Willowbrook busts loose against Fenton

When Willowbrook's boys basketball team looked for a confidence-boost against Fenton, the Warriors turned to their press.

Tough defense turned into easy offense for Willowbrook in a 75-48 win over the Bison in Saturday's opening game of the Railway Classic shootout at West Chicago.

The Warriors (3-14) never trailed after breaking out to first-quarter leads of 8-1 and 17-5. Different players took turns taking charge, beginning with Ryan Rader scoring 8 of his 16 points in the paint in the first quarter.

Tiger Greene added 7 of his 16 points in the second quarter while sophomore Edvinus Mickevicius came off the bench to knock down three 3-pointers and pour in 12 of his game-high 25 points in the third quarter.

"We just came out and tried to get the 'W,'" Mickevicius said. "We just kept pressing them and kept attacking them."

Fenton (2-16) tried to stay close early, twice narrowing the gap to 7 points on a pair of Colin Wallace baskets late in the second quarter. Willowbrook, however, claimed a 34-23 advantage at the break and extended it to 49-28 midway through the third quarter behind the outburst by Mickevicius.

Leading 58-35 after three quarters, Willowbrook stormed to a 12-0 run at the start of the fourth quarter.

Eleven players scored for Fenton led by Wallace's 14 points. Five players finished with 5 points.

"The past two weeks have been our best two weeks of practice, and it showed," said Willowbrook coach Chris Perkins. "We came in with some fresh legs and we were a little more active. We got some easy baskets off our press, and that got our confidence going."