Schols, Conant shoot down Sandburg

Conant's boys basketball team used the hot outside shooting of Ben Schols and the power inside games from Ryan Davis and Mike Downing in dispatching Sandburg 52-40 at the 42nd annual Jack Tosh tournament at York in Elmhurst on Saturday.

The Cougars, who improved to 8-2, will take on Wheaton North in the tournament's second round at 5 p.m. Monday.

“We had some great play from Schols,” said Conant coach Tom McCormack. “With (Kyle) Bradley out, we've asked him to do more for us. He's had to step up his game with Bradley out. He's really been dedicated to working on his shooting and ball-handling.”

Schols teamed up with Davis, who scored 8 of his 16 points in the first quarter. Conant led 14-12 after one quarter and 24-21 at the break.

“We stepped up our defense and got after them more in the third quarter,” said McCormack.

The Eagles (3-7) could manage just 4 baskets in the third quarter and a total of 6 in the second half.

Downing, scored all of his 10 points in the second half scored 6 in the third quarter, as did Schols and Davis. Going into the fourth quarter Conant led 44-31.

Two baskets by Downing and 2 free throws by Davis pushed the Cougars' lead to 50-33 with 4:33 left in the game. Both teams substituted freely from that point.

“We didn't shoot well in the second half,” said Sandburg coach Todd Allen. “We had some good looks on our 3-point shots in the second half but they just wouldn't go down. You have to play well to beat a team like Conant.”

“Ben was looking to shoot today,” said Davis, who also hauled down 12 rebounds, including 5 offensive. “He was able to knock down the shots early and that made them spread the floor with their defense. That helped the inside game. We stopped them from getting second shots in the second half. We have a lot of players who can score.”

“Ryan plays hard and I liked his game today,” said Schols. “He brings good post play to the team, and with all of our big men it makes it hard for teams to defend us. Today we really had good ball movement. With Kyle out I have had to step up my mental preperation. I think I've been pretty successful in doing that.”

So, what do the Cougars need to do to keep going in the winners bracket?

“You don't have a lot of time to prepare for the next game,” said McCormack. “What you have to do as a team is to adjust and execute. Some teams you play shoot better than others, while other teams may have strong rebounders. Our players have to absorb what we tell them in the scouting reports.”