York junior guard Sawyer Asgedom’s impact isn’t measured by starts this season.

By his own account, Asgedom said he has only started “a couple of games” for the Dukes.

But the 6-foot Asgedom has carved out his niche for a team in dire need of quality and consistent play from the guard spots.

On Friday, in a crucial West Suburban Conference Silver Division clash in La Grange, Asgedom made a big difference. Asgedom drilled three 3-pointers and scored all nine of his points in the second quarter to spark the Dukes to a dominating 40-23 victory over Lyons.

Despite playing limited minutes in the second half, Asgedom was a key factor in the Dukes’ road victory. Joseph Lubbe and Will O’Leary both scored eight points for the Dukes.

“I’m just happy to help out the team wherever I’m put at,” Asgedom said. “It was a good game and a good win. I was happy to help the team. It was a team performance. We got a lot of good stuff from everyone and we defended well.”

Leading the team in scoring in the conference game, Asgedom also contributed timely rebounds, had a key second quarter steal and played tough defense. The Dukes (14-3, 5-0) scored the first 10 points, not allowing a point until Dylan Holcer sank a two-foot floater in the lane with 2:22 left in the first quarter.

In the second quarter, Asgedom drilled a 3-pointer for a 13-7 lead, and added back-to-back 3s to push the advantage to 21-10.

“I felt good (shooting),” Asgedom said. “I wanted to shoot well and help the team. I’m trying to help wherever I can for the team.”

York coach Mike Dunn said Asgedom is playing smart and controlled basketball for his team this season.

“We had him up as a sophomore last year and he’s been really good at the two-guard or three-guard defensively,” Dunn said. “He hit some big shots off the bench today when we were struggling. We expect that from him.

“He’s got a great mentality and does whatever is necessary for the team. It’s great to have guys like him. This was a big win on their home floor. We played good defensively and took care of the ball at the end.”

The Lions (9-5, 4-1) had a putrid effort shooting the ball, finishing 5 of 29 on 3-pointers. Lyons senior guard Owen Carroll’s 3 from the top of the key with just under a minute left in the game symbolized Lyons’ frustrating shooting, rolling in and out for another missed shot.

Carroll led the Lions with eight points and Grant Smith had six points. The Lions shot 2 of 6 on free throws and scored eight points in the second half, including just three in the final eight minutes.

“York is very good on both ends of the floor,” Lyons coach Tom Sloan said. “They played very good defense. We missed a lot of shots. We had good players missing good shots and the ball didn’t go in. We also had some opportunities at the basket.

“We had free throws in the second half that we didn’t make. It was a low-scoring game and they played deliberately, so every possession was valuable. We had defensive mistakes that were very costly and York capitalized and made some shots and were able to stretch it out.”