Confident Willowbrook wins again
Senior guard Jake Bruns senses a new attitude in the Willowbrook boys basketball team this season - no matter the situation.
"It's so different. Our confidence is so high," Bruns said. "We don't think we're going to go in and lose any game. We think we're going to win every one, which is the mentality you need to have for winning a championship."
The Warriors faced several challenges Tuesday besides pesky St. Francis but held on for an important 53-45 victory in the second round of Green Pool action at Glenbard West's 13th annual Holiday Classic.
Willowbrook (6-4), which won just two games last season, will win its pool and clinch a spot in Saturday's title game by beating Northridge Prep Friday. If pool teams tie for first, tiebreakers are head-to-head, combined margins of victory and fewest points allowed.
"It's really exciting. We didn't get that opportunity last year and we were in the championship for our Thanksgiving tournament and we lost, so we're pretty hungry for one now," Bruns said.
Bruns led the Warriors in scoring with 13 points. Sophomore standout and leading scorer Alonzo Verge Jr. was limited by an injured right foot.
Verge did not start yet played several minutes and still scored 12 points, including a three-point play that gave the Warriors a 37-27 lead entering the fourth quarter. Especially with numerous fouls by both teams down the stretch, Willowbrook coach Chris Perkins used the stoppages to replace Verge on defense and not push his injury.
"We kind of tried to evaluate and see how the game was going and how much we needed him. I thought he did a good job of getting others involved when he was out there," Perkins said.
"I thought our guys did a good job. We held them to 27 points going into the fourth quarter. They do a good job of being patient, so I told our guys we're going to have to communicate more than usual. Our offense could have been a little better, but our defense pulled through for us."
St. Francis (5-6) still closed to within six points twice in the final four minutes, the last at 46-40 with 1:37 left. Both teams were in the double bonus, but St. Francis made just 8 of 15 free throws in the quarter and Willowbrook 9 of 15.
The Spartans' Jason Sullivan had 18 points with back-to-back 3s in the third quarter. Gabe Johnson had the team's other two 3s and 5 rebounds.
"We missed a couple of inside shots, missed free throws and missed two real critical blockouts (in crunch time). You're not going to win a close game doing that," St. Francis coach Bob Ward said. "We've got to get better in all of those areas. They've got some good players and I thought we defended them decently, but we were not very good offensively. We just have to improve."
Willowbrook senior Kyle Rushing came alive in the fourth quarter. He scored all 7 of his points and grabbed 6 of his 11 rebounds, including two key offensive ones after missed free throws. His first was a putback that gave the Warriors a 46-38 lead. The second resulted in two free throws he converted to ice the game at 53-43 with 20.2 seconds to go.
"I just saw that we needed somebody to step up and do little things to help us get the big things done," Rushing said.
The Warriors were forced to become smaller most of the first half. Six-foot-plus starters Chris Roycroft and Kevin Miller, who combined for 20 points in Monday's 58-55 victory over Glenbard West, were sat by Perkins the rest of the half after receiving two fouls in the first quarter.
At the time of their departure, the Warriors led 10-7. With a lineup led by Bruns and four reserves - Verge, Billy Degnan, Micah Williams and Brandon Jones - Willowbrook scored the last five points of the first quarter for a 15-9 lead and extended it to 27-19 by halftime.
The Warriors' second-quarter points came on Bruns having a 3 and three-point play and Degnan hitting two 3s.
"Our guys came in off the bench and did their job," Bruns said. "We usually go four guards, one big. We have some tall guards, too, so it's not that big of a deal going small(er). Our point guard (Verge) is 6-3."