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Boys Basketball: Plainfield South grinds out win vs Plainfield North
Plainfield North’s Kurt Palandech (left) and Matt Fenza (10) during the first half at North
Tuesday December, 6, 2011.| Ray Luna ~ For Sun-Times Media
Updated: December 6, 2011 10:02PM
Ed Presniakovas scored 21 points for the Plainfield South, but his biggest play at Plainfield North was on defense in a 74-69 Southwest Prairie Conference victory Tuesday night.
With his team protecting a four-point lead, Presniakovas stole an interior pass, and teammate Alonzo Garrett sank a three-point basket on the ensuing possession for a 66-59 lead with 3:10 left. Garrett had all 14 of his points in the second half, while Christian Hayes scored 16 for South.
“That was huge,” South coach Ken Bublitz said. “The lead changes were small. No one got out to a big lead. That game was just a grind.”
A three-point basket by Presniakovas, who had 12 points in the first half, with six seconds left before intermission produced a 34-all tie, the sixth tie over the final 4:39 of the half.
North led for all but one possession of the first half, with the biggest lead 19-12 after Jeremy Bert scored on the opening possession of the second quarter.
“I thought getting it tied at halftime was big for us,” Bublitz said. “We were just kind of in a holding effort and not an attacking effort the whole half.”
The Cougars (4-3, 2-0) hung close thanks to 10 free throws in a first half that had the teams combine for 23 fouls.
After shooting nearly 47 percent in the first half, North missed its first seven field-goal attempts of the second half and 16 of its first 22.
North dropped to 1-6, 1-1 despite having four players with at least 12 points, led by Marcus Fair and Bert with 16 each.
“We had some chemistry issues early and that’s not the issue anymore,” North coach Nick DiForti said. “We played together and battled throughout the game.
“From a basketball standpoint, it comes down to some little things.”
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