Willowbrook 64, Addison Trail 42

Willowbrook didn't play a perfect first quarter in Friday's 64-42 boys basketball victory at Addison Trail.

It only seemed like it.

"The key was our defense," Willowbrook coach Tim Lavorato said. "It picked up the tempo of the game and got them a little out of sync on offense. And we were able to turn our defense into turnovers and some easy buckets."

The statistics bear him out. Willowbrook's trap forced 11 turnovers in the first quarter and held the Blazers to 0-of-4 shooting in a quarter that ended 20-0.

"I liked the energy we had," Lavorato added. "We came in and took care of business, and that's the way you want to play. The last 10 games or so we've been letting teams hang around, and it's nice to come out and establish ourselves early."

As Willowbrook (16-7, 7-4 West Suburban Gold) went deep into its bench, the Blazers (3-18, 0-9) got their offense going, with senior guard Matt Davies heating up for a game-high 24 points, converting five 3-pointers. But the Blazers couldn't cool off the Warriors, who pushed the score to 42-12 early in the third quarter on a Milton Colbert dunk.

"I'm really just disappointed in our effort. The score speaks for itself," Blazers coach Brendan Lyons added. "As sad as it sounds I think the score could've been worse in the first quarter. They dictated tempo, they were more aggressive, they were more athletic."

Willowbrook got 14 players into the game, and 11 of them scored, including reserves Kyle Tynan, DeVell Smith, Kevin Pohl, Pearle Olatunji, Mike Carlini and Matt Redmer. Colbert led the Warriors with 16 points and 6 rebounds in limited minutes.

But Lavorato wanted to talk about his smothering defense.

"Our defense really took them out of anything they wanted to do," he said. "And when that happens, then they start hanging heads, they start going to their bench and they're not in their comfort zone."

-- Orrin Schwarz

St. Charles East 67, Lake Park 57:ŒIt was a pair of second-half offensive spurts that St. Charles East used to bury Lake Park, and they didn't come as a big surprise.

"We knew they were a team of runs, and when they're on they can fill it up," said Lancers coach Cray Allen, after his squad's 67-57 Upstate Eight Conference loss.

"I'd hate to face them in the regionals, because they're a very good team."

"They're running our system, executing our offense, and they're playing really good defense," said Saints coach Brian Clodi. "We held (Lake Park) to 57 points, and it came down to defense."

It was anybody's game in Roselle through two quarters, as the Saints (11-10, 5-3) led 29-28 at the break. The Saints' Collin Pryor led all scorers with 24 points on the night, 10 of which came in the first half.

Michael Pavone and Matt Drufke scored 8 apiece for Lake Park (7-15, 1-6) before halftime. Drufke finished with 11 points, while Pavone scored 12.

The Saints' first offensive run came to start the third, with Pryor's drive to the hole and a 3-pointer from Ryan Suits that started the ball rolling. Another Pryor basket underneath and a Suits trey made it 41-31, and St. Charles East went up by 13 points on a Pryor hoop on a feed from Phil Kohlhagen.

After going scoreless in the first half, Suits scored 8 of his 13 points in the third quarter, while Pryor and Kevin Senechalle scored consistently in the paint.

"I didn't want to force anything, and Zack (Scott) and Kevin (Senechalle) were finding me open," Suits said. "The ball was just moving, and I got it right in rhythm."

The Saints outscored the Lancers 18-13 in the third quarter, and the main source of that scoring edge was no secret.

"Our defense," Suits said. "We made some stops, and capitalized on some turnovers. People were finding each other, too. We had some wide open looks and we were knocking them down."

Danny Baylis helped Lake Park chip away at his squad's deficit, burying a pair of 3-pointers in the third quarter and scoring 9 of his team-high 17 points. A Drufke basket at the end of the quarter cut the Saints' lead to 47-41.

"Baylis and Drufke are going to be a pretty good (guard) tandem next year," Allen said. "I've got a lot of respect for both of those kids, and they play well together."

The Lancers cut their deficit to 4 points before the Saints went on a 12-0 run that put them up 61-45, featuring 3-pointers from Suits and Marc Stellato and capped by a Senechalle basket underneath.

St. Charles East never looked back from there.

"They out-rebounded us 14-4 in the second half. I just told the fellas, 'You want to lose ballgames, get out-rebounded in the second half,' " Allen said. "That was a big factor in the game."

-- Gary Larsen

West Aurora 47, WW South 29:ŒTyler Thompson is giving the opposition a new look.

Not to mention West Aurora as well.

