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Boys Basketball: Joliet Central pulls away for victory at WJOL
Updated: November 21, 2011 9:56PM
Joliet Central boys basketball coach Jeff Corcoran didn’t really know what to expect from his team heading into Monday’s season opener against Plainfield Central.
The Steelmen coach expected a tough battle with the Wildcats and hoped that perhaps his squad might prevail in the WJOL Thanksgiving Basketball Classic game.
So after watching the Steelmen fall behind 20-19 at halftime, it’s safe to say Corcoran was very pleased with how things wound up unfolding during the last half.
Joliet Central used a 20-10 advantage in the third quarter to take a 39-30 lead and eventually claimed a 50-34 victory at the University of St. Francis in Joliet.
“Because of our size, the biggest thing that we have going for us is our effort,” Corcoran said. “We have to keep preaching to our kids that up or down, we have to keep playing at both ends of the floor.
“If you would have told me that we’d give Plainfield the type of game that we did, I don’t know if I would have said, ‘you’re nuts’, but I thought we could squeak it out. It’s good to see these kids open with a win.
“A year ago we had a lot of seniors who hadn’t played before and they’d look at each other and didn’t know what to do. This year, these kids have been through the system and we’re starting to grow as a team.”
The Steelmen (1-0) were paced by 12 points and four steals from Eddie McElrath, while Jonah Coble and John Aversa chipped in with nine points apiece.
Jarvis Northington added seven points and Nick Clark had six points and six assists for Joliet Central, which made 13-of-20 shot attempts in the final half.
Plainfield Central (0-1) outrebounded the Steelmen by a 33-24 margin but only connected on six of its 19 field-goal tries during the final 16 minutes.
Leading the way for the Wildcats were Andrew Norris (11 points, 8 rebounds), Zach Warner (8 points, 3 steals) and Eric Deloach (7 points).
“Even though we were leading a little bit, we were never really in sync,” Wildcats coach Steve Lamberti said. “I told our guys that ultimately we’ll be able to sleep well tonight only because this was Game 1.
“We’re not happy with our effort, our execution or with our coaching tonight and this was a team loss. You have to give credit to Joliet since they stuck with it and made some plays in the third quarter.
“But we’ve got eight guys returning and we’re confident that we have the ability if we execute and put forth a solid effort that we’ll be able to compete.”
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