Boys Basketball: Chicago Christian upends Evergreen Park
By Pat Disabato pdisabato@southtownstar.com November 27, 2012 10:00PM
Updated: December 29, 2012 6:20AM
After converting just 50 percent of its free throws through three games, Chicago Christian coach Kevin Pittman had his team practice its free-throw shooting at the end of Monday’s practice, hoping the fatigue from a full workout would better simulate game conditions.
“They say to practice free-throw shooting when you’re tired,” Pittman said. “We made 9-of-10 free throws, so I was hopeful we were going to turn the corner during games.”
Pittman found out Tuesday against Evergreen Park that shooting free throws during practice isn’t the same as during the pressure of game conditions.
Chicago Christian converted just 6-of-16 foul shots, including a paltry 3-of-11 in the fourth quarter. The Knights, however, were able to hang on and depart Evergreen Park — which was 11-of-27 from the stripe — with a 54-50 win.
“I have no explanation for it,” Pittman said of his team’s free-throw shooting woes. “Yeah, we did fine at practice, but nothing simulates the game.”
The Knights roared to a 7-0 lead behind three-pointers by Brenden Wolinski and Corey Bulthuis. In fact, Wolinski (12 points) had the hot hand from behind the arc, canning three in the first quarter as the Knights grabbed a 15-6 lead.
When Dylan Slater canned a trey, the Knights’ lead swelled to 18-6.
“Brenden stepped out and hit those threes,” Pittman said. “We wanted to get him established early, but not necessarily from the three-point stripe. But he can hit them.”
Evergreen Park cut the deficit to 30-20 at the break, and further sliced into the Knights lead in the third quarter. The Mustangs went on a 7-0 run to the start the second half, keyed by a Dylan Murphy (12 points) putback and jam by Jacquet McClendon that made it 30-27.
Evergreen Park tied the game at 39 on a Murphy layup, and had chances to take its first lead of the night. Chicago Christian (3-1), however, weathered the storm. Bulthuis scored eight of his 16 points in the fourth.
Zach Bulthuis added 10 points and was a constant presence inside for the Knights. Tobi Oladejo and Turron Clayton added 11 and 10 points, respectively, for Evergreen Park (0-1).
