Another lesson for Maine West
Maine West basketball coach John Bongiorno's Warriors had not played all that badly while starting the season 1-3 after the Thanksgiving tournament they hosted.
"I stressed three things in the locker room before the game," said Bongiorno. "Rebounding, turnovers, and getting a majority share in the 50-50 loose balls."
None of those three elements ended up favoring Maine West in a 50-35 loss to Glenbrook South in a Central Suburban crossover in Des Plaines on Tuesday night.
The Warriors (1-4) were outrebounded 32-19 and had 16 turnovers to the Titans' 10.
"We're still in the process of putting it together," said Bongiorno. "With all our young players we're still trying to figure things out. In practice we go over situations to try to get the best shot. Right now they need to think 60 percent and react the other 40 percent.
Glenbrook South (3-2) came out of the blocks with a fast start. The Titans started the game with a 15-2 run which included 12 straight after leading 3-2. Sean McDonagh connected for two 3s on his way to 9 points. Junior center Jimmy Martinelli scored six of his game-high 17 points in the quarter. Martinelli also pulled down 13 rebounds.
Maine West cut the lead to 22-14 with 4:54 left in the first half but trailed 30-19 at the break.
"We cut into their lead a couple of times but then we would have a bad possession or two and they would score," said Bongiorno.
Sophomore Stefan Balaban (12 points, 5 rebounds) scored with 7:39 left in the game to pull Maine West to 38-30, but the Warriors could get no closer.
Balaban came off the bench, and Bongiorno thinks he may be starting soon.
"He's a real heady player," said Bongiorno. "He has a good shot and can rebound. He just needs more playing time."
"I think my strong points are my catch and shoot," said Balaban. "If coach wants me to start, that's great. If I come off the bench I will do my best to contribute to the team. Tonight we didn't play very good defense. For us to do well we have to be able to play defense all 32 minutes. We can't let teams come out and get quick starts like they did tonight."
Matt Acevedo added 7 points and 4 rebounds for the Warriors.
North Shore 64, Christian Liberty 60: Sam Silva scored a game-high 21 points, but it wasn't quite enough as the Chargers suffered a Northeast Athletic Conference setback on the road. Silve had four 3s, and teammate Ben Daniel (11 points) made three.