NL_020118

46 | February 1, 2018 | The New Lenox Patriot Sports
newlenoxpatriot.com
Freshman 15: Varsity call-up’s 15 points leads the way for Knights
West’s Clendenning
drops 11 in
crosstown loss
RANDY WHALEN
Freelance Reporter
Knights big man Andrew Hancock (left) posts up Andrew Byles.
The formula for success
is simple for the Lincoln-
Way Central boys basketball
team.
Play defense.
The Knights did that well
in the first of two scheduled
meetings against their
crosstown rivals - Lincoln-
Way West. Last weekend’s
result was a 57-32 victory
in a SouthWest Suburban
Conference Red Division
matchup on Friday, Jan. 26
at West.
Freshman Mike Maloney
led Central (10-9, 3-3) with
a game-high 15 points off
the bench. In each of the
Knights wins, their opponent
has scored 50 or less points.
In each loss they have given
up more than 50 points. West
(2-15. 0-6), which lost to
T.F. South the next day, was
led by junior guard Jace Mc-
Williams with 12 points.
“I think our team takes
pride in our defense,” Maloney
said. “We have a lot
of energy guys like [senior
guards] Jake Blount
and Luke Handley starting.
They gave us a great start
[against West], and we won
the game.”
The Knights certainly did.
But while the score indicates
that it was a blowout, West
hung in there for the better
part of three quarters until
a final Central run made the
margin higher. The Knights
jumped out to leads of 5-0
and 10-2. But McWilliams
hit a 3-pointer for the Warriors
is the final seconds of
the first quarter to cut the
lead to 10-8 after eight minutes.
“We knew we had to contain
their dribble drive,”
West coach Brian Flaherty
said. “Overall in the beginning
we did a good job, but
then we didn’t take care of
the ball. We did a poor job
there, and we gave them 15-
20 easy points.
“We’ve struggled to score
all year. The frustrating thing
is we had some good looks,
we just didn’t make them.
And the game was allowed
to be physical, that doesn’t
bode well for us.”
Central’s trapping defense
forced a dozen second quarter
turnovers, and it took
advantage by scoring the
first six points. Ahead 18-
12, the Knights closed the
first half on a 10-2 burst for
a 28-14 halftime lead. Maloney
scored the first four in
the spurt and senior forward
EJ Charles (8 Points, 7 rebounds)
tallied the last five.
“In the beginning we
wanted to see how they
would play,” Central coach
Bob Curran said of the Warriors.
“We saw we had to
come up and trap more and
we did that.
“This is only the second
game we’ve had all our guys
[due to injury]. We’ve had
different guys step up on different
nights. One nice thing
about this team is if someone
isn’t shooting well, we
can see if someone else has a
hot hand. Mike came in and
gave us the shooting that we
needed tonight and we went
with it.”
Maloney was brought up
to varsity along with his
twin brother - Matt, on Dec.
16. The guards helped the
Knights rally for a big 44-42
win.
“I was a little scared, but
I made a 3-pointer and that
loosened me up,” Mike Maloney
said of his first varsity
game. “My teammates
just got me the ball [against
West] while I was open.
I’ve been off the last couple
games, but it [the ball] just
went in the basket.”
West guard Nate Clendenning
(11 points) put the ball
in the basket for West in the
third quarter, scoring nine
points - including the first
five. His 3-pointer a minute
and a half into the quarter
brought the Warriors within
28-19. But freshman guard
Sean Curran (5 points), who
recently returned from an
ankle injury, hit a 3-pointer
and senior forward Andrew
Hancock (8 points) scored
five straight points as Central
quickly went back ahead
36-19. The Knights were up
41-28 after three.
McWilliams hit a jumper
to start the fourth quarter
and close the Warriors to 41-
30. But a 16-0 run, including
nine straight points by
senior guard Chris Robinson
(9 points) over a three-minute
span ended any doubt.
Blount added five points for
the Knights. Junior forward
Waquan Brown brought five
points for West.
“I can’t fault the effort,
but our execution has to
get better,” Flaherty said.
“These kids grew up playing
each other, and it is a rivalry
game. But at this point we’re
trying to see improvement.”
The Knights are also
looking for improvement
heading into the final three
weeks of the regular season.
In the meantime they
enjoyed the win over the
Lincoln-Way West’s Nate Clendenning attempts a layup
Friday, Jan. 26, during a crosstown, SWSC Red matchup
against Lincoln-Way Central. Photos by Julie McMann/22nd
Century Media
crosstown team.
“We coached a couple of
those guys over there and
with [Lincoln-Way North]
closing, they ended up leaving
Lincoln-Way Central
and going to Lincoln-Way
West,” Bob Curran said of
the district boundary changes.
“All these kids know
each other through the youth
programs and all that. It’s
definitely a rivalry game.
“We have an important
stretch right here [at the end
of the regular season] Every
game we get over .500, the
better seed we’ll get [for the
sectional].”
The next day Central won
another one of those games,
a 57-49 victory over Evergreen
Park in the Beecher
Shootout. Hancock led the
way with 17 points and Curran
added seven points as
the Knights (11-9), who continued
their pattern of winning
every game in which
they’ve held an opponent to
50 points or less.
This Friday, Feb. 2, Central
travels to Bradley-Bourbonnais
for a 7 p.m. SWSC
Red game. Now in the midst
of an 8-game homestand,
the Warriors hosted Thornwood
on Tuesday, Jan. 30
in a SWSC Red affair, and
the will host Chicago Public
League team, Kennedy on
Friday, Feb. 2 at 6:30 p.m.