Wheaton-Warrenville South’s formula of hard-nosed defense and careful, deliberate offensive possessions has been unquestionably successful during coach Mike Healy’s tenure.
That alone makes the Tigers extremely tough to beat, but add in an offensive talent like sophomore Luca Carbonaro and DuKane conference opponents are in major trouble.
Carbonaro was remarkably efficient on Friday in Wheaton, scoring 18 points on just eight shots to lead Wheaton-Warrenville South to a 56-24 win against Geneva.
“He’s special now and he has chance to be really special,” Healy said.
The victory snaps the Vikings’ 15-game winning streak, the longest in the area. Geneva was without its top player, senior Mick Lawrence, who was out sick.
“I don’t think that makes a 32-point difference,” Tigers senior Braylen Meredith said, making his point while demonstrating a solid memory and quick math skills.
Meredith did a lot of everything for Wheaton-Warrenville South (21-2, 9-0) with 14 points, five rebounds and two thunderous blocks of three-pointers that were the highlights of the game.
“Coach told us that our strength past years has been defense, so coming into this game we needed a fast start and that’s defense,” Meredith said.
Carbonaro hit two three pointers in the first three minutes of the game to contribute to the fast start. Healy and Meredith both said they would like the talented sophomore to be more assertive offensively.
“Sometimes he passes up shots and I’m telling him to shoot it,” Meredith said. “You have the green light. You’re a shooter.”
Carbonaro has started all season. It’s the first year on varsity for the 6-0 guard.
“I just kind of let the game come to me,” Carbonaro said. “If I score two points and we win, great. I just wait for my turn.”
Senior Colin Moore added eight points and Nick Brooks scored four for the Tigers.
The game took just 67 minutes. There were no free throws in the first half and seven in the second half.
Wheaton-Warrenville South’s long possessions elicited some boos from Geneva fans in the second quarter. But there isn’t a shot clock yet and more often than not the Tigers turned those careful possessions into points.
“It’s kind of like playing us,” Geneva coach Scott Hennig said. “When you get down 10 you feel like you are down 20.”
Wheaton-Warrenville South held the Vikings to seven points or fewer in all four quarters. Junior Tommy Diamond led Geneva (19-4, 7-2) with eight points and senior Tanner Dixon scored 7.
The Tigers have now won 10 consecutive games. Their only losses this season were to Fremd back in November and to Sacred Heart-Griffin, the defending Class 3A state champions. The Cyclones are one of the best teams in the state again this season. They beat Wheaton-Warrenville South by 17 points in late December.
The Tigers haven’t cracked the Super 25 yet this season, despite their impressive record. They haven’t played a ranked team and don’t have one on their remaining schedule. It’s been a down year overall for the DuKane, which has made it tough for Wheaton-Warrenville South to make a claim. However, a team that keeps winning eventually gets its due.
“We played really well tonight, and we’ve played better the last month than we did early on,” Healy said. “They’ve done a good job of having a little better focus.”
