Boy's Basketball: By George, Hinsdale South Defeats Wheaton South

Hinsdale South stumbled out of the gate but eventually crashed through and brought home a 44-38 boys basketball victory over Wheaton Warrenville South at the Downers Grove North hoops fest on Saturday afternoon.

Junior guard Phil George paced the Hornets with 19 points, including 10 in the fourth quarter.

"Coach always told us never to hang our head because the game's not over in the first quarter," George said of what coach Jim Thomas told his team.

George was the only member of Hinsdale South to score in double figures, though, it seemed as if for a while that no Hornet would reach double digits in the scoring column.

That's because Hinsdale South struggled to find an offensive rhythm in the game's opening quarter. Senior Ryan Johnson opened up the scoring for the Hornets, scoring a two-point bucket with 29 seconds left in the first quarter, effectively putting an end to the Tigers' 8-0 spurt to start the game.

Things started well enough for Wheaton Warrenville South seniors Reilly O'Toole, who scored 13 points, and Jordan Schuman, who knocked down consecutive 3-point field goals. But after starting out with an eight-point advantage, the Tigers were unable to deny Hinsdale South.

The Hornets began the second quarter on a 7-1 run and ended the quarter with five unanswered points in the last 30 seconds as George knocked down a three from the corner and senior Andy Nkansah stole the inbound pass and put down a layup to tie the game going into half.

"I thought we got a little carless with the basketball, and we can't do that with the way we shoot the basketball," Wheaton-Warrenville coach Mike Healy said. "Every shot we take is crucial. Early on, we handled the ball very well, but then we got careless."

A back-and-forth battle ensued in the second half. Hinsdale South got junior Brock Benson going in the second half, riding the big man to four straight points and the Hornets' first lead at the 1:47 mark in the third quarter.

But Wheaton-Warrenville South responded as senior Kevin Bridges, who racked up a team-high 15 points, scored eight of the team's 11 points in the quarter.

In what turned out to be the decisive fourth quarter, George put Hinsdale South on his shoulders, helping the Hornets open up as much as a 10-point lead in the quarter. A relentless Wheaton-Warrenville South unit scored six straight to cut its deficit to four, but it would never get any closer.

"I don't know if we made any adjustments, we just started making shots," Thomas said. "Wheaton South came out ready to play, jumped out on us early and made it tough. Then it was a battle the rest of the way."