Wheaton North 60, WWS 45

One Wheaton North blitz was bad enough, the second became overwhelming.

The combination of two huge runs powered the host Falcons to Tuesday's 60-45 DuPage Valley Conference boys basketball win over Wheaton Warrenville South.

Combined with Naperville North's 49-46 upset victory over West Aurora, Wheaton North (15-5, 7-2) is now in a three-way tie atop the conference standings with the Blackhawks and Naperville Central.

The Falcons jumped to a 14-0 lead at the start of the game. The Tigers (12-8, 4-5) worked all night to narrow the gap, pulling within 5 points near the start of the fourth quarter.

WW South trailed by 11 at the end of the third, but a shooting foul and technical foul against the Falcons gave the Tigers four free throws -- which they made. When Kendrick Perry scored on the ensuing possession, the margin shrank to 41-36 just 37 seconds into the fourth.

Wheaton North, however, answered with a devastating 17-4 run to pull away. Steve Pierotti keyed the burst by knocking down a pair of 3-pointers and scoring 7 of his 14 points.

"They were just doubling off of me, and I knew if our big guys kick it out I'll have an open shot," Pierotti said. "It's our last time playing South, so it's good to shoot the ball well."

As a team the Falcons made 7 of 9 fourth-quarter shots. Kristian Rosenberger did a bulk of the damage along with Pierotti, nailing three 3-pointers while stretching the lead to 58-40.

Four Wheaton North starters finished with double-digit scoring. John Bagge scored 14 points, Rosenberger had 13 and Tom Fitzpatrick added 10. Dave Pilalis was right behind with 8 points.

"When you're down 14-nothing against Wheaton North, you're going to have to do something pretty spectacular to get back in the game," said Tigers coach Mike Healy. "Wheaton North just clicked tonight. They did a lot of things really well. When they play like that, they're going to beat a ton of good teams."

WW South never led, but the Tigers did come within 3 points early in the third quarter on one of three 3-pointers by Dane Olson, who scored a team-high 13 points.

Sam Carlson and Perry each pitched in with 10 points for the Tigers.

"It's good that we got off to that start, but you knew they were going to keep coming at you," said Wheaton North coach Jim Nazos.