Even bad days are spectacular for King`s Jamie Brandon.
Take Friday. Brandon suffered from flu-like symptoms and his teammates
”stunk up the gym,” in the words of coach Landon Cox.
Still, Brandon notched his sixth consecutive triple-double in leading No. 1 King to a 74-52 rout over visiting Julian.
In 24 minutes of action, Brandon scored 15 points with 10 rebounds and 10 assists.
”Jamie did the job, but for some reason we weren`t up for the game as a team,” Cox said. ”I warned the guys that they can`t afford to overlook anyone and must play every team head on.”
King (6-0), led by Ahmad Shareef (20 points) and Keith Johnson (14 points, 5 assists), took a 21-11 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Julian went to a full-court man-to-man defense to open the second, forced four straight turnovers and cut King`s lead to 21-17.
After a timeout and scolding by Cox, King`s players regained their composure and began a 12-3 run to close the half with a 33-20 lead.
King cruised in the second half with Brandon scoring 11 and Johnny Selvie 6 of his 13 points. Selvie also had 10 rebounds.
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Julian (3-2) was led by Gregory Bennett with 18 points.
3. EAST AURORA
East Aurora coach Scott Martens believes his team may suffer from overconfidence. If so, Friday`s 73-46 Upstate Eight stroll at winless Lake Park wasn`t much of a cure.
For the first time this season, East Aurora (5-0, 2-0) trailed in the first quarter, by as much as six. Although his team recovered nicely with 23 points in each of the next two periods, Martens was not amused.
”You play like you practice,” Martens said, ”and we practiced very poorly. Our kids need to be humble.”
Thomas Wyatt led East Aurora with 23 points. Tor Dransholt led Lake Park
(0-5, 0-2) with 11.
9. ST. JOSEPH
St. Joseph crammed a night`s work into the second quarter and hammered Notre Dame 64-49 in a sorting out of East Suburban Catholic leaders.
With Marty Clark hitting for 15 of his 20 points, St. Joe (5-1, 3-0)
outscored Notre Dame 25-12 in the second to turn a 1-point lead into a 14-point bulge.
”In the second quarter, we had the intensity and showed what we are capable of doing,” coach Gene Pingatore said, but he added, ”We never put them away.”
Jamal Robinson scored 14 points for St. Joseph and grabbed 11 rebounds. Rich Aigner led Notre Dame (2-3, 1-1) with 23 points.
11. BLOOM
Bloom, in a 13-0 hole at the start, switched defenses and found its offense in time to salvage a 69-62 SICA East victory at Homewood-Flossmoor.
Marc Tierney scored 7 of his 21 points while H-F (1-4, 0-2) took its early lead. Then Bloom went to a man-to-man defense and outscored H-F 30-11. Brandon Cole, 0 for 5 in the first quarter, scored 8 of his 32 points in the last 4:25 of the half. His 3-pointer gave Bloom its first lead at 23-21.
The score was tied four times in the fourth quarter, but Bloom (5-1, 1-1) took the lead for good when Cole tipped in a missed free throw then hit a 3-pointer for a 59-54 lead.
Coach Frank Nardi said he didn`t want to use the man-to-man defense, but added: ”That`s the only thing I had left.” That and Cole. ”As long as I have Brandon on the floor, at some time we`ll start clicking.”
Makanju Maxie added 18 points with 17 rebounds for H-F.
16. CHICAGO VOCATIONAL
East Chicago (Ind.) won the nonconference match 75-59, and Chicago Vocational coach Richard Cook placed the blame in his frontcourt.
His guards scored 2 points in the first half while East Chicago`s Delman Johnson and Charles Rick were scoring 21 to help their team to a 36-27 lead. They finished with 15 each.
Guard Joe Weaver had 14 for CVS (4-2), but 12 came in the second half on four 3-pointers. Center Juwan Howard scored 26 points.
”I don`t think we`re a very good ballclub right now,” Cook said. ”Our guards were sleepwalking out there, and Juwan has to learn to kick the ball out.”
East Chicago is 3-1.
16. DE LA SALLE
De La Salle, tied at the break, turned up the pressure in the second half and stopped Mt. Carmel 66-51 in a Catholic League match.
The game was tied at 31 with about 7 minutes left in the third quarter, then De La Salle (4-2, 0-2) scored 14 straight points.
”Their defensive pressure took us out of our game,” Mt. Carmel coach Paul Rybarczyk said. De La Salle`s Jim Tracy agreed.
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”I think our defense was the key,” Tracy said. ”In the first half, we didn`t play as hard or as smart as usual.”
Charles Brakes had 19 points to lead De La Salle. Kwame Wilson scored 17 for Mt. Carmel (1-5, 0-2), but only 2 in the second half.
19. GORDON TECH
Tom Kleinschmidt returned to action after missing a game with an injury and led Gordon Tech`s withering attack in a 90-67 Catholic League crushing of Leo.
Gordon (4-2, 2-0) shot 60 percent, and Kleinschmidt led the assault with 27 points on 8-of-13 shooting, including five baskets from the 3-point line. Antoine Gillespie added 23 points.
”Tom`s return to action was really a big boost for the guys,” coach Steve Pappas said. ”Without him in there, I`m sure things wouldn`t have been this easy.”
Leo (1-4, 0-2) was led by center Dejuan Rose with 17 points.
20. LYONS TOWNSHIP
A good defense kept Lyons in the game long enough for Tom Skahill to heat up and help burn York 47-32 in a West Suburban Silver contest.
Lyons (6-1, 3-0), working against York`s 2-3 zone, missed 15 of its first 16 shots and trailed 7-4 after one quarter. But Skahill scored 20 of his 22 points in the second half and added 12 rebounds.
York (0-6, 0-3) went scoreless for nearly six minutes of the second and third quarters. York had 20 turnovers. Ben Dickinson led York with 16 points.