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Wheaton Academy slips past St. Edward

With the game on the line, Wheaton Academy used height and ball movement to get past St. Edward.

Anthony Polinski scored 11 of his game-high 21 points in the fourth quarter and J.D. Gunn grabbed 6 fourth-quarter rebounds to help Wheaton Academy erase an early fourth-quarter deficit for a 45-42 win at the Warrior Dome in West Chicago.

Hosting the Metro Suburban Conference West Division contest, Wheaton Academy (9-13, 4-4) won for the fifth time in seven games.

“We caught fire a little bit that second half, but I don't know, we were just looking to get inside because in the first half that's where all our points were coming from,” said Polinski, a senior guard.

“We just kept pounding it down there and that's how we were able to regain the lead and kind of hold onto it.”

Not that it was a bunch of points in the first half. St. Edward forward Sean Phelan's layup tied the scored 14-14 at halftime.

St. Edward (12-11, 2-7) closed the third quarter on a 13-5 run and led 28-27 going into the fourth. The Green Wave went up 30-27 quickly in the fourth on two free throws by Kelvin Cortez-Harvey, the junior guard whose 16 points led St. Edward.

“We played good defense on them, we held them to only 45 points I think,” Cortez-Harvey said. “Good defensively but not offensively, we need to get better at that.”

Wheaton Academy combined 3-pointers by Polinski and Dan Vasko, Tom Blum's transition basket and a Polinski putback and free throws to take a 41-35 lead with 57.3 seconds left.

“I think we moved (the ball) a little bit more, it wasn't a one pass and getting it up,” said Warriors coach David Osborn. “We got some shots out of our actions and then once you kind of start to feel that momentum then they just start falling a little bit more.”

St. Edward guard Adam Radcliffe's 3 got within 43-39 with 7.3 seconds left, but Polinski made 2 more free throws, 6 of 6 in the last 6:04.

Early defense by Jameson Teuscher and later Vasko on Cortez-Harvey helped limit the Green Wave junior from scoring the numbers he's capable.

“But he can't do it all by himself and that's what we've been preaching,” said St. Edward coach P.J. White. “It's not one-on-five, it's five-on-five and we need the other four guys to play, too, and not watch Kelvin. And when we do that we play very well.”

Phelan added 9 points for the Green Wave, Andrew O'Neill 8. Blum scored 7 for Wheaton Academy.

Wheaton Academy made 16 of 30 field goals while St. Edward went 13 of 46. The Green Wave's minuscule 4 turnovers were overturned by Wheaton Academy's 30-19 rebounding advantage. Gunn, a sophomore, grabbed 13 and Polinski 8.

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