TP_021518

54 | February 15, 2018 | The tinley junction Sports
tinleyjunction.com
boys basketball
T-Bolts win over LWC sets up three-way tie for SWSR lead
Steve Millar
Freelance Reporter
When Andrew is clicking
offensively, the Thunderbolts
are awfully tough to
defend.
“When we move the ball
around and get good looks,
then the other team has to
worry about sticking our
shooters,” senior guard
Evan Yerkes said. “We’ve
got a lot of guys who can
shoot it.”
Lincoln-Way Central
found that out Tuesday, Feb.
6, as Andrew shot lights out
on its way to a 69-52 South-
West Suburban Red win in
New Lenox.
The Thunderbolts (14-8,
7-2) shot 62 percent (21-
for-34) from the field and a
whopping 67 percent (12-
for-18) on 3-pointers.
Troy Murphy led Andrew
with 26 points and five rebounds,
while Yerkes hit six
3-pointers on his way to 20
points.
Sean Curran scored 16
points and Mike Maloney
had 11 for Lincoln-Way
Central (12-10, 4-4).
“As a team, we’re shooting
43 percent from three
for the season,” Andrew
coach Dave Wilson said. “A
lot of times we can shoot it
well at home, but it sometimes
isn’t as consistent on
the road. It’s really nice to
go on the road against a
good conference opponent
and shoot this well.”
Andrew’s victory, along
with Thornton’s win over
Thornwood, left all three
teams tied for the South-
West Suburban Red lead at
7-2.
Murphy and Yerkes each
hit a pair of first quarter
threes as the Thunderbolts
started fast.
The Knights were able
to keep close early, as E.J.
Charles’ 3 -pointer at the
first-quarter buzzer got
Central within 20-14.
Central, though, struggled
mightily to score in the
second and third quarters.
Andrew held the Knights
to nine points in the second
and six in the third.
Murphy said the Thunderbolts
were focused on
tightening up their defense
coming off a heartbreaking
Feb. 2 loss to Thornwood.
“We felt like the reason
we lost that game was because
our defense wasn’t
strong enough,” he said.
“The whole point of this
game, for us, was to play
tough defense and we were
able to do that.”
Murphy credited fellow
senior Ryan Rolder, who
spent most of the game
guarding Curran.
“Ryan was the biggest
reason our defense was
tough,” Murphy said. “He
did a great job on their best
shooter and ballhandler, and
that was a huge help for all
of us.”
Andrew’s Dan Gierhahn,
who finished with 11 points,
scored nine of them in the
second quarter on a trio of
3-pointers to help the Thunderbolts
take a 32-23 lead to
halftime.
Andrew took total control
in the third quarter, outscoring
the Knights 22-6.
Yerkes caught fire, knocking
down four 3-pointers in
the first six minutes of the
half, and the Knights did not
score over the final 3:15 of
the quarter.
“Once I hit a couple
threes, the basket starts
to look a little wider out
there,” Yerkes said. “We really
executed our game plan
for this game. We took care
of things defensively, and
that’s where it all started.”
Murphy put the game
away at the free-throw line,
going 13-for-14, all in the
second half.
The Thunderbolts got into
the bonus in the third quarter,
and Murphy was sure to
take advantage.
“Once you see you’re
in the bonus, you’re very
aware of that,” Murphy
said. “You want to attack
more and get to the line, get
those free points.”
After the loss to Thornwood,
Andrew knows it
doesn’t have much wiggle
room if it wants to win a
conference title.
“We’ve got to win out,”
Wilson said. “Our players
know it. We’re not putting too
much pressure on ourselves,
though. We have a loose
group and we want to win out
and have fun doing it.”
Central coach Bob Curran
gave plenty of credit to
Andrew.
“As a coach, I always
look at which team had
more open shots, and it was
pretty close this game,” he
said. “They just hit theirs
and we didn’t. Yerkes and
Murphy were hitting shots
with hands in their face.
They shot it very, very well.
Our inability to get stops
defensively made it really
tough for us to get going offensively.”
Bob Curran said the Thunderbolts
adjusted well defensively
after the Knights’
strong start on offense.
“They switched things
up on defense and threw a
lot of different looks at us,”
Bob Curran said. “They
face-guarded Sean (Curran)
and made it tough on him.
They caught us off-guard
with some of the things they
did.”
Maloney gave the
Knights a nice boost off the
bench, scoring 10 points in
the fourth quarter.
“We’ve been going 10
or 11 deep all year and we
have different guys step up
Senior guard Troy Murphy led the Thunderbolts with 26 points and five rebounds, forcing a
three-way tie atop the SouthWest Suburban Red Conference. PHOTOS BY Adam Jomant / 22nd
Century media
Andrew junior guard Daniel Repa attempts a shot over a Lincoln-Way Central defender
during a conference game last week. The Thunderbolts knocked down 12 of 18 3-point
attempts en route to the victory.
on different nights,” Bob
Curran said. “Maloney did
a nice job (Tuesday). Maloney
and Sean were our
two double-digit scorers,
and they’re both freshmen.
That’s nice to see and exciting
for the future.”
Andrew Hancock added
eight points for the Knights,
all in the first half.
Going forward, Bob Curran
hopes his team will continue
to develop chemistry.
“We’ve only had six
games all year where we’ve
had all our guys in the lineup,
because we’ve had so many
injuries,” he said. “These
guys are still getting to know
each other. We’re trying to
get some continuity.
“I think we still have
room to grow and get better.
The problem is we’re just
running out of time before
the end of the season.”