Boys Basketball: Downers South defense stymies Leyden

Updated: February 11, 2012 11:25PM

No. 11 Downers South had the defensive pressure turned up right from the onset Saturday in a 60-33 win over visiting Leyden in the West Suburban Gold.

The win by the Mustangs sets up a conference season finale at 6 p.m. Friday at undefeated Proviso East, which is undefeated heading into a Tuesday night game against Leyden. If the Pirates beat the Eagles Tuesday, a win Friday by Downers South, which lost earlier in the season to the Proviso East, would result in co-champs for the West Suburban Gold.

“We have to take better care of the ball than we did last time against them,” said Downers South senior Kevin Honn, who tallied a game-high 17 points against Leyden.

Honn said it would be nice to give Proviso East its first loss of the season, but added that isn’t the focus for the Mustangs.

“We aren’t really concerned with their record,” he said. “We want to win for the conference and to keep our momentum going into Regionals.”

Against Leyden, the host Mustangs (20-4, 10-1) limited the Eagles (15-8, 6-5) to 11 points and forced 17 turnovers in the first half, which ended with Downers South leading 25-11.

The Mustangs scored the first nine points of the game and held the Eagles (15-8, 6-5) scoreless until Patrick Listwan (team-best 14 points) hit a six-footer with 1:48 remaining in the first quarter. Alex Herrera added a layup for Leyden in the final minute of the period to pull the Eagles to within 9-4 after one quarter.

Jerron Wilbut (13 points) scored six points in a 12-0 Downers South run to open the second quarter, as the Mustangs extended their advantage to 21-6. It was Listwan who again broke the drought for Leyden, this time with a three-footer with 3:43 left in the half.

Leyden more than doubled its first-half offensive output in the third quarter when it put 12 points on the scoreboard, but Honn scored eight of his points in the first four minutes of the period, and Downers South was able to build its lead to 44-23 by the end of the quarter.

Mustangs’ coach Jay Baum pulled his starters with a 51-27 lead and 5:37 left in the game.

“I give our kids a lot of credit; we focus on defense at Downers Grove South,” Baum said. “Leyden is a team of streaks, and we didn’t want to let them get hot.”

Leyden coach Bill Heisler said he was very disappointed with his team’s performance.

“We didn’t even compete,” he said. “I’m puzzled and disappointed. You just can’t play like that against a good team, and Downers South is a very good team.”

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