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Good Lisle shows up, beats Westmont

At times early on this season, the Lisle boys basketball team has looked great. But there have been spells where other adjectives would better describe the Lions' play.

In Friday's 53-36 defeat of Westmont at the Lions' own Thanksgiving Tournament, Lisle limited its off moments and easily handled a young Sentinels squad in the process. With the win the 2-1 Lions will take on 3-0 Timothy Christian on Saturday with a chance at earning a share of the tourney title.

"At times when we're able to get into our offense we can really generate high-quality shots," Lisle coach Mark LaScala said. "There are other times when it's a three-ring circus out there.

"If we get to be consistent on the offensive end along with the effort we get on defense, we'll be a tough team."

Against Westmont (1-3) Lisle was tough on defense throughout and took good care of the ball while building a 40-21 lead after three quarters of play. The home team was a little sloppy while committing 8 turnovers in the fourth quarter but still held off a Sentinels squad that starts three sophomores and just one senior.

"I think if we play under more control than we have in the past three nights then you'll see a lot different team tomorrow night than today," said Lions guard Trevor Stitt, who had 12 points and 2 steals. "We've been putting glimpses and pieces together. Once we do the whole thing we'll get it going.

"Once we get it all together I'm really excited about what we can do."

What the Lions did do was take Westmont out of its offense for much of the game. They also got big nights on the glass from Josh Jamison and Grant Haen, who combined for 22 rebounds.

"We've been pretty good on the glass in limiting offensive rebounds and Josh has been doing a phenomenal job the last couple of games," Stitt said. "Everyone's getting after the ball."

Lisle led 11-10 after one quarter before outscoring Westmont 29-11 over the next two quarters. Mark McGrath tallied a game-high 18 points and Jamison added 10 points and 14 rebounds.

The Sentinels, who lean on Caden Anderson and Jalen Wiulmington to provide much of their scoring, struggled against Lisle when Anderson's shots wouldn't fall and Wiulmington was plagued by foul trouble. Anderson was named to the all-tourney team after tallying at least 20 points in each of his team's first three games before Lisle held him to 5 points.

"We never got into a good shooting rhythm. We also forced some shots that weren't inside our offense," Westmont coach Craig Etheridge said. "And it was a physical game and my young guys aren't used to playing physical yet. It was just a combination of a lot of little things and we couldn't overcome any of them."

Wiulmington paced Westmont with 9 points and 2 steals before fouling out, and Michael Thompson added 8 points.

  Lisle's Mark McGrath drives to the basket against Westmont's Michael Thompson (21) during the Lisle High School Thanksgiving Tournament. Daniel White/dwhite@dailyherald.com
  Westmont's Troy Schlicter, left, battles for a loose ball with Lisle's Mark McGrath, right, during the Lisle High School Thanksgiving Tournament. Daniel White/dwhite@dailyherald.com
  Lisle's Josh Jamison drives to the basket against Westmont during the Lisle High School Thanksgiving Tournament. Daniel White/dwhite@dailyherald.com
  Lisle's Trevor Stitt drives to the basket against Westmont during the Lisle High School Thanksgiving Tournament. Daniel White/dwhite@dailyherald.com
  Lisle's Josh Jamison, left, looks for an offensive rebound over Westmont's Caden Anderson, right, during the Lisle High School Thanksgiving Tournament. Daniel White/dwhite@dailyherald.com
  Lisle's Trevor Stitt looks to pass the ball around Westmont's Matthew O'Leary, right, during the Lisle High School Thanksgiving Tournament. Daniel White/dwhite@dailyherald.com
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