Entering Wednesday’s home game against Beecher, Peotone was losers of three of its last four games, including one of its worst offensive nights of the season against Reed-Custer on Tuesday.

While a lights-out shooting effort from the visiting Bobcats put them in the driver’s seat at halftime, the Blue Devils found themselves in danger of extending that losing stretch before they flipped the script in the second half, where a double-double effort from junior forward Ethan McNeil and composed play of junior guard Alex Chenoweth allowed Peotone to erase a 10-point deficit to run away with a 64-52 win.

“It happens a lot,” McNeil, who scored 12 of his game-high 21 points in the second half, said. “The last five games that we’ve won, we’ve been good in the second half and not the first half. ... We needed it. We lost our last conference game, and this wasn’t a conference game, but we needed something to light a fire under us.”

As Walker, the team’s top press defender, and Chenoweth hit the bench with early foul woes, the Bobcats (4-16) were able to not only handle the Blue Devils’ pressure, but find some transition buckets and open 3-point looks – they were 7-for-12 from downtown in the first half – to take a 35-27 halftime lead that became a 10-point lead when Jadyn Stout opened the second half scoring.

But the Blue Devils (10-10) settled in, forcing six Beecher turnovers in the third quarter that fueled an 18-2 Peotone run, highlighted by an old-fashioned three-point play from Chenoweth three minutes into the half that served as fuel to the Blue Devils’ fire.

“If it was me or anyone else, those plays are fun and generate a lot of energy,” Chenoweth said. “Off of us already making a run, I got that to go and that just builds on it.”

Chenoweth finished with 18 points, three assists two rebounds and two steals for Peotone, who saw McNeil’s dominance down low put Wednesday’s win on ice. He finished with 14 rebounds to go with his game-high 21 points. Nine of those came on the offensive end, including three in the fourth quarter that he converted for second-chance buckets.

“When you play basketball for so long you can read the game and read the court,” McNeil said of his nose for the ball. “And football helps. There’s a lot of lifting with your legs. It does a lot more than you think.”

McNeil is football teammates with Chenoweth, the team’s quarterback. He’s also the quarterback of the basketball team from his point guard spot, and it’s no coincidence in Oloffson’s eyes that the Blue Devils made their move with their leader back on the floor.

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Boys Basketball: Peotone vs. Beecher Peotone's Nate Wehrmann goes for the shot as Beecher's Kyle Kasput looks to draw a foul during the Blue Devils' 64-52 victory over Beecher on Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026. (Tiffany Blanchette)

“He’s our leader, he’s our captain, he runs the show,” Oloffson said. " ... [Walker] our best presser, Alex is our overall best player, and when you take them out, that hurts us a bit. But he did what a captain should do and he played like a captain tonight."

Nick Cronin was also in double figures for Peotone with 10 points. The Bobcats were led by an 18-point night from Dominic DeFrank, their senior backcourt leader who made three first-half 3-pointers. Sophomore wing Aaron Harden added 10 points and a team-high five rebounds off the bench.

With a young team that features a bevy of underclassmen and were without DeFrank for their first 14 games to injury, Bobcats coach Tyler Shireman is proud of the progress a largely new cast of characters has brought to the table, as evidenced by the first half they played Wednesday.

“To force Peotone to pull the trap back and take it off is something we prolly couldn’t have done a few weeks ago,” Shireman said. “It’s a good sign. Our guards are getting better, our younger kids are getting stronger and I hope that’s a sign of things to come because that’s the kind of pressure you’re going to see in a postseason game.”