Boys Basketball: Three-point blitz leads Lemont over Lincoln-Way West
By Scott Ehling For Sun-Times Media November 28, 2012 10:46PM
Lemont's Juozas Balciunas (25) puts a shot up against Lincoln-Way West's Luke Horvath (1) and Max Petrungaro (3) during the Knights/Warriors Winter Classic basketball game in New Lenox Wednesday, November 28, 2012. | Brett Roseman~Sun-Times Media
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Updated: December 30, 2012 4:06PM
Some school basketball records are just meant to be broken.
Lemont guard Mike Wisz made a school record 10 three-pointers and scored a game-high 32 points in leading the Indians to a convincing 86-48 victory Wednesday night over host Lincoln-Way West in the opening game of the Lincoln-Way Central Winter Classic.
“I thought we played really well as a team and we made some big shots,” Wisz said. “When I’m open, I’m looking to shoot it, but if not I’ll give it back to them.”
Wisz finished 10-of-14 from the floor — only one of his shots came from two-point range — and in the process broke the Lemont three-point field-goal record of nine.
Juozas Balciunas (14 points) and Martynas Einikis (10 points, 3 blocks) also had significant contributions for Lemont (2-0). Hayden Witt (21 points) and Luke Horvath (10 points) led West (0-4).
Wisz’s first three-pointer of the game gave the Indians a 12-6 lead with 4:10 left in the opening quarter. Consecutive threes by Balciunas and Wisz extended Lemont’s lead to 19-6 with 2:30 left. The Indians led 24-9 after one quarter, connecting on 5-of-8 treys.
“Our game plan was to let them shoot threes and not let them get anything inside and our plan worked. Unfortunately, they hit threes,” West coach Jon White said.
The Warriors tried to stay close, as Horvath’s three-point play made it 42-23 with 2:21 left in the half. Lemont led 48-26 at halftime.
The only drama in the second half centered on Wisz and the record. Wisz was stuck on eight three-pointers early in the fourth quarter when coach Rick Runaas put him back in the game.
“My teammates knew of the record and what was going on but my coach didn’t, he just wanted me to get 30 (points),” Wisz said of his record-breaking performance.
“We’re happy with the win,” Runaas said. “We talked about what (the Warriors) were good at and where we thought we had an advantage coming into the game.”
