Aurora, IL—From the opening minutes of Wheaton Academy's game on Friday night at Marmion Academy, it looked like it was going to be a long night for the Warriors. Marmion's full court pressure repeatedly gave the 7-1 Warriors trouble, forcing 10 first half turnovers and giving offensive momentum to a feisty and physical Marmion squad. The home team jumped out to a 27-14 lead at the end of the first quarter, necessitating some offensive and defensive adjustments from the Warriors.
Led by senior point guard
Collin Roy, WA found a way to slowly make those necessary adjustments in the second quarter. Roy contributed 8 points in the second quarter run to compliment
Gabe Partain's hot hand, who knocked in 16 first half points, including a pair of three pointers. With the absence of
Gordon Behr, who sat much of the game on the bench as a result of foul trouble, Wheaton Academy found a way to clamp down on Marmion's offensive attack and win the rebounding battle in the paint. Back-to-back layups by
Collin Roy just before the halftime break made it a 42-38 game going into the locker room, overcoming a 13 point deficit.
The two teams played a back-and-forth third quarter until sophomore
Josh Ruggles stepped up big for the Warriors. Ruggles took a charge, then nailed a three and a two pointer in subsequent positions to maintain the Warriors' slim margin entering the fourth quarter 57-51.
Wheaton Academy showed tremendous offensive discipline down the stretch, outlasting the Cadets' defensive efforts and finding an open
Gabe Partain and
Collin Roy for easy layups.
Josh Ruggles cemented the Warriors victory with strong handling of the ball, forcing Marmion to send him to the free throw line in the closing minutes. Ruggles went 6-for-6 from the charity stripe en route to his game total 16 points.
Collin Roy led the Warriors with 18 points, followed by a breakout 17-point game by
Gabe Partain, in addition to
Josh Ruggles' 16. As a team, WA was 18-of-25 from the free throw line (72%).
Friday night's win improves the team's record to 8-1 on the season and 3-0 in the Suburban Christian Conference. After a long absence from varsity boys basketball in the Warrior Dome, the team will return to action at home next Friday night against Walther Lutheran at 7:30 PM, before breaking briefly for Christmas and then resuming action in the Proviso West Holiday Tournament on December 26
th against Morgan Park High School at 5:15 PM.
Video of Sophomore and Varsity Games
