Boys basketball: Plainfield South slips past Joliet Central
By Dick Goss dgoss@stmedianetwork.com November 29, 2011 10:50PM
Plainfield South's Dantrell Wright drives to the basket around Joliet Central's John Aversa. | Larry Kane~For Sun-Times Media
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Updated: January 1, 2012 8:13AM
Plainfield South senior Ed Presniakovas caught fire in the third quarter Tuesday night, preventing visiting Joliet Central from building on its lead.
Then in the fourth quarter, when Presniakovas went silent offensively, his teammates stepped up, carrying the Cougars to an exciting 57-54 boys basketball nonconference victory.
“That’s what it was,” South coach Ken Bublitz said. “Eddie is a talented kid with great skills and a great shooting touch. What has to happen is when he gets shut down, other guys are going to have to step up. We know that’s how it will be.
“I am impressed with Joliet Central, how scrappy they are, how they pressure you and they knocked down open shots tonight. I’m proud of us in the fourth quarter that we made free throws (10-of-14), got key rebounds and took care of the ball.”
South (2-3) got it done without 6-6 senior forward Kevin Coker, who will be out perhaps until after Christmas with a fractured left wrist suffered in last Saturday’s game at the Joliet West tournament. “We have to adjust, that’s our challenge,” Bublitz said.
After leading 22-21 at halftime, Central (2-2) was up by four or five points for much of the third quarter. But the Steelmen could not pull away because Presniakovas scored 17 of his game-high 27 points in that quarter.
“Our goal was to hold him down, that’s why we started in a box-and-one,” Steelmen coach Jeff Corcoran said. “When that’s your goal, you can’t let him get off like that. But that’s to his credit, and Ken (Bublitz) does a great job getting him in situations where he can score.
“We preach building on a lead. But then our eyes get big and we make ppoor decisions. Our kids play hard, they do what you ask. But at some point, we can’t be young and experienced.”
Curtis Parker scored 10 of his team-high 11 points in the second half and finished with a team-high 6 rebounds for Central. South center Will Nixon led all rebounders with 14.
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