Big third quarter propels Buffalo Grove

One quarter can make all the difference.

That difference-making quarter was the third in Friday's Mid-Suburban League East boys basketball game with Buffalo Grove and Wheeling.

BG outscored the host Wildcats 18-7 in that quarter en route to a 61-49 victory.

"We were really getting hurt by their dribble penetration (in the first half)," BG coach Ryan O'Connor said. "We did a much better job of staying in front of their penetration (in the third quarter). That allowed us to get out and pressure their wings, and we created some turnovers."

O'Connor said it was a mental adjustment instead of a physical one for BG's players to fix the defensive problems.

"We do so much rotating defensively that sometimes we rely on that too much and we lose focus of the fact that we can stay in front of our men every now and then," O'Connor said.

BG (16-9, 7-3) pushed the tempo and routinely drove hard to the basket - getting to the free-throw line 25 times.

Leading the charge for BG was senior guard Kevin Mulligan, who scored a game-high 15 points and was 11-for-15 from the free throw line.

"We always like to push the ball," Mulligan said. "We're a smaller team, but we're quick, and we try to use that to our advantage."

BG also got 14 points from Mike Cornely, 11 by Dan Recht and 10 by Nick Prus.

Senior Kevin Kortum led Wheeling (4-21, 0-10) with 13 points and junior Riley Harvey added 9 points.

"Our Achilles heel all year has been when we are facing pressure, we have a tendency to turn the ball over," Wheeling coach Lou Wool said. "In that section of the game (the third quarter), we lost the ball and got forced out of running our offense and getting good shots."