Boys Basketball: Plainfield East, Joliet West set for long haul

• Reprints

Plainfield East's Myles Walters (13). | Ray Luna~For Sun-Times Media

Updated: February 19, 2012 8:17AM

Halfway through the season on the calendar and almost the midpoint of the conference schedule, top-ranked Plainfield East and
No. 2 Joliet West are poised for the future.

Southwest Prairie leader Plainfield East, undefeated going into Tuesday’s home game against Naperville Central, has been hard to keep up with on the court and in the standings.

“We go fast,’’ East coach Branden Adkins said after Friday’s victory over Romeoville. “We’re a quick team. We want to get out in transition.’’

The balanced, potent lineup that features 6-foot-9 center Brian Bennett (14.5 ppg, 6.3 rpg), Dee Brown (13.7 ppg) and Austin Robinson (9.5 ppg) gets plenty of support from Myles Walters, Jawan Straughter, Mack Brown and Des’Nique Harris.

“We’ve had some tough games, but every night we’ve had somebody different step up,’’ Adkins said. “That’s the sign of a good team. We’re not having to rely on one person or two people.’’

East has a road game Friday against defending conference champion Plainfield South.

“This is where we wanted to be,’’ Adkins said. “You’ve got to have things kind of go your way as well, but we’ve done that by design and by our effort.’’

Joliet West (11-4) is feeling pretty good about itself after a key SouthWest Suburban Blue victory Friday at Bolingbrook.

“We’ve shown improvement each and every week,’’ West coach Luke Yaklich said after Monday’s win over Romeoville in the MLK Day of Hoops. “We had a big hiccup at Pontiac in the Warren game, but other than that we’ve been a pretty resilient bunch. We’ve come back well after defeats.’’

Improved free-throw shooting and reducing turnovers from 23 a game after the first six games to 18 has contributed to the Tigers’ success.

“The main thing is we’re doing a better job than we were a month ago of running offense and taking care of the basketball,’’ Yaklich said. “We’re keeping teams in the 40s and 50s just about every night.’’

The conference schedule continues Friday at Sandburg with upcoming games against Lockport and a rematch with Blue Division leader Homewood-Flossmoor in two weeks.

“I feel at this point we’re ready for those games,’’ Yaklich said. “We’re ready to see where we’re at as far as a regional, sectional type game. Playing at Sandburg is a tough, mental test.’’

Ups and downs

Lemont, which played Tuesday at Joliet Catholic, has been a revelation this season led by the addition of junior point guard Juozas Balciunas. The Indians host South Suburban Blue rival Oak Forest on Friday.

Bolingbrook (8-8) has dropped four of its last five and three in a row, including a 60-56 loss Monday to Champaign Central at the MLK Day of Hoops at Joliet Central. Ben Moore had 21 points for the Raiders.

Bolingbrook lost back-to-back SouthWest Suburban Blue games to H-F and Joliet West after an impressive victory over previously undefeated Glenbard West to start the new year. The Raiders host struggling Joliet Central on Friday.