Hillside, IL—The Wheaton Academy basketball team opened up Christmas tournament play this evening in the highly touted 51
st annual Proviso West Holiday Tournament.
Matched up with highly ranked Morgan Park High School from Chicago, the Warriors succumbed to relentless pressure from Mustangs, turning the ball over 20 times in the first half and 29 times total in the game, culminating in a 78-60 loss.
Morgan Park jumped out to a 19-8 lead with 2:41 remaining in the first quarter after Charlie Moore made good on a three pointer. Four Wheaton Academy turnovers later, the Mustangs increased that lead to 17 points (27-10) after the first quarter.
The second quarter didn't go the Warriors way either.
Gordon Behr heated up with 7 points, but turnovers and a lack of effective blocking out paved the way for Morgan Park to score all 15 of their second quarter points in the paint or off second chance opportunities. The Warriors trailed 42-22 at the half.
A three-pointer banked in by
Collin Roy at the conclusion of the third quarter narrowed the deficit to just 13 points, renewing hope for a fourth quarter comeback, but that margin quickly grew to as much many as 24 as Josh Cunningham dunked the ball with 3:40 remaining in the game.
Morgan Park scored 44 points in the paint, 15 second chance points, and an astonishing 30 points off of Wheaton Academy turnovers, compared to the Warriors' 12 in the paint, 14 second chance points, and 12 points off turnovers.
The Warriors shot the ball relatively well (44% from the field), but shot a much lower percentage from the free throw line than usual (45%), getting to the free throw line only 11 times in the game.
Gordon Behr led the scoring column with 19 points, followed by
Collin Roy with 14 and
Jake Cousins with 10.
Wednesday night's loss is the team's second of the season, moving their overall record to 9-2. Wheaton Academy will face Fenwick High School tomorrow night at 8:45 PM in the second game of the tournament on the field house court at Proviso West High School.
Full length video of the game vs. Morgan Park is available below.
