WCA boys' basketball: Knights fend off Wheaton-HN

Talk about it

The West Central Area boys’ basketball team closed the first half on a 14-6 run on Tuesday night and held off Wheaton-Herman-Norcross down the stretch in a 64-51 game.

The match-up was a game of runs. The Warriors battled back from an early 13-3 deficit to take a 23-20 lead behind nine points from Matt Pederson. They came out of the break on a 6-0 run before the Knights began to pull away.

Jeff Martinson gave WCA the lead back at 37-35 with a three. The Knights never trailed again as they held WHN in check the rest of the way.

“It was a good team win, starting with our scout team in practice playing hard against the varsity players,” head coach Kraig Hunter said. “Jeff Martinson really gave us a boost offensively, scoring 11 points off the bench as well as Jay Zimmerman, who have seven points and four rebounds. Matt Wagner and Drew Peterson both had solid all-around games as well.”

Wagner finished with 14 points, eight rebounds, four assists and four steals. Peterson added 8 points, seven rebounds, eight assists and five takeaways, while Dakotah Kashmark chipped in 13 points.

Pederson led the Warriors in scoring with 19. Brock Swere added 10 and Truman Raguse had nine.

The Knights controlled the glass with 36 rebounds to the Warriors’ 27. That helped them overcome 19 turnovers and 37 percent shooting on the night.

“This is the best we rebounded the ball all year against a much bigger team,” Hunter said.

The win snapped a two-game losing streak for West Central Area and moved the Knights to 6-15 on the season.

GAME STATISTICS

WCA 34 30 – 64

WHN 29 22 – 51

TOTALS – WCA – FG – 22-59; 3-PT FG – 10-28; FT – 10-18; Rebounds – 36; Turnovers – 19; WHN – FG – 21-57; 3-PT FG – 6-19; FT – 3-6; Rebounds – 27; Turnovers – 19

WCA – Wagner – 14 points; Kashmark – 13 points; Martinson – 11 points; Peterson – 8 points; Zimmerman – 7 points; Brady Combs – 5 points; Christian Thomasy – 4 points; Andrew Asleson – 2 points

WHN – Pederson – 19; Swere – 10; Raguse – 9; Lucas Koch – 6; Shane McCalip – 3; Paul Conroy – 2; Adam Russell – 2

Tags: west central area sports, sports, knights, basketball