Stay Connected with YourSeason
Boys Basketball: Joliet West’s fast start sinks Waukegan
PONTIAC, Ill. — Joliet West senior Marlon Johnson is the kind of player that fans buy a ticket to see – he wants to dunk the ball and block shots, and do it as sensationally as possible.
The 6-9 senior exploded onto the state’s basketball scene with his play this summer, and Wednesday at the Pontiac Holiday Tournament, he gave fans a glimpse of what all the excitement is about, with eight points, 10 rebounds and seven blocked shots in a 64-57 first-round victory over Waukegan.
“He’s two years away from being a monster,” said Joliet West coach Luke Yaklich.
The Tigers (8-2) held Waukegan (4-6) scoreless for the first three minutes of the game and led 33-20 at the half.
“We are all about the defense this year,” Johnson said. “I’ve been waiting a couple years to come out and show what I can do at this tournament.”
Junior Morris Dunnigan is the other reason that Joliet West is a legitimate threat to advance to the tournament’s title game. The 6-2 junior scored 20 points and grabbed six rebounds, shooting 7-for-11 from the field.
“We had the best week of practice in my five years at Joliet the past week,” Yaklich said. “We did a great job attacking in the second quarter. I didn’t like the way we cleaned it up in the fourth quarter.”
The Tigers led 62-45 after a score by Brian Edwards with 2:50 to play in the game, but the Bulldogs closed the game on a 12-2 run.
“The choppiness at the end wasn’t good,” Yaklich said. “We have to make free throws at the end of games.”
Akeem Springs led Waukegan with 17 points and six rebounds, but shot just 5-of-22 from the field. Quintin Davis added 16 points and five rebounds.
Edwards scored 13 and grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds for Joliet West, while point guard Carl Terrell scored 14.
“Waukegan is a good team,” Yaklich said. “They have a lot of weapons. I felt what we did in the second quarter defensively really won the game for us.”
Joliet West will face the winner of the Warren/Plainfield North game at 11 a.m. on Thursday.
© 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.
Cell Phone Alerts
Comments Click here to view or make a comment