Boys Basketball: Hawks captains try to light fire after sluggish first half
PATRICK KELLY Contributor January 28, 2012 12:16AM
Senior guard Nick Calabrese makes a quick pass in Friday's game between Maine South and Niles West. | Morgan Glier~Sun-Times Media
standings
CSL South
New Trier 7-0 18-2
Waukegan 6-1 11-8
Evanston 3-4 13-8
Maine South 3-4 13-10
Glenbrook S. 1-6 5-14
Niles West 1-6 3-13
CSL North
Glenbrook N. 5-2 14-5
Niles North 5-2 15-5
Highland Park 4-3 11-8
Maine West 4-3 10-9
Deerfield 3-4 8-10
Maine East 0-7 4-13
(Records through Sunday)
Article Extras
Updated: March 3, 2012 8:06AM
Maine South’s Nick Calabrese has the dual responsibility of being a Hawks captain, in addition to serving as the floor general at point guard.
The senior took his leadership role seriously in the third quarter Friday night against Central Suburban South foe Niles West. With the Hawks trailing 25-17 at halftime, Calabrese opened the second half by converting a three-point play and jump-starting an offense that was limited to just seven points in the first period.
The Hawks were unable to finish the comeback, though, and dropped a 49-43 decision in Park Ridge.
Calabrese scored eight of his 10 points in the third period, which turned out to be the only quarter that Maine South outscored Niles West (3-14, 1-6).
“I felt that I was coming out a little bit passive,” said Calabrese. “I was not taking control of the game as much as I should have, as a captain. So, in the second half, I just came out with more of an urgency to help my team win.
“(The halftime speech) was directed to the whole team, but it was really taken upon us three captains (also John Solari and Matt Lahey) to really get our team going. That is really what started to rally us in the third quarter, we just had to carry that throughout the whole game. It just did not happen in the last two minutes.”
Maine South (13-10, 3-4) continued the rally into the fourth quarter, producing an 8-3 run to tie the game at 41-41 when Frank Dounis (4 points, 5 rebounds) hit 1-of-2 free throws with just over two minutes left. It was as close as the Hawks would get, though, as Niles West answered with two three-pointers and a pair of free throws to seal the win.
“We just need to start from the beginning (of the game),” Calabrese said. “Earlier in the season we were a first-half team, this game seemed like we were a second-half team. We just have to put those together and play a full game. We work on it in practice all the time, we just have to keep going at it.”
Lahey knocked in a three-pointer to give the Hawks a 3-2 lead early in the first quarter, but they managed only one more field goal in the period, a basket by Calabrese just before the buzzer.
Solari led all scorers with 25 points while also pulling down nine rebounds. His last basket with just over a minute to play cut the margin to 44-43.
“We put ourselves in a big hole in the first half, I thought we were very passive,” explained Hawks coach Tony Lavarato. “For as bad as we played in the first half, we played pretty darn good in the second half. I love what we did, we executed and we made buckets on top of their buckets. I thought we got some very big stops.
“I like us being in that position after not playing our best basketball. It would have been nice to get over that hump and finish it.”
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