WW South nets MLK tournament crown
Sometimes it just takes a small segment of time for a basketball team to win a game.
And that was the case for the Wheaton Warrenville South boys basketball team during Monday night's 50-41 win over Rockford East in the championship game of the WW South MLK Tournament.
It was the second straight MLK Tournament title for the hosts.
The Tigers (18-2) and the E-Rabs (14-9) were tied at 32 after the third quarter. The final period opened with Braylen Meredith, who scored a game-high 20 points, sinking two free throws to start a 12-2 WW South run that put them up 45-34.
Meredith scored two baskets and hit on two additional free throws during the run. Jake Vozza hit for a field goal and Luca Carbonaro nailed a 3-point basket to add to the run.
"Coach (Mike Healy) at halftime said to play our game, play hard defense and eventually we will come out with the win," Meredith said.
Healy said Rockford East was going to put up a challenge and that it might come down to a small part of the game to push the Tigers past the finish line.
"I'm proud of our effort. We went toe-to-toe with each other. We grinded it out and played hard," he said.
The tournament means four games in three days for participating squads. Earlier in the day, WW South beat Normal Community 58-33 in the semifinal round.
On Saturday, the Tigers beat Lake Forest Academy and Plainfield South.
"It's a challenge," Meredith said of the competition. "I was tired, the team was tired. But you have to put that aside."
The two teams were tied at 11-all after the first quarter and the following stanza was mostly the squads exchanging one-point advantages.
The Tigers earned their biggest lead at that point in the game on Colin Moore's basket that made it 23-18. Rockford East got the last basket of the half to make it 23-20 at intermission.
The E-Rabs enjoyed their biggest lead for the third and final time of the night at 32-29 before Meredith's 3-pointer tied the contest at 32 going into the final eight minutes.
There is an obvious sense of satisfaction from winning your school's own tournament and succeeding over the challenges it presents.
"We come in and protect our home court and owned up to it," said Carbonaro, who scored 13 points. "We played hard, we practice hard and we're in better condition."