Boys Basketball: Walther Lutheran tops Guerin

Updated: December 16, 2011 11:28PM

Guerin stayed competitive with Walther Lutheran through the first quarter, but once the visiting Broncos’ defense started bucking they pulled away to the tune of a 66-34 win on Friday night during their Suburban Christian Conference clash in River Grove. Senior guard Patrell Green led all scorers with 18 points in the winning effort. Junior guard Joe Lomnicki added 10 for the victorious Broncos.

“Defensively, we did a heck of a job,” said Walther Lutheran head coach Al Lainio. “We won the game tonight with our defense. It was a tough game, so we’ll go home and ice some bruises. We did a great job of playing four quarters of tremendous defense.”

That defense for Walther Lutheran (4-4, 2-0) produced 34 Guerin turnovers and turned many of them into easy transition buckets. The Broncos embarked on a 14-3 run through the bulk of the second quarter to build a 32-18 lead at halftime.

“We don’t have that many scorers, so we put pressure on their point guards and big men to get turnovers,” Green said. “We get most of our points on lay ups and made a few lay ups. We held together mentally, pressured them and made a couple threes to pull away.”

Guerin (1-7, 0-3) had a tough time executing their offense. The Broncos did a good job anticipating passes all night, but the Gators didn’t show much patience in the face of the pressure. That combination doomed the home side all night. Junior guard Ricky Santiago hit a pair of threes and scored eight points to tie senior guard Terrell Gage for tops on the night for the Gators, who will have until Dec. 27, to get on the right track before they face Maine East to start the Luther North Holiday Tournament.

“We didn’t have any intensity out there,” Gage said. “We had no power to want to play. They did a good job, but we should have done better. Our ball handling and defense has to improve and we have got to stop being selfish.”

Walther Lutheran is back at it starting Monday at the Elgin Holiday Tournament.

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