Boys Basketball: Lyons nabs second ‘W’ of season vs Waubonsie Valley
Updated: December 30, 2011 2:30PM
Who were those guys?
Lyons didn’t look like a 1-7 team as it claimed an 81-69 upset of fifth-seeded Waubonsie Valley Tuesday in the opening game of the 38th Jack Tosh Holiday Classic at York.
“That may be the best 1-7 team I’ve seen,” said Waubonsie Valley coach Steve Weemer, whose club falls to 6-4.
“Give Lyons a ton of credit. They shot well (49 percent from the floor) and they had a sense of urgency.”
Waubonsie turned the ball over on its first three possessions and had as many turnovers as points midway through the opening period, when it trailed 9-6. Matt Robare (14 points) capped it by swishing through a 53-foot shot to beat the buzzer, giving the Lions a 28-20 lead.
“Probably our biggest weakness so far this year has been our shooting,” said Lyons coach Tom Sloan, whose team lost five senior starters from last year’s 26-win team and came in shooting 35 percent from the floor.
“We shot well today. And even though we didn’t do a great job with our defensive rebounding, we got key rebounds three or four times when we needed them.”
Lyons maintained that eight-point lead through the opening three minutes of the second quarter before Waubonsie Valley got up to speed and began solving the Lions’ 1-3-1 zone with some backdoor cuts. The Warriors tied it at 41 on a Bryan Jefferson free throw with 1:10 remaining in the half but a pair of Chris Antalek (12 points, 10 rebounds, two blocks) free throws gave Lyons a 43-41 lead at the break.
The Warriors, sparked by Jared Brownridge (27 points) took a 53-51 lead midway through the third quarter but the Lions responded with a 14-1 run. They made eight of eight free throws in the final quarter and 19 of 23 for the game while Waubonsie hit just 6 of 16.
Senior guard Kenny Smith had 15 of his game-high 26 points in the second half.
“It felt good to win,” said Smith. “We hadn’t played in eight days and we did a lot of shooting drills at practices and came in with a lot of confidence.”
Waubonsie Valley got 13 points from Bryan Jefferson and 10 from Dylan Warden.
“As a team, we’ve lost three in a row. We’re in a funk and we’re looking in the wrong places for answers,” said Weemer. “We’re scoring enough. You score 69 points, that’s enough to win a high school game. We’re just not defending with any sense of urgency.”
Weemer also cited Lyons’ 33-25 rebounding advantage as key.
The Lions advance to play Naperville North at 2:30 p.m.
Waubonsie Valley plays Kenwood Wednesday at 1:30 p.m.
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