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player ready...You think you had trouble getting your motor started Friday night . . .
How about Downers Grove North?
Six minutes into this year’s West Suburban Conference Silver Division Inconsistency Bowl Friday, it was Proviso West 16, Downers 2.
Talk about a downer.
“The game was over in the first three minutes,” Trojans coach Al Biancalana said. “After that, there was nothing we could do. The key to beating them was two simple things: take care of the basketball and box out. It was that simple, and we didn’t do it.”
Final score: Proviso West 69, Downers North 52.
Proviso’s quickness (namely, twins Luane and Duane Vaughan), the Panthers’ domination of the boards (mainly the ease with which 6-foot-6-inch senior center Telly Lowery moved around inside) and the Trojans’ inability to solve the Panthers’ swarming press were all factors in Proviso’s quick start and Downers rapid demise.
By the end of the first quarter, it was Proviso 18, Downers 6. Talk about a lift.
“That first quarter,” Panthers coach Mark Schneider said, “I don’t think we can play much better. We came out executing everything.”
The Trojans (11-4, 3-1) were 3 of 11 from the floor in the first quarter. Proviso pulled off five steals. And Biancalana was pulling his hair.
“We just couldn’t break that press,” he said. “We scored 28 against that same press last Saturday night against Loyola. Tonight our guards just made poor passing decisions and our receivers never came back for the ball.”
By halftime it was Proviso 38, Downers 22.
The Panthers’ Mr. Defense, Luane Vaughan, and Lowery were the chief thieves with four steals each as Proviso forced 23 turnovers for the game. Proviso (11-2, 3-1) also outrebounded Downers 40-24, led by Luane Vaughan’s seven and Duane Vaughan’s and Lowery’s six apiece. Lowery’s team-high 21 points included five layups and two dunks. Duane Vaughan added 14 points.
The Trojans had senior guard Jon Redd’s 22 points, but not much else.
“This game just continued (our) pattern,” Biancalana said. “We beat Oak Park at home, get satisfied and get our tails kicked by East Aurora. Now we have a good week of practice and then this.”
Schneider knows a little about inconsistency as well.
“We’ve been up and down all year,” he said. “I don’t know how we’ll do night to night. What we’ve tried to do is zone in on one area every week. This week the theme was the press. We hammered it home, hammered it home, hammered it home.”
And then went out and hammered Downers Grove North.