Lake Park dumps Maine West at Wheeling
There was nothing strategic about the timeout Lake Park boys basketball coach Josh Virostko called less than two minutes into Monday's first-round game of the 33rd annual Wheeling Wildcat Hardwood Classic.
Virostko asked his team in no uncertain terms if it was going to rebound after Maine West grabbed four of its own misses in the first two minutes.
The Lancers (8-3) heeded Virostko's pleas as 6-foot-4 Zack Cooper had 23 points and 8 rebounds and guard Eric Eichholz had 16 points and 7 rebounds in a 75-51 victory.
“He got us fired up,” Cooper said of Virostko. “He told us we need to rebound and play defense and pick it up. We came out a little flat and needed to pick it up.”
And the Lancers really turned it up in a 26-10 third quarter to turn a 5-point game into a runaway and a quarterfinal matchup at 7:15 p.m. today with St. Viator (8-1), a 56-42 winner over Streamwood.
Lake Park finished with a 31-24 rebound advantage and wound up scoring four times in the first half off its own misses.
“We've got young kids and kids who are growing as basketball players,” Virostko said of a team where Cooper and Eichholz are the only seniors. “I don't like to be negative but sometimes you need a kick in the behind to get you going.
“I do it out of love and I'm grateful they responded.”
Especially Cooper, who had 11 points, 6 rebounds and 3 blocks in the first half. He also limited Maine West (6-3) senior Odera Eneogwe to 4 points on 2-for-10 shooting and 4 rebounds.
“I needed to show some leadership and show the team we were here to win,” Cooper said after hitting 9 of 12 shots to help the Lancers finish at 56.6 percent (30-for-53) from the floor.
“Without him in the first half we probably would have been down 10 or 15 points,” Virostko said after his team's fourth straight win. “He led us as a senior captain.”
Eichholz hit a pair of 3-pointers and combined with Cooper for 19 third-quarter points. Dominique Spencer and Zack Wagner added 11 points each for the Lancers.
Junior Conor Hart had 21 points and 7 rebounds as Maine West (6-3) saw a three-game winning streak come to a disappointing end. Dylan Carson added 10 points as it will play at 12:15 p.m. today against Streamwood (3-8).
“We got what we deserved,” said Maine West coach Erik McNeill. “We didn't have enough effort and energy needed in this game to get a first-round win.
“We've done some things defensively the past couple of weeks I've been really proud of but tonight was one of those nights where you shake your head ... it comes down to effort.”