WW South's Robinson makes right play to beat Wheaton North
After injuring his right shoulder in the last football game of the season, Parker Robinson spent a bunch of time working on basketball with his left hand.
Good thing.
Robinson's three-point play on a left-handed layup with 20 seconds remaining rallied Wheaton Warrenville South's boys basketball team to Tuesday's 34-32 DuPage Valley Conference victory at Wheaton North.
Wheaton North's last-second 3-point attempt went off the mark to preserve the Tigers' conference sweep against their cross-town rivals.
"I had a lot of time to start working on my left hand," Robinson said. "The injury forced me to focus on my left hand, and now I think I'm better with my left hand. It came in handy tonight."
The Falcons (10-9, 5-4) led by 5 points with 2:45 left in the fourth quarter - a giant margin considering the lack of scoring - but WW South (17-4, 8-1) rallied to tie it at 29 on a Chase Stebbins 3-pointer. Wheaton North's Brayden Anthony answered with a 3-pointer, and the Tigers' Matt Brodhead knocked down two free throws to make it a 32-31 Falcons lead with 1:02 left.
Wheaton North had the ball for more than 20 seconds before the Tigers' Jake Healy came up with a steal with 39 seconds left. That led to Robinson's game-winner - his only points.
"It's really unique to our group, just the composure we have at all times," said Brodhead, who led all scorers with 16 points. "We just had to adjust to whatever defense they were playing and just be us and run our stuff."
WW South burst to an 11-0 lead midway through the first quarter, but the Falcons held the Tigers scoreless for a 12-minute span between the second and third quarters. By the time WW South scored again, only two minutes remained in the third quarter but the Stebbins 3-pointer tied the game at 19.
"I really liked their looks," said Tigers coach Mike Healy. "Even when we were down, I liked their demeanor."
Deng Reng led Wheaton North with 10 points while Anthony scored 9 points and Mason Biegalski had 8 points. Stebbins scored 10 points for WW South.
"The kids played awesome," said Falcons coach Dave Brackmann. "A couple of mistakes down the stretch and they capitalized."
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