York runs past Willowbrook for 6th straight win
Full-court and up-tempo, or slowed down and half-court...it doesn't matter to York.
The Dukes keep finding ways to dictate the pace.
That was the case again in Saturday's boys basketball matchup against Willowbrook in Elmhurst, with York beating the Warriors 73-45 while playing at a sped-up pace.
That's normally Willowbrook's go-to style but it fed in well with the Dukes (8-1), who won their sixth straight game after taking the lead for good with a 7-0 run to start the second quarter. C.J. Harris knocked down a 3-pointer to give the Warriors (6-3) a 17-16 lead after a quarter, but it was pretty much all York after that.
"They try to speed teams up and we came out with a gameplan to jump on them early," said York senior Erik Cohn, who scored 13 points and grabbed 9 rebounds. "We have multiple threats the defense has to pay attention to, and that helped us again tonight."
Playing its third game this week, including Friday's tough West Suburban Gold Conference loss at Morton, Willowbrook clearly showed tired legs against the Dukes. It especially showed on the perimeter, where the Warriors made just 7 of 29 3-point attempts.
It was the second straight night the Warriors struggled from outside, which is something they usually thrive at with Matas Masys, Scott Tumilty, Everett Stubblefield III and others. Playing short-handed without injured Deandre Holliday and Jack Hines this weekend, Willowbrook now has 11 days off before beginning play in its first appearance at the Hinsdale Central holiday tournament.
"We're on fumes right now," said Willowbrook coach Chris Perkins. "Playing the style we play and pressing for 32 minutes, that'll happen sometimes. But we knew this would be a challenge. They were good on film and they were even better in person."
Willowbrook narrowed the gap to 29-24 late in the second quarter but York responded with a 10-0 run with four different scorers that spanned the break. Once more the Warriors pulled within single digits but couldn't get closer than 9 points away.
York's 11-2 run at the start of the fourth quarter put it out of reach.
The balanced Dukes were led by Nick Kosich's 17 points. Sam Walsh overcame foul trouble to score 14 points while Nate Shockey added 10.
Charlie Flak scored 9 points for Willowbrook. Tumilty and Harris had 8 each.
"They're hard to play against with how quick they are, and I think our guys were pretty fired up," said York coach Vince Doran. "They're scary because they can get it going at any time. We knew it was going to be tough but I'm proud of how our kids reacted."
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