The tallest and most physical of the Blackhawks, Thompson continued his excellent play on the perimeter to lead West Aurora past Wheaton Warrenville South 47-29 in DuPage Valley Conference action.

With the victory in Aurora, the Blackhawks (16-4, 8-2) can forge a three-way tie atop the league standings with Naperville Central and Wheaton North with a win Monday against Glenbard North in a makeup game.

Wheaton Warrenville South, which failed to eclipse 30 points for the second time this year against West Aurora, fell to 12-10 overall, 4-6 in the league.

Thompson hit three 3-pointers in the opening half, as well as a number of other mid-range jumpers, to lead all scorers with 22 points.

"I've always worked on my outside game," Thompson said. "I've always been the 4-man (power forward) here. My job has been to be an inside presence. If the shot's there, I'm going to take it."

After a sluggish opening quarter which ended with West Aurora leading 8-6, Thompson scored 8 points in the second quarter as part of a 16-5 Blackhawks run that culminated with Marquis Stewart beating the first-half buzzer with a 15-footer.

West Aurora led 24-11 at the intermission, and Thompson, who personally matched the Tigers' team field goals, scored twice early in the third to maintain the Blackhawks' double-digit lead.

On a night when WW South struggled mightily from the field, going 9 of 41 overall and connecting on a mere 3 conventional field goals, Byron Given was the lone bright spot for the club.

The senior forward scored all 15 of his team-high points on five 3-pointers to keep the Tigers within striking distance.

"They're not a real easy team to defend," West Aurora coach Gordie Kerkman said in trying to explain how his squad surrendered 53 points to WW South in two games.

"I thought their ball movement and player movement was very good."

WW South closed out the third quarter with a 10-3 run to slice the deficit to single digits entering the final quarter.

But West Aurora guards Marcus Cocroft and Stewart scored on back-to-back possessions, and a Given 3-pointer with 4:23 to play was the lone field goal for the Tigers in the fourth.

"We just didn't shoot it well," WW South coach Mike Healy said. "For us to play West Aurora and have 8 turnovers, we'll take that. It's a step forward for us."

-- Kevin McGavin

Driscoll 75, Marian Central 62:ŒDriscoll entered the locker room at halftime of their game against Marian Central less than pleased with its play, to say the least.

The Highlanders had played, by their standards, a lousy first half in putting the Hurricanes in the bonus five minutes into the game and surrendering 40 first-half points.

All that frustration, though, served to energize Driscoll, as the Highlanders shored up their defense and earned a hard-fought 75-62 Suburban Catholic Conference win in Addison.

"We were going nuts in the locker room at halftime," said Driscoll center Jake Lindfors, who poured in 37 points. "It was 40-40, they were right with us, and we knew we had to come out with some intensity.

"We weren't playing defense at all. We weren't rotating, we weren't stepping up, they were getting wide open shots and hitting their shots, so it wasn't good."

After the Highlanders (18-7, 10-2) took an initial 3-0 lead on a Lindfors 3-pointer, Marian Central grabbed control of the game. The Hurricanes led by as many as 8 points in the first quarter and shot 55 percent from the floor in the first half.

"Our defensive philosophy is 'X,' and we're just completely not doing 'X,' " said Driscoll coach Nick Latorre. "It just breaks everything down, because everybody needs to be in the right spot, everybody needs to be doing the right thing, and we just weren't doing it."

As soon as the Highlanders upped the ante on defense, Marian Central failed to match. Driscoll earned separation in the third quarter, outscoring the Hurricanes 18-6.

According to Hurricanes coach Curtis Price, his team lost the aggressiveness that helped them keep pace in the first half.

"We started settling for jump shots, we stopped being aggressive, (and) we stopped going to the basket," Price said. "In the second half we started playing a half-court offense, we started looking for more jump shots instead of going for steals and trying to be aggressive."

Friday's win sets up a senior night showdown with SCC rival St. Francis (9-2) tonight in Addison. Both are trying to keep pace with 11-2 Aurora Central.

"I told our kids when we were 4-2 that every year we've won the conference, it was 12-2," Latorre said.

"Our goal right now is to beat St. Francis, and then we've got to go to Montini, our archrival, on their senior night."

While Latorre remained reserved about his team's chances, his standout center made a stronger statement.

"Last (home) game here," Lindfors said. "I don't want to be cocky, (but) we're not going to lose."

-- Matthew McClarey

St. Edward 57, Montini 52:ŒIt's been a long three years for Brett Manning.

The St. Edward senior has seen three different coaches, a winless season, was a sophomore on the Green Wave's well-documented 2005-06 season and has gone from supporting role to big-time scorer.

