Friday, Dec. 10, 2010
11:00 PM
By George Wilcox
YourSeason.com
Stopping York scorer Will Sullivan is unlikely for an entire game, but Proviso West succeeded by shutting down the senior guard for a half.
Sullivan scored a career-high 34 points, but 27 of them came in the second half as 13th-ranked Proviso West remained undefeated with an 84-75 victory Friday night in the West Suburban Silver.
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The 6-foot-3 Sullivan surpassed his previous career high of 33 points from last season on the game's final basket, a layup with 25 seconds remaining. But Sullivan had only seven points in the first half on 2-of-5 shooting.
He had one basket in the first quarter, a layup with 5:44 remaining. Sullivan shot 13-of-21 from the floor, including four three-pointers, and made all four of his free-throw attempts.
"It was tough. If I'm not bringing the ball up, I've got to get the offense going," Sullivan said. "If it's not me (scoring), everyone else has to get their shots."
Cody Kliethermes had 11 points for visiting York on 3-of-6 shooting beyond the three-point arc.
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Proviso West's Ryan Woods drew the defensive assignment against Sullivan for most of the game.
The Panthers (6-0, 2-0) used a balance attack led by Nicholas Dixon (24 points, five rebounds) and Nicholas Frazier (23 points, 10 rebounds), who each established new season highs. Tyrone McDonald added 15 points and Woods had 10.
McDonald scored Proviso West's first 12 points.The Panthers limited Sullivan to four points in the opening quarter and used a seven-point run to take a 23-18 lead to end the quarter.
"Our focus was on (Sullivan)," Dixon said. "That was our No. 1 priority. We know he's their main guy."
Sullivan's 16-foot jumper to open the fourth quarter pulled the Dukes (4-2, 1-1) to within 58-55, but the Panthers answered with a 7-0 run capped by Dixon's steal and dunk. Dixon did not miss any of his seven shot attempts in the second half after scoring six points in the first half.
"I thought I had to be aggressive," Dixon said. "Playing the point guard role, I've got to get my team involved."
Frazier did much of his damage by shooting 9-of-13 at the free throw line. He made his first eight foul shots before missing his first attempt in the fourth quarter.
"This is a great confidence booster. York can win any given night," Frazier said. "This is a great feeling because we have another big game tomorrow at East Aurora. This will get us momentum for that."
Proviso West scored its most points of the season since beating Lincoln Park 80-75 in the season opener Nov. 22. The most points York has allowed this season was 54 in wins over Morton Nov. 24 and Hinsdale Central Dec. 4.