Boys Basketball: Hot-shooting Jack Stanton, Downers Grove North take down Lyons in key Silver clash

DOWNERS GROVE – Jack Stanton has had a routine since coming to Downers Grove North of making 150 shots before warmups. By that time, the 6-foot-2 junior guard knows if he’s feeling good or not on that particular night.

His teammate Jacob Bozeman, though, offered a disclaimer.

“Whether he’s feeling it or not, we’re giving him the ball,” Bozeman said. “He can shoot it no matter what.”

Stanton indeed was feeling it Tuesday night.

He made three of his six 3-pointers in the first quarter, when he scored 12 of his game-high 23 points. The Trojans rode Stanton’s hot shooting and a gritty defensive effort to a key 54-47 West Suburban Silver win over visiting Lyons Township.

Stanton missed just one 3-point attempt for the game. His corner 3 gave the Trojans (21-3, 7-2) the lead for good at 6-4 midway through the first quarter.

“In warmups it was feeling pretty good, so I felt why not take it in the game,” said Stanton, who was 8 for 15 from the field and also had four rebounds. “Those extra shots, they get me warm for the game.”

Bozeman added 15 points, six rebounds and three steals and Maxwell Haack and Finn Kramper had seven points each for Downers North, which has won eight straight games since losing to Lyons and Hinsdale Central on back-to-back nights by a combined three points. Those are the Trojans’ only losses since the first game of the season.

The Trojans remained a game behind Silver leader Hinsdale Central. Lyons dropped two games off the pace.

“We lost to [Lyons] before by one. It was a heartbreaker and then we lost the game after that, so coming back here it was our revenge on our home court,” Stanton said. “Big crowd. Felt nice.”

The two teams played to a 39-38 game in the first meeting. Tuesday was a similar low-scoring grind with Downers North leading 12-4 after a quarter and 19-10 at the half.

In that type of game, it was good for the Trojans to have a shooter like Stanton who was hitting shots from all over the court.

“Jack is very unique at the high school level in that it takes him a little bit of room to get it off at any place on the floor and that’s special,” Trojans coach Jim Thomas said. “There’s a lot of gravity toward him. He’s a hell of a player and a great kid.”

Bozeman, meanwhile, kept Lyons star player and Penn recruit Nik Polonowski from having a big night on offense.

Polonowski missed his first four shots and was held to six points on 2-for-8 shooting.

“I just wanted to take away his catch and shoot,” said Bozeman, a 6-foot-5 senior who also handles the ball for the Trojans. “I play AAU with [Polonowski] so I know a little bit of his moves so I just tried to lock in, stay in front of him without fouling and contest his shots. I was in a small gap and made sure to be there with the catch.”

Jackson Niego scored 17 points and Carter Reid had nine for Lyons (19-4, 5-3), which shot 2-for-14 from the floor in the first half while committing eight turnovers. The Lions went without a field goal for nearly the first six minutes of the second quarter before a Polonowski 3-pointer.

“Downers Grove North is very good, they played well and we struggled offensively,” Lyons coach Tom Sloan said. “We turned it over way too many times in the first half, we gave up too many offensive rebounds in the first half and throughout the game, and those two things combined with Stanton making a lot of shots – they’re just very good.”

Stanton scored 11 points with three 3-pointers in the third quarter, sending the Trojans into the fourth quarter ahead 35-23. A Bozeman steal and dunk gave Downers North its biggest lead at 45-27 with three minutes left before Lyons mounted a late rally behind Niego’s 12 fourth-quarter points and seven Trojans turnovers.

“I give our kids credit,” Sloan said. “They didn’t quit, made it close. We just ran out of timeouts. We need to get back to work and get ready for York on Friday.”

Downers North continues a huge week with a game against Glenbrook South on Saturday in the E-Town Showdown at Welsh-Ryan Arena.

“These kids are pretty humble and hungry. They recognize they have a pretty good team, but it’s next practice, next possession,” Thomas said. “The best thing tonight is we haven’t had a packed house like this. It was nice to see the community come out. Hopefully that continues because these kids deserve it.”