As the already loud crowd rose to its feet and raised the decibel levels when Manning went to the free-throw line with 39.5 seconds remaining, it was all worth it.

Manning connected on both free throws giving the Green Wave a 3-point advantage over visiting Montini. The Broncos would not score again as Manning and the other six Green Wave seniors closed out their home careers with a 57-52 senior night victory in the Suburban Catholic Conference.

"I've been waiting for this game for a long time," Manning said. "To be able to go out of this awesome place with a win -- you can't describe it."

After Manning, who scored 16 points, converted his 2 free throws, Montini (9-14, 4-8) ran the length of the floor but could not convert. The Broncos had another chance after Riley Coleman missed a pair of free throws with 17 seconds remaining in the game.

The Green Wave (8-15, 2-11) had an answer.

Steve Martin, who dominated the glass, scooped up his fourth offensive rebound of the night. He quickly got the ball to Josh Dix, who drew the Montini foul.

Manning knew it was going to be a Green Wave victory after that.

"When Josh went to the free-throw line, I knew it was over," he said.

Montini had three shots as time expired in the game, but could not convert with Martin hauling down his 16th rebound.

Montini had done its best to take Dix out of the action for much of the second half. The Broncos put Dex Jones, who has singed to play football at the University of Wisconsin, on Dix. The junior finished with only 6 points, but had 4 straight assists to allow St. Edward back into the game.

Dix found Martin, who scored 16 points, for a 3-pointer and then Manning three times in a row to bring the Green Wave from a 34-29 deficit to a 37-36 lead. It was the first time St. Edward led after Montini opened the game on a 10-0 run.

St. Edward finished the second half shooting 61.9 percent from the floor in the second half after shooting just 9 of 27 in the first half. Montini was outscored 20-9 in the third period.

"It's senior night here and it's always a tough place to play," said Jones, who finished with a game-high 21 points. "They got hot in the second half. They came out on fire."

John Sheehan scored 6 of his 10 points in the first half for the Green Wave and Alex Blashewski finished with 20 points for the Broncos.

"That's big for Sheehan," St. Edward coach Keith Chuipek said. "They were daring him to shoot it."

-- Matt Stacionis

Streamwood 67, Wheaton Academy 52:ŒStreamwood senior Tem Esikiel has had plenty of big games for the Sabres this season.

Unfortunately, most of them have come in losing efforts.

Friday, however, Esikiel's 35 points came in a winning cause. Streamwood avenged a season-opening loss to Wheaton Academy with a 67-52 nonconference win, breaking a 12-game losing streak.

"Every game that I scored big, it didn't matter," said Esikiel, who also led the team with 9 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals. "I could have scored zero (Friday). The win means a lot."

Wheaton Academy (14-7) jumped out to a 17-12 lead early in the second quarter. The keys to the strong start were that the Warriors were in the bonus seven minutes into the game and did not turn the ball over in the first quarter.

The reason for losing that lead were also two-fold. The Warriors turned the ball over 18 times after that first quarter, and Esikiel started to get hot.

"We let Esikiel score way too often," Wheaton Academy senior center Paul Werkema said. "I think that was the biggest key. Once (the turnovers) started, we started to force it and it went downhill from there."

Down 23-18 Esikiel scored Streamwood's final 12 points of the half, part of a 14-5 run that gave the Sabres (4-18) a 32-28 lead at the break.

Wheaton Academy senior Ben Euler hit a 3-pointer in the corner to start the third quarter, but that was the end of the highlights for the Warriors.

A 15-2 run keyed by 8 points from Esikiel forced the lead to 47-33. Later in the third the Sabres rattled off a 12-0 run that stretched into the fourth quarter to make the lead 61-37. Wheaton Academy didn't score in the fourth quarter until the 2:14 mark.

The Sabres finally saw the effects of a rugged schedule in and out of the Upstate Eight Conference pay dividends against a solid team.

"We played a lot of good teams," Streamwood coach Tim Jones said. "You know you're going to get it handed to you a few times, but this is a good basketball team. I thought we played extremely hard. We have a great group of kids, and they play hard, but we just haven't been able to put it together in a game until tonight."

-- Paul Johnson

Timothy Christian 69, Illiana Christian 59:ŒThe host Trojans (13-12, 6-2) notched their fourth straight win behind a game-high 18 points and 10 rebounds from Vince Williams. Andrew Logan added 14 points and Peter Tameling had 10 points and 10 boards. Joel Sytsma also scored 10 points.