Baskets were at a premium Tuesday at Pops Dale Gymnasium in Streator.
That’s just the way the Bulldogs like it.
The Bulldogs jumped out to a 12-point advantage against Manteno after one quarter and led by double digits most of the night on their way to a 38-26 Illinois Central Eight Conference win.
“We love our defense,” senior guard Layzeric Moton said. “That’s our biggest thing we hang our head on every single day in practice. When we come out there and we pressure them and we have them fumbling the ball and nervous, we value that more than scoring sometimes.”
The Bulldogs (9-10, 8-1) early burst of points helped set the tone Tuesday against the Panthers (9-13, 4-5).
Moton finished with a game-high 12 points, six of them coming in the first quarter, including a basket driving to the hoop right before the buzzer to make it a 17-5 game. He added a steal-and-layup just before halftime that gave the Bulldogs a 23-12 lead.
“I think my speed is probably one of the best parts of my game,” Moton said. “When I see it’s either 1-on-1 or my man is coming off the screen, I’m going to try to get to the hoop as fast as I can. It worked (Tuesday) and it’s been working the last couple of weeks, so I took advantage of that.”
Streator coach Beau Doty said Moton has been dynamic with the ball.
“When he’s able to turn the corner, things open up,” Doty said. “You know he’s been doing a great job getting in the lane and making good decisions, so that was big.”
The early double-digit lead allowed the Bulldogs to be more patient on offense and continue to lean into their defensive play, Doty said. After the first quarter, both teams scored 21 points apiece, but the Bulldogs were content with condensing the game with longer possessions.
“We talked about the last two conference games, where we’ve been there already with leads and we let Herscher come back and tie it, and then Peotone come within a point, and we wanted to extend it,” Doty said. “We had some good long possessions in the second half. I know it wasn’t must-see TV, probably not possessions we’re going to be able to have next year with a shot clock, but at the same time, we wanted to be patient and make them come get us.”
The Panthers connected on four 3-pointers, including a pair from Eric Eldridge, who finished with a team-high eight points. The Panthers drew as close as eight with 1 minute, 20 seconds remaining in the game, but Moton and Brennen Stillwell closed it out with four free throws among them.
“They came out and just kicked us in the mouth early,” said Manteno coach Zach Myers. “I think we played fairly even with them the second, third and fourth quarters, but we just had a rough start to the game and never were able to claw back close enough to get where we needed to be.
“ ... We couldn’t hit water if we fell out of a boat it felt like, but I thought we had some decent looks at it, we just couldn’t get much to fall.”
Christian Bruton and Stillwell each finished with eight points. Joe Hoesktra added six and Jack Studnicki four to round out the Bulldogs scoring.
The Panthers had points from six different players: seven from Quinn Campbell, four from Braden Campbell, three from Ramsey Owens and two apiece from Dylan Polito and Mitchell Boyd.
“We put ourselves in a good spot here in the conference at 8-1 with five games to go,” Doty said. “We just have to keep treating every game like it is a championship opportunity.”