Boys Basketball: Without Keith Carter, Proviso East still rolls

Updated: January 28, 2012 10:58PM

Technical difficulties only briefly delayed the Proviso East show Saturday at Addison Trail.

With star guard Keith Carter automatically forced to miss the game after picking up two technical fouls the previous night against Leyden, the Pirates found themselves tied with the Blazers at 9-9 midway through the first quarter.

But Proviso East (17-0) quickly returned to form with a 13-0 run to close the period, then never slowed down in rolling on to a 79-36 win.

“It was one of those situations, a learning experience for him,” Proviso East coach Donnie Boyce said of Carter. “They’re young kids and sometimes their emotions get the best of them. He let Leyden get under his skin a little bit.”

Junior forward Sterling Brown eased the pain of Carter’s absence nicely on Saturday with big across-the-board numbers (17 points, 12 rebounds, four steals and three blocked shots in three quarters of play).

“Keith is the main guy on our team, so we all had to try our best to take his spot,” Brown said. “It was a big adjustment.”

Brown loomed especially large in the second quarter, with six points, seven rebounds, two steals and two blocks in just that eight-minute span.

“That wasn’t my usual game,” he said. “Keith was out so I had to step up for my team with a few other players and pretty much try to do everything on the floor - rebound, assist, block shots and get points.”

Also helping fill the void all night were guards Paris Burns (17 points, five assists) and Paris Lee (10 points, three steals) and center Trashaun Carrol (13 points, seven rebounds).

Fueling Addison Trail’s strong start was guard Vince Beltrano (12 points), who scored seven points in the first three minutes of the game to keep his team tied with the Pirates.

But after committing just one turnover in the first 4:15 of the game, the Blazers had 15 such miscues in the next 11 minutes of play as the Pirates exploded to a 43-18 halftime lead.

“I thought Addison came out with a great game plan, and with a lot of pride,” Boyce said. “It just took us a little while to figure them out and settle into the game.”

“Our coach just told us to stay aggressive,” Brown said. “No letups, keep pushing it on them.”

With the Pirates heading into February still perfect, first-year coach Boyce is humble about his role in the success.

“I thought (former coach) David Chatman did a great job developing these kids,” Boyce said. “I just came in and added a few of my own twists like opening the floor up on offense. And we have a group of seven or eight guys with great skills who can take their man off the dribble, make the right passes and make open shots.“

But Boyce still hopes for even bigger things.

“We definitely have a lot of room for improvement,” he said. “We could box out better, make free throws better. ... I could go down a list of things we can improve on. But one thing I am pleased about is the mental aspect. Kids came sometimes get bored, especially when you get a big lead. But they seem to have that killer instinct. We’re like sharks out there and smell blood.

”I like the way we’re headed, but it’s still a long road. The one thing I like about these kids is they go out and play hard every night. We’re gradually taking steps to being a great team. I’m really pleased with their effort night in and night out.”

© 2012 Sun-Times Media, LLC. All rights reserved. This material may not be copied or distributed without permission. For more information about reprints and permissions, visit www.suntimesreprints.com. To order a reprint of this article, click here.