Pain becoming gain for Buffalo Grove

Experience and young talent has proved to be a winning combination early in the season for Buffalo Grove's boys basketball team. The Bison return eight players from last year's squad and four talented sophomores are contributing.

"That combination mixes with hard work, and all that hard work pushes us to be as good as we can be," junior guard Collin Dekorsi said. "That starts with our seniors and goes down the line and we're teaching the young kids that and they're picking it up really fast, as you can see."

December is barely underway and Buffalo Grove (3-2, 1-0 MSL East) is almost halfway to last season's win total of seven already with a 58-47 win at Wheeling on Friday.

"We're definitely heading in the right direction," BG coach Keith Peterson said. "Last year we had seven one-possession games in the fourth quarter that we lost. Our youth and lack of experience made a difference. The hope was that last year's pain would be this year's gain. I think we're definitely seeing that. We've still got a lot of work to do, but as long as we keep playing with energy and effort, we're going to keep getting better and better."

Buffalo Grove's more up-tempo, guard-oriented style of play also featuring strong defensive pressure has contributed to its early-season success.

"We've been working on that all summer and in practice," sophomore guard Jack Vaselaney said. "We're not really big, so the pressure helps us take advantage of us being small and fast. We're trying to play fast and being up-tempo on both sides is really going to help us stay successful. Steals are really a way to boost our energy. Sometimes when we're down, it's great to get a steal or block. Steals are way easier to get, so we can get up in the passing lanes and it can spark us at any given moment."

One of Buffalo Grove's four sophomores, Vaselaney led the Bison in scoring with 20 points against the Wildcats and also leads Buffalo Grove in scoring so far this season at 14.8 points per game. Vaselaney gained valuable experience last season on varsity in just his first year of high school in preparation for his early-season success.

"It's funny because last year we brought him up for the Hardwood Classic," Peterson said. "Those were his first games and it was a very different experience here tonight. I think just being more comfortable on the court and getting used to the strength and speed of the game has only made this year easier on him. He had a great summer and he worked his tail off and it's paying off."

Vaselaney is sharing point guard duties this season with Dekorsi, last season's leader in scoring (10 points per game) and assists (3 per game). Dekorsi handled point guard duties 90 percent of the time last season according to Peterson and is now splitting time at that spot with Vaselaney. Dekorsi provided Vaselaney with some pointers in preparation for Vaselaney's point guard role.

"I told him to just relax when bringing the ball up and when you see double teams coming, get rid of it quickly and just be ready to make the right pass," Dekorsi said.

Buffalo Grove took its largest lead of the game at 40-28 in the third quarter, but Wheeling scored six consecutive points (four points from 6-foot-9 senior center Patrick Szpir and two from junior guard Jalen Dennis) to bring its deficit to 40-34. The Wildcats trailed 44-37 after three quarters. Wheeling trailed by six points, 51-45 with 3:28 to go, but a 7-0 Bison run to extend the Buffalo Grove advantage to 58-45 put it out of reach for the Wildcats.

"Tonight BG just outplayed us and they executed their offense really well and they took away Patrick down low," Wheeling coach Mike O'Keeffe said. "Coach Peterson did a terrific job preparing his kids for the game. They outplayed us, outcoached us and they were just the better team tonight."

Despite the loss to open conference play, returning 10 players from last year's squad and having seven players on its roster that were on this fall's MSL East co-champion football team has helped Wheeling boys basketball get off to a strong start this season. Wheeling (3-3, 0-1 MSL East) is already halfway toward equaling last season's win total of six, but Dennis knows his squad has more work to do after Friday night's loss.

"Ways I think we've improved is I think the team's a little more mature and during practice, guys are a little more focused and come game time we're ready to play," Dennis said. "But we still have miles to go and it's nowhere near where it needs to be and it showed tonight. All the football players on the team are really close, but with all the guys the chemistry is still being built. It's not where it needs to be or anywhere close yet, but we've just got to keep working on it in practice and games and being around each other and I know it will slowly come. And when it comes, things will happen."

One of Wheeling's 10 returners is Chicago State commit Szpir, who led the Wildcats in scoring with 12 points against the Bison. Szpir also leads Wheeling in scoring so far this season at 12 points per game.

"When we play inside-out on the offensive end of the floor and we get the ball to Patrick and work the ball through him, we're really good," O'Keeffe said. "When we overdribble and we're not strong with the ball and we don't set good screens and don't make scoring cuts, that's when we're a little shaky. So we're continuing to work on our offense and defense on a daily basis. We still have a lot of things to clean up, but I still think the ceiling is very high for this team."