Niko Quaranta, St. Francis rally past rival Wheaton Academy

WHEATON – Trailing Wheaton Academy 26-18 at halftime, St. Francis’ boys basketball team went back to basics.

Fueled by senior point guard Niko Quaranta, the Spartans (8-11) enjoyed a 21-7 third-quarter surge, then knocked down 13 free throws in the final period to help preserve a 56-49 nonconference triumph Thursday night at NOW Arena in Hoffman Estates.

“I think we simplified some things and tried to put our guards in a little different situation,” said Spartans coach Erin Dwyer, whose team began the second half on a 10-0 run and grabbed a 28-26 lead — the Spartans’ first lead of the night — on Quaranta’s steal and layup with 4:38 left in the third quarter.

St. Francis added a 7-0 run later in the quarter, capped by a late layup from 6-foot-8 sophomore Ben Whorlow (9 points, 4 rebounds), to go up 39-30 before Tyler Smith’s 3-pointer at the buzzer pulled the Warriors (10-5) within 39-33 heading into the final eight minutes.

Wheaton Academy sophomore forward Hayden Schroeder, who led all scorers with 27 points, 5 rebounds and 6 blocked shots, opened the fourth quarter with a two-hand dunk off a putback to make it 39-35.

However, that was as close as the Warriors got. The Spartans extended their lead to 9 at 51-42 on a pair of free throws by Quaranta with 1:30 remaining.

From there, Mark Balaskovits (11 points), Silagi (8 points) and Quaranta added free throws to preserve the Spartans’ win.

“We had a talk in the locker room at halftime,” said Quaranta, who paced the Spartans with 17 points, 6 rebounds and 3 steals. “We were having a little slump in the first half, but we all came through it, played together and got the win.”

The Spartans did a better job of taking the ball to the basket in the second half, according to Dwyer.

“It’s hard when you walk into an arena and you’re trying to shoot NBA 3s,” Dwyer said. “Everything is different. The depth perception is different, so you want to get them going downhill as much as possible.”

Quaranta did just that.

“He’s a tough kid to guard,” Dwyer said. “We just tried to get him to trust the idea of continuously getting to the rim.”

Owen Gjerde added 7 points and a team-high 8 rebounds for the Spartans, who host IC Catholic Prep Friday night.

“Other guys stepped up,” Dwyer said. “Defensively, Owen (Gjerde) really battled out there against Hayden (Schroeder).

“I coach Hayden in the off-season (Illinois Wolves) — he has a great feel for the game. He’s going to be a Division I player — he’s headed in a good direction.”

Smith chipped in with 12 points for the Warriors.

“Shot selection killed us,” said Warriors coach Daniel Smith. “We made several mental mistakes and we went away from what was working early. When you do that, teams can go on a run.

“We settled and we weren’t sharing it. It was a selfish game offensively in the third quarter for sure.”

Wheaton Academy visits Hinsdale Central Friday night.

“It doesn’t get any easier,” Smith said. “We’re trying to win our conference, and we’re trying to win a regional. We want to be battle tested by the end.”

https://www.dailyherald.com/20250116/boys-basketball/boys-basketball-st-francis-rallies-to-defeat-archrival-wheaton-academy/