Boys Basketball: Team Defense Carries Lincoln-Way East past Joliet West

The Hot Read: Lincoln-Way East pretty much won this game early, forcing eight turnovers while building a 20-10 lead after one quarter. The Griffins’ ball-hawking defense came away with nine more takeaways in the second quarter while upping the lead to 33-18 at the intermission. The Tigers, still without injured leading scorer Remy Roberts-Burnett, shot just 6-for-14 through two quarters. L-W East, meanwhile, showcased a balanced attack in which six players scored between six and 10 points

Patch’s MVP: Lincoln-Way East’s Jaelan Jones (10 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, 1 block). Jones led all scorers with eight points in the first half, but just as important was his perimeter defense on the Tigers’ guards, making it difficult for the hosts to get the ball inside.  

Key Stats: Turnovers played the biggest role on this night, as Joliet West had 24—including 17 in the first two quarters–while the Griffins committed just 10 through three quarters as they took a 50-32 lead. The Tigers actually won the offensive rebound battle 12-7, but the large number of JW turnovers still allowed the Griffins to connect on 26 field goals compared to just 16 for the hosts. Morris Dunnigan returned from injury to record two of the Tigers’ four three-pointers in the game.

L-W East’s Leaders: Zoran Arsenovic (10 points, 1 steal), Jaelan Jones (10 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, 1 block), Jeremy Jones (7 points, 2 steals, 2 assists), Joel Mangum (9 points, 3 rebounds).  

Joliet West Leaders: Brandon Tyson (15 points, 6 rebounds, 1 steal), Morris Dunnigan (8 points, 1 assist), Brian Edwards (7 points, 5 rebounds).

Quotable: Griffins coach Rich Kolimas, on how his team’s defense got things going in the right direction from the opening tip: “We did a great job jumping on them early. We had 20 deflections … our defense is starting to gel.”

Tigers coach Luke Yaklich on his team’s struggles this year with taking care of the basketball: “Turnovers has been by far our biggest problem. That’s where it begins and ends.”

Team Records: Lincoln-Way East: 13-8 and 6-4 in the Southwest Suburban Conference. Joliet West: 6-13 and 2-8 in the same conference.

What’s Next: L-W East plays Friday night at Homewood-Flossmoor against a Vikings team that stayed unbeaten in the SWSC with a win over Lockport on Tuesday. The Tigers go on the road for a game against Lincoln-Way Central at 7 p.m. Friday.