Hinsdale South proves hard to plan for

Hinsdale South's James Ruzicka stated the obvious regarding his team's abundance of scorers on Friday.

After the Hornets had four players score in double figures in a 63-49 victory over Providence Catholic in the second day of the Jack Tosh Holiday Classic, Ruzicka said the team's strength lies in their ability to stretch defenses. The Hornets improved to 10-0 on the season and will play Wheaton North at 6:30 p.m. Saturday.

"All five of us (starters) can score, even our bench," Ruzicka said. "We have depth if one of us gets in foul trouble. It's probably hard to game plan for us."

The Celtics discovered that Friday to spoil their quest to stay in the winner's bracket. Ruzicka made six of his eight shots to finish with 15 points, Aaron Tims added 15 points, Billy Durkin poured in 11 points and 7 assists, Daeshawn Amy also scored 11 and Robert Durkin tallied 8 to lead a balanced effort.

Hinsdale South coach Brett Moore revealed his team is vastly different from talented past Hornets' teams that were among the top teams in the area, which included teams led by Division I recruits Barret Benson and Zion Griffin.

The Hornets shot 6-for-10 on 3-pointers, including a 3-for-4 effort in the second half.

"The strength of our team is we are finding a different way to win every night," Moore said. "We have four shooters to go with a good big man and some guys coming off the bench that can really help us. I just think we fit well.

"Anytime you can have four guys that can rattle four or five 3s in a row, that's something we didn't have with Barret. We had a couple of guys with Zion."

The Hornets showed that balance in the second half, erasing a 2-point halftime deficit by opening the third quarter with points on six of their first seven possessions. Ruzicka led the charge by attacking the basket for two strong drives and hitting two 3s in the eight-minute quarter. Billy Durkin's passing and defense was instrumental in the comeback.

"We have a lot of talented players," Billy Durkin said. "It's great seeing up come together. One of the hardest things for teams is to stop us all. You can try and take away myself or Aaron, but James, Bobby and Daeshawn can get you. If one person is not having a good game, four other guys can step up. It's been fun. That's what makes us really good, we have five guys that can play equally well. That's been a fun process. Everyone has been stepping up."

In the fourth quarter the Hornets kept the momentum by tallying baskets on their first five trips down the court.

"They came out insanely hot, could not miss," Moore said. "We didn't say anything special at halftime, just that we are 9-0 and you are going to get every team's best shot."