Story posted Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Maine South Pulls Off Waukegan Upset
By DWIGHT ESAU Journal Sports
Maine South was in the right place at the right time, and Glenbrook South got some payback for an earlier loss.
These were the highlights of last weekend's boys basketball games in the Central Suburban League among Journal-area teams.
Biggest splash came from Waukegan, where Maine South found itself facing a depleted Bulldog team that was ranked number-one in the state last Friday.
Three Bulldog starters – all-state Jerome Richmond, third-leading scorer Quan Connor, and point guard Mike Springs – were not in the gym after being suspended for one game for their involvement in an altercation outside their school earlier last week.
The Hawks (19-4, 5-2 in the Central Suburban-South) took advantage, especially of the absence of the 6-8 Richmond inside. Matt Palucki had his way in the paint for a game-high 26 points enroute to a 58-53 Hawk victory. It was Waukegan's first conference loss and left the Hawks tied for second, one game behind the Bulldogs.
Waukegan defeated the Hawks in Park Ridge a few weeks ago, 54-44.
P.J. Killean, Justin Wasik, and Justin Tworel also were heroes as the Hawks won their sixth straight game since a loss to Galesburg on Jan. 16.
Killean (8 points) hit a deep trey with 1:15 left in the third quarter for a 4 2-39 Hawk lead. The 'Dogs tied it by the end of the quarter, however.
Wasik (14 points) hit a basket with 20 seconds left to go up by one. After a Bulldog turnover, Wasik was fouled and nailed both free throws to extend the Hawk lead to 3 points. The Hawks were 6-for-6 from the foul line in the final minute.
Tworek missed four free throws early in the game, but canned his last two in the fourth quarter surge.
"You can't control the personnel you play against, all you can control is yourself," said Hawk coach Tony Lavorato. "We were in the right place at the right time, I guess. Richmond's absence did open up the inside for Palucki.
"I was happy how we closed the game, how we were patient," Lavorato said. "We took the lead and iced it with our free-throw shooters. Tworek made the biggest shots of his career. He missed four free throws previously, and then he ices the last two."
The Hawks visit Glenbrook South this Friday, and then play host to New Trier in a big CSL-South conference matchup on Feb. 12.
Glenbrook South avenged an earlier loss to Niles West last Friday with a 55-51 decision over the Wolves in Skokie. It was the Titans' first CSL-South conference win this season. It also was a turn-around game of sorts for the Titans, who hadn't won since late in 2009. It also prevented the Wolves from reaching the .500 level for the season.
Maine West and Maine East took this past weekend off but get back into action this week with non-conference games.
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