A pretty good win for Lisle
As Lisle assistant boys basketball coach Nathan Bylsma started to say, "It wasn't always pretty ..."
When it was, it was real pretty.
Connor Webb's rousing steal and dunk and Jay McGrath's 3-point shooting paced a comfortable first-half lead and the Lions cruised the rest of the way for a 62-42 nonconference win Tuesday over visiting Hinckley-Big Rock.
"Obviously, it's just 2 points but it can turn into 6 to 10 points. The fans start getting into the game, they all love seeing it," said 6-foot-5 guard Webb, who stole a pass heading a 1-2-2 full-court press and dribbled hard to the rim for a two-handed slam that capped an early 10-0 run.
Webb, Demetrius King Jr., and Elisha Basnight helped Lisle (10-9) translate 6 Royals turnovers into a 15-7 lead after one quarter.
Early in the second quarter Webb's inside basket, a Basnight 3 and 2 McGrath 3s capped an 11-0 Lions run that pushed the lead to 26-7 with 5:36 before halftime.
"It feels great once you get on a little hot streak, and thankfully my teammates were able to find me when I was open, and I just got my shots off," McGrath said.
He led Lisle with 17 points followed by Webb with 12 and Basnight with 9.
Royals coach Seth Sanderson called time out after the barrage. Hinckley-Big Rock (10-8) moved within 30-19 by halftime as 240-pound post Brian Bohannon, all-tournament at Plano, started converting from the low block. Bohannon led all players with 18 points and 13 rebounds, teammate Tate Sanderson at 13 points.
"Happy with how they battled. I thought we were much more composed, handled the ball better in the second half, but you just can't play them even when you're down 11 at half," said Seth Sanderson, not directly related to the four-year varsity guard.
Nick Martich joined the Lisle bounty in the third quarter, the Lions going up 46-29. Will-Jay Daniel's crowd-pleasing late pair of bank shots, the 6-4 junior's first 4 varsity points, sent Lisle's student section home happy.
Lisle coach Mark LaScala would like to bottle that early energy and sprinkle it liberally.
"Our intensity went up and down and up and down, and our focus was in and out," he said. "The challenge moving forward is to play 32 minutes with great energy and focus. It's really tough to do, but to get where we want to go it's what we've got to do."