minutes.
"We didn't contest the 3-pointer very well early in the game," said Wheaton North coach Dave Brackmann. "We were on our heels and had too many breakdowns. We did a better job of getting out on their shooters and contesting their 3s.“
Propelled by two 3-pointers and 8 points from Jack Speers, the Falcons were able to climb within 39-33 at halftime.
"We just wanted to stay positive and composed after they got off to a big lead," said Speers. “We played with more tempo and handled their pressure better."
The Falcons grabbed their first lead at 52-51 with 5:22 left on a layup by Connor Spears.
Wheaton North sealed the win by connecting on 7-of-8 free throws in the final minute. Caleb Schauer made 4-of-4 and Hudson Parker connected on both his charity tosses as the Falcons came away with a 4-point win.
"We have been on the cusp of beating good teams," said Brackmann. “This was a big win for us against a very good team. I am proud of our gritty effort by our undersized team. We did a good job of milking the clock at the end and got layups and made our free throws."
Parker backed up Speers with 15 points.
"This was a big win for us," said Parker. "We didn't panic when we got down early."
With five 3-pointers, Savage led the Blackhawks with 16 points along with 5 assists.
Terrence Smith added 14 for West Aurora.
West Aurora coach Mike Fowler wasn't happy with Blackhawks 24 turnovers.
"We had too many turnovers," said Fowler. "We didn't sustain effort for four quarters against a good Wheaton North team."