Wrap-up: BC wrestlers split matches; Whitley reaches 1,000 points

Huntley's Pat Benning picked a perfect time for his first win.

Tied at 33 with Burlington Central, it all came down to the final match between Benning and the Rockets' Tim Botsford at 152 pounds. Benning, a sophomore, got a pep talk from his brother Tony, who wrestles at 189, to keep his attention diverted from the scoreboard.

"I didn't notice," Benning said. "I was getting mentally prepared. (Tony) was trying to keep my mind straight, telling me that this was my match."

It was Pat Benning's match.

The sophomore notched a 5-2 victory over Botsford in his first match of the season and Huntley improved to 3-1 on the season with a 36-33 victory over the host Rockets on Tuesday night.

Both teams also defeated a short-handed Larkin, with Huntley netting a 54-15 victory and the Rockets (5-1) beating the Royals (1-4) 60-24.

The Red Raiders' victories came with a shuffled lineup including Benning, sophomore Jake Smrt (130) and freshman Lucas Rogers (112). Coty Claudio (119), Chris Lathrop (125) and Joel Mayhew (140) were all wrestling up from their normal weight classes as well.

Claudio pulled off a 10-6 decision over Central's Garett Fiorito and Mayhew pinned Ryan Mertz in 2:45, but the victory didn't just fall on one person's shoulders.

After defeating Kaneland and wrestling Sandwich tough on Saturday, Central found out how much work it still needs to do against Huntley.

"We had a big step in our program beating Kaneland on Saturday," Central coach Tony Rigitano said. "There is no reason we should have lost (Tuesday)."

Central was wrestling without stars Taylor Schuck (160) and Kevin Marshall (103), but got a strong performance from Zac Kein.

Kein (130) pinned Smrt in 1 minute, 13 seconds and it took him only 19 seconds to pin Larkin's Patrick Lipscomb.

"We still know we have some work to do," Kein said. "I guess you could say it was a wakeup call."

Girls basketball

Batavia 48, Yorkville 43: The Bulldogs (4-0, 1-0) outscored the host Foxes 16-6 in the fourth quarter to take their WSC opener. Natalie Tarter led Batavia with 16 points.

Geneva 57, Rochelle 51: Junior Taylor Whitely scored 30 points and eclipsed the 1,000-point milestone for her high school career. Lauren Wicinski finished with 14 points and 13 boards for Geneva (5-0, 1-0).

Boys basketball

Wheaton Academy 54, Lisle 34:ŒThe key for Wheaton Academy against Lisle was making its shots, not just for the purpose of putting points on the board, but also giving the Warriors a chance to set up their full-court pressure.

Making shots is exactly what Wheaton Academy did as the Warriors went on to beat Lisle 54-34 in a nonconference boys basketball game Tuesday night in Lisle.

After shooting a cool 7 of 20 in the first half, the Warriors (4-1) went 11 of 22 in the second half, giving them time to set up the defense.

"We came out with good intensity in the first half," Wheaton Academy coach Paul Ferguson said. "Even though we came out OK, we were even better in the second half. In the first half our shots didn't really fall. We had quite a few fall in the second and we were able to cause some turnovers after setting up our pressure after makes."

In the first half the Lions turned the ball over nine times, but that number ballooned to 16 in the second half. For the game the Warriors scored 33 points off of turnovers.

"We knew that Lisle was a pretty disciplined team," Wheaton Academy guard Eric Albaugh said. "We had a good scouting report on them and we knew we could pressure them. Ball pressure was so key for us tonight because that was how we forced a majority of the turnovers."

The first half was tight with the biggest lead by either team was 5 points. The Warriors went into the break with a 19-15 lead as the two teams combined to shoot 32 percent from the floor.

The Warriors made a few offensive adjustments and came out firing in the third quarter and shot 6 of 11, outscoring the Lions 16-8 in the decisive third quarter. One of the adjustments they made was being more patient on the offensive end of the court, making the extra pass to get open looks.

That patience paid off.

Every time it seemed Lisle (0-6) was going to make a run, the Warriors responded by getting themselves a basket. That frustrated Lisle coach Mark LaScala.

"When are you trailing a team, you can't trade baskets with them," LaScala said. "You just can't do that. They are a good offensive team and they can score. Also, once they applied pressure on us, we sort of crumbled. They are too good of shooters to fall behind and try to play catch up."

Ben Euler led all scorers with 16 points, including two 3-pointers. Albaugh chipped in with 12 points, while Jared Cochrun scored 9 points in the win.

Mike Gortowski had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds before fouling out in the fourth quarter. Andrew Rapciak hit three 3-pointers en route to his 10 points in the loss.

-- Jason Watt

Hockey

Saints split at Holiday Tournament: St. Charles East finished 2-2 in the Chicago Thanksgiving Classic. The defeated Pekin 4-3 and Barrington 2-1 and fell to Edwardsville 7-2 and Joliet 3-1. Out of 14 teams, they tied for seventh.

Mike Jimenez led the Saints with three tournament goals. Josh Lorusso and Nick Calbri both added a pair.

Men's basketball

Waubonsee 88, DuPage 60:ŒThe Chiefs (3-3) led by three at the half, but outscored DuPage 53-28 in the second half to coast to a home win. Waubonsee shot 65 percent from the floor and made 10 three-pointers.

Johnny Walker scored 24 points and added a team-high 9 rebounds and dished out 5 assists. Torrien Minor added 17 points and Steven McNabb had 7 assists.

Women's basketball

DuPage 57, Waubonsee 45: Ashlee Jones and Stephanie Ferguson both scored 16 points and grabbed 12 rebounds for Waubonsee (1-9).