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If Downers Grove South’s boys basketball team is hoping to be a towering presence in the West Suburban Gold this winter, the Mustangs made a good first impression.
“They have big kids,” Morton coach Tony Martinucci said. “We were shaking hands and everybody in line I had to look up to. Even their mascot was big.”
Downers South had its fellow defending conference co-champons looking up all night, rocketing to a 35-16 halftime lead en route to an eventual 64-48 win.
And fittingly, it was the inside play of Bledi Dervishi (11 points) and Ziggy Riauka (10 points, nine in the first half) that made an immediate impact.
“Obviously we only have one guy with size (6-foot-7 Rocco Balcaster), and if you get Rocco with two fouls in the first minute it’s a long day,” Martinucci said. “That’s where they got us. That was the game.”
“Our two big kids are so hard to cover at the same time,” Downers South coach Jay Baum said.
But Downers South (4-2, 1-0 in the WSG) did more than overpower Morton inside.
The guard tandem of Mark Bentley (11 points) and Jamall Millison (10) gave Downers South four scorers in double figures, and Millison did a great defensive job on Morton sharpshooter Mike Coleman.
“One of the things I was really proud of was that we played great defense,” Baum said. “(Coleman) is the defending IHSA three-point champion, and he only had one shot from the perimeter and two points on free throws. “One of our plans was to get off to a good start. At our first road games we didn’t get off to a good start. To build up a double figure lead (by early in the second quarter) ... I’m very proud of our defense.
“A few mistakes here or there, but we moved the ball well and got good shots for John Dillon (five points) and Mark Bentley. And our big guys were too strong inside.”
Downers South was even able to show off its strong depth. Tre Stanback (six points) had a nice steal and layup for a 57-35 lead with 6:10 left, and Tom Janowiak (four points) later had a nice basket and foul.
“It was a good team effort,” Baum said. “We played a lot of people off the bench. Tre came in, gave us good minutes and did a great job handling the ball.”
Martinucci left with big impressions of the entire team with which he shared the 2008-09 conference title.
If Downers Grove South’s boys basketball team is hoping to be a towering presence in the West Suburban Gold this winter, the Mustangs made a good first impression.
“They have big kids,” Morton coach Tony Martinucci said. “We were shaking hands and everybody in line I had to look up to. Even their mascot was big.”
Downers South had its fellow defending conference co-champons looking up all night, rocketing to a 35-16 halftime lead en route to an eventual 64-48 win.
And fittingly, it was the inside play of Bledi Dervishi (11 points) and Ziggy Riauka (10 points, nine in the first half) that made an immediate impact.
“Obviously we only have one guy with size (6-foot-7 Rocco Balcaster), and if you get Rocco with two fouls in the first minute it’s a long day,” Martinucci said. “That’s where they got us. That was the game.”
“Our two big kids are so hard to cover at the same time,” Downers South coach Jay Baum said.
But Downers South (4-2, 1-0 in the WSG) did more than overpower Morton inside.
The guard tandem of Mark Bentley (11 points) and Jamall Millison (10) gave Downers South four scorers in double figures, and Millison did a great defensive job on Morton sharpshooter Mike Coleman.
“One of the things I was really proud of was that we played great defense,” Baum said. “(Coleman) is the defending IHSA three-point champion, and he only had one shot from the perimeter and two points on free throws. “One of our plans was to get off to a good start. At our first road games we didn’t get off to a good start. To build up a double figure lead (by early in the second quarter) ... I’m very proud of our defense.
“A few mistakes here or there, but we moved the ball well and got good shots for John Dillon (five points) and Mark Bentley. And our big guys were too strong inside.”
Downers South was even able to show off its strong depth. Tre Stanback (six points) had a nice steal and layup for a 57-35 lead with 6:10 left, and Tom Janowiak (four points) later had a nice basket and foul.
“It was a good team effort,” Baum said. “We played a lot of people off the bench. Tre came in, gave us good minutes and did a great job handling the ball.”
Martinucci left with big impressions of the entire team with which he shared the 2008-09 conference title.
“They’re a good team,” he said. “They’ve got guards, big kids and shooters. These guys look like football players out here. They throw five or six bodies out there and we have one, and he got in foul trouble. Even emotionally we all were like ‘oh boy.’”
The Mustangs’ next opponent felt even more overwhelmed, as Downers South rolled to a 68-27 win over Lake Park on Saturday.
“Lake Park’s a solid team, and we had to match their intensity,” Baum said. “It would have really negated the big win (over Morton) if we came out flat, and that was mentioned before we left (on Friday).”
Downers South is flattening opponents instead, winning their last three games by a combined 70 points. “Our practices have been good practices,” Baum said. “We understand what we need to work on, and the kids are understanding their roles.”
