Boys Basketball: Hillcrest falls to Maine South at Proviso West
By Patrick Z. McGavin For Sun-Times Media December 26, 2012 11:22PM
Hillcrest's Taylor Adway leans back to push up a shot over Maine South's John Solari. | Patrick Gleason~For Sun-Times Media
Updated: January 28, 2013 3:47PM
John Solari is the linchpin for Maine South, the one everybody else looks to and feeds off. “He’s a four-year varsity player, he should be a calming influence,” Maine South coach Tony Lavorato Jr. said.
The star Maine South senior forward nearly was perfect from the floor, hitting 7-of-8 shots in scoring a game-high 21 points as Maine South posted a 58-48 victory Wednesday over Hillcrest in a first-round game of the Proviso West Holiday Tournament in Hillside.
Solari hit his first six shots in the game, including all five attempts in the first half, en route to a 13-point first-half performance that catapulted Maine South (10-1) to a 33-23 lead at the break. He scored twice during a crucial early 8-0 Maine South run that provided a seven-point advantage after the first quarter.
Behind Solari and Danny Quinn (11 points), Maine South enjoyed a 12-point advantage on points in the paint.
Hillcrest (7-4) was hampered by the early foul trouble of point guard Kyle Oden. He was an uncharacteristic 0-of-4 from the field with three fouls.
“Without Kyle, we don’t run as much, and that led to us taking a lot of long jumpers, especially three-pointers, than what we are normally accustomed,” Hillcrest coach Don Houston said.
Guard Jovan Mooring scored 18 points for Hillcrest though he shot just 7-of-22 from the field. Hillcrest shot just 23 percent (6-of-26) from the field in the first half. Taylor Adway had 11 points, eight rebounds and three blocked shots.
Oden (8 points, 4 assists) recorded consecutive steals that keyed a 7-0 Hillcrest run that cut an 11-point deficit to 50-46 on Allen Jones’ three-pointer with 2:20 remaining.
Out of a Maine South timeout, Solari helped break the press with a perfect diagonal pass for a layup by Andrew Palucki (9 points).
“That’s the thing about teams that press, once you rip the press, all you have are layups,” Solari said.
