Boys Basketball: Foxes Rebound From Slow Start, Complete Weekend Sweep

The Hot Read: Yorkville used solid defense in the second half to follow up Friday’s conference win with a 56-43 non-conference boys basketball triumph over Minooka Saturday at home. Minooka connected on 5-of-6 shots in the first quarter and made good on its first six 3-pointers, but the Foxes grabbed their first lead in the third quarter and never relinquished the lead.  The young Indians, who couldn’t maintain their hot shooting in the second half, dropped back-to-back games this weekend.

Patch’s MVP: Yorkville’s Ryan Herron (14 points, 8 rebounds, 2 blocks, 1 assist). Herron not only led his team in points, rebounds and blocks, but also led a defense that limited Minooka to six field goals in the second half.

Key stats: The Indians shot 10-for-17 from the floor while leading 29-25 at the half, but followed that up with a 6-for-21 second half that saw their lead turn into another setback. Yorkville, meanwhile, was a blazing 9-for-16 in the second half. The Foxes, who forced 20 turnovers, had a big edge in getting to the line as Yorkville went 14-for-20 from the free throw line compared to 3-for-5 for the Indians.

Yorkville Leaders: Derek Fitzpatrick (13 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist). Ryan Herron (14 points, 8 rebounds, 2 blocks, 1 assist). Derek Piszczek (7 points, 4 rebounds,  1 steal, 1 assist). Jordan Jones (5 points, 5 rebounds).

Minooka Leaders: Jacob Hogen (18 points, four 3-pointers, 1 rebound, 1 assist). Adam Reynolds (10 points, 5 rebounds, 2 blocks, 1 steal). Darrin Myers (5 points). Lavell Dean (4 points, 4 rebounds, 1 block, 1 steal).

Quotable I: Foxes’ coach Jerry Farber on his team snapping out of a two-game funk this weekend: “We had a double-win weekend. That’s awesome. We had lost two in a row and we got two in a row now. Hopefully we’re on the right track again.”

Quotable II: Indians’ coach Scott Tanaka on how his team struggled to put two solid halves together at Yorkville: “We’ve been hot and cold, up and down the whole year. That’s what you get with a young team. But Yorkville did do as great job of executing in the second half.”

Team records: Yorkville, 14-9 and 4-3 in the Northern Illinois Big 12 Conference. Minooka, 9-15 and 2-7 in the Southwest Prairie conference.

What’s next: Yorkville plays a non-conference game at LaSalle-Peru at 7 p.m. Tuesday and returns to conference action next Friday at 7 p.m. against Kaneland, and Minooka returns to conference play with a 7 p.m. contest next Friday at Oswego East.