Wheaton North dug itself into a hole in its DuPage Valley Conference clash at crosstown rival Wheaton Warrenville South on Friday night, but they had enough moxie to dig out for a 40-39 victory.
The Falcons trailed by as many as nine twice in the second quarter and by seven points with 3:43 left, but a 10-2 burst to end the game proved enough to stave off the pesky Tigers.
“We have a bunch of senior players and we knew that if we just kept running our stuff, we were going to get some shots to fall,” said senior point guard Steve Pierotti, who scored seven of his 12 points in the fourth quarter. “We’re a lot more mature this year and we don’t get flustered. We know to trust ourselves.”
Before the final minutes, the last lead No. 18 Wheaton North held was at 6-5 after one quarter. A 16-8 WWS advantage in the second quarter turned the tide the Tigers’ way. They led 21-14 at the half and 29-25 after three quarters. The Falcons (6-1, 2-0) got over the hump when senior forward John Bagge (game-high 21 points) hit a bucket in the lane with 2:25 left for a 38-37 lead.
Tigers’ senior forward Perry Kendrick (11 points) answered on the next possession with 1:50 left to reclaim the lead at 39-38, but another Bagge hoop with 1:12 remaining proved to be the game-winner.
Wheaton Warrenville South (6-1, 1-1) held the ball for more than a minute after Bagge’s final score.Following a timeout, senior forward Sam Carlson was called for a backcourt violation with 5.8 seconds left after a Tigers’ timeout trying to set up a final play.
Falcons’ guard Dave Pilaris missed the front end of a one-and-one a second later, giving Wheaton South a final chance. But Bagge swatted away a Carlson runner in the lane at the buzzer.
Playing with the lead most of the game, Wheaton South was able to force a more deliberate pace than North would have preferred.
“Coming into the fourth quarter, we talked about ‘if we pushed the ball just a little more, we could maybe get our transition game going,'” Bagge said. “Whenever we come here, we always have to throw out all the records and all the hype and just play.”
