Wheaton Academy ready for Fenton
Wheaton Academy's boys basketball team faced four different styles while winning the East Aurora Boys Holiday Tournament. Friday they overcame another.
Against Fenton's 1-3-1 zone defense, guard Marcus Bult found room for 16 points and forward Sebastian Pares scored 12 points with 10 rebounds and 2 blocks as the hosts beat the gritty Bison 51-41 in a Metro Suburban Red contest in West Chicago.
"I was happy at the beginning that we didn't force it right away against their 1-3-1," said Warriors coach Steve Thonn. "We haven't faced a 1-3-1 all year so we were trying to get them to move the ball, get four, five, six passes and then look inside. I think we did a good job of that."
In one corner Wheaton Academy (11-4, 4-1) had 3-point artist Jack Dykema, who scored 7 points. Bult often landed in the other corner. Pares, a 6-foot-4 forward and future University of Sioux Falls football lineman, patrolled the paint.
"We just kept trying to get it into the corner (with) quick reversals," Pares said. "Then we would set a pin screen for the opposite side and try to get it open through there. Then, the quick looks down low when they're all shifted the one way, I'm just wide open down low. It worked out."
Fenton (5-12, 1-3) trailed 14-9 after one quarter then gained traction. Threes by Ivan Sosa and point guard Marcus Rule had the Bison within 20-19 at 4:18 of the second quarter. But in between those baskets Fenton's top scorer, Diamon King, drew his second and third fouls.
The forward sat the rest of the quarter as Wheaton Academy closed the half on a 12-0 run. Pares started it inside and guard Gerald Blackmon capped it in transition.
"It was 20-19 and we had 2 (turnovers) back-to-back right afterward. We could have got a little bit of momentum," said Fenton coach Chaz Taft.
"We'll learn, we're young, but we're getting better every day. That's what I'm happy about," Taft said.
Bult, forward Max Scharnowski and guard Tobi Sonuga paced a 42-29 Warriors lead after three quarters. Fenton then drew within 8 points three times, forcing 8 fourth-quarter turnovers with King, Chris Bozeman and Andre Reed strong on the boards.
"You give your all every second on the court, and every second of the game," King said.
His third-chance putback had the Bison within 49-41 with 1:05 to play, but Bult took an offensive charge and made two free throws with 23.3 seconds left to finish it.
King scored 12 points with 5 offensive rebounds, all in the fourth quarter. Bozeman added 10 points, 7 rebounds.