Boys Basketball: Plainfield East starts fast, beats Plainfield South

Updated: January 28, 2012 9:02PM

The first meeting between Southwest Prairie Conference leader Plainfield East and defending champion Plainfield South couldn’t have started much better for the Bengals.

No. 8 Plainfield East blitzed South with a 28-point first quarter, withstood a couple of second-half rallies by the host Cougars and went on to an 84-66 victory Saturday night in a game postponed by the Jan. 20 snowstorm.

“We wanted to come out and send a message to not just Plainfield South, but the whole league,’’ East guard Dee Brown said. “We want everybody to know we’re not just what we’re hyped up to be. We’re actually a great team. When we play together, we’re a hard team to beat.’’

That was clear in the first quarter when East capitalized on six turnovers to outscore South 28-10, led by nine points and three rebounds from Brown and six points by Des’Nique Harris.

“I was just looking to stay in the offense,’’ Brown said. “I was just looking for my opportunities when I was open.’’

“He came in with some major energy,’’ Plainfield East coach Branden Adkins said of Brown. “He just came with a huge focus. He kind of had a little chip on his shoulder. It was nice to see him just get after it and run the floor hard. ’’

Brown and center Brian Bennett each finished with 17 points, Mack Brown had 13 points and Myles Walters 12 for East (17-1, 8-0). The Bengals held on to win Friday at Oswego after having a double-digit lead, but didn’t repeat that Saturday.

“We’ve done that a lot lately, gotten some early points in the first quarter and kind of fallen back in the second quarter,’’ Adkins said. “I don’t know if it’s legs or taking quicker shots. I thought tonight we did an outstanding job of sharing the basketball.’’

Center Will Nixon led South (10-8, 5-3) with 26 points and eight rebounds and Ed Presniakovas was held to 15 points.

Plainfield East can solidify its hold on first place with a victory Friday against visiting Minooka (15-6, 6-1).

“We’ve got teams that are chasing us; that’s the way we want to keep it,’’ Adkins said. “We’ve got a big one with Minooka. We hope they’re going to come into our house and be a little intimidated.’’

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