The varsity Warrior basketball team faced the biggest challenge of their young season on Friday night against a very good Downers Grove North team. Led from start to finish by senior
Collin Roy, the Warriors found a way to overcome the Trojans' 1-2-2 zone defense through patient inside-out ball movement which paved the road to open three point looks. WA connected on four 3-pointers in the first quarter which accounted for 12 of their 16 first quarter points, including two by
Jake Cousins (10 points, 6 rebounds).
“I was very proud with the way our team played tonight. We played tough defense and moved the ball well for our first time seeing a zone this season,” head coach Paul Ferguson commented.
The Warriors had no problem putting points up on the board early on, but neither did Downers Grove North, who scored 30 points in the first half to gain a three point edge over the Warriors, 30-27 at the half.
Wheaton Academy proved again to be a second-half team, as their defensive intensity was spearheaded in the third quarter by
Collin Roy's game-high 6 steals, which led to a number of fast breaks and trips to the free throw line. The free throw line once again proved to be very profitable for WA, accounting for 20 of the team's 65 total points in the game (20-for-24, 83%).
Brandon Ruggles' double-double effort (13 points, 13 rebounds), including repeated attacks to basket thrust the team to a big 21-point third quarter which gave WA a 10 point lead over Downers Grove North with the final quarter to play.
Despite lack of patience on the offensive end, the undefeated Warriors hunkered down in the remaining minutes led by
Collin Roy who dropped in his last 9 points of the game, to give his team a 65-56 win over the Trojans at home.
As a team, Wheaton Academy had an outstanding 14 offensive rebounds (up 5 from their average 9 per game) while shooting 45% from two point range and 37% from behind the arc.
Collin Roy led all scores with 22 points, followed by
Brandon Ruggles with 13, and
Jake Cousins with 10.
As the only undefeated team left in the tournament, WA has a chance to secure the tournament title in a Saturday night showdown against a very disciplined and skilled Bartlett team tomorrow at 8:00 PM in the Warrior Dome. Tomorrow's game is a true tournament championship, because even though Bartlett lost to Streamwood earlier this evening, a win over the Warriors would give them the head-to-head advantage against WA.
