Lisle wins start of second half, then the game

Executing a Bobby Knight axiom, Lisle's fast second-half start sent the host Lions past Plano and toward a 62-56 Interstate Eight Conference victory on Tuesday.

"Coach (Mark LaScala) had told us in the beginning, whoever is on top for the first three minutes in the third quarter will basically win the game," said senior Cameron Wright, who joined Ryan Liss with 12 points apiece, behind Jay Osika's game-high 20.

Trailing 29-26 at halftime, Wright scored twice, Osika nailed a 3, Lee Gorski banged it inside and Liss scored in transition for an 11-0 run.

Plano's Josh Gorzney responded with a 3, but big man Tyler Triplett retaliated with a three-point play and then a putback for a 42-32 Lisle lead.

"In the second quarter we were playing our game," said Plano coach Eric Bryant. "We were up and down and we were getting shots and layups, defending. They played their game in the second half."

A key to the game Lisle (10-13, 5-3) plays is Osika. When he drew his third foul at 7:30 of the second quarter LaScala lost not only his point guard but also his key defender against fast-paced Plano (12-13, 5-4).

"That threw our kids for a loop because he does so many little things for us," LaScala said of Osika. "One of the things he does is it's his job to always be the first one back defensively. So when someone else had to take that spot they were unfamiliar with that duty."

That was apparent when over a span of 1:16 in the second quarter the Reapers assembled an 8-0 run using defensive rebounding, baseball passes and layups.

Osika returned to start the third quarter and that didn't happen so much.

"As soon as I came in I kind of got everybody together, told them we've got to stop the run-outs," said Osika, who made four of five 3-pointers. "After that they kind of stopped getting those easy lay-ins."

As Osika, LaScala and Bryant all noted, putting the ball in the hole also limits fastbreak chances. In the second half Lisle made 13 of 23 field goals.

Plano rallied within 48-46 on a Harold Ridgeway dunk with 4:35 left, but Lisle forced 3 turnovers and scored 8 straight points to push the lead back to 10 at 1:58.

"They were very patient with their offense," said Bryant, whose Reapers were led by Gorzney with 17 points and Dan Thom with 10. "They did their job."