For the last couple of weeks, Lincoln-Way West guard Drake Been has been as hot as it gets. Entering Wednesday night’s nonconference game with Bremen, Been had hit 21 3-pointers in his previous three games.

That’s why it was no surprise when Been, a senior guard, drained the first three 3-point attempts he took in the first quarter, giving his team the early cushion it needed en route to a 70-60 win.

“It was great at the start of the game,” Been said. “My teammates found me when I was open and I knocked the shots down.”

Been, who finished with 12 points, wasn’t the only outside shooter to find the range from beyond the arc for the Warriors (12-10), as they connected on eight 3-pointers in the game, including six in the first half. Besides Been’s three before intermission, Eiden Kubilius (16 points) hit two and Aiden Bach added another.

Five of those 3-pointers came in the first quarter as West built a 27-16 lead after one period. With the Bremen defense clamping down on the 3-point line, the middle opened up and West big man Luke Gouty delivered eight points in the first half on 4 of 4 shooting from the field. He finished with 16 points and a game-high 12 rebounds.

“It’s great having Luke down low,” Been said. “He’s probably the most athletic guy on our team. He’s a rebounding machine, a double-double almost every night. If we see that he has a good matchup under the basket, we’ll get him the ball.

“We do a good job of knowing each others’ strengths and weaknesses on the court. We want to use our defense to create turnovers and transition baskets and we were able to do that tonight.”

West forced Bremen into eight turnovers in the first half, although the Braves rallied to cut the score to 40-35 just before halftime. But Gouty scored on a putback basket just before the buzzer to send the Warriors into halftime with a 42-35 lead.

Gouty scored six points in the third quarter to help the Warriors take a 55-46 lead into the fourth.

Bremen closed it to 57-49 before Ryan Hegji (14 points off the bench) sandwiched a 3-pointer and a pair of free throws around a basket by teammate Vince Lazzari to put the Warriors ahead 64-49. The Braves responded with a 9-2 run to cut the gap to 66-58, but Lincoln-Way West made 3 of 4 free throws in the final minute to seal the win.

“We have all the confidence in the world in Drake as a shooter,” Lincoln-Way West coach Tanner Mitchell said. “He just has beautiful form. Someone with form like that isn’t going to have many very long streaks where they miss. He’s also great with the younger guys in the program. When they are guarding him out beyond the arc, he can also get to the basket and hit the shot or get fouled.

“We also have plenty of other guys that can shoot the 3, like Eiden Kubilius, Aiden Bach, Ryan Hegji, and Ethan Swanson. With all those shooters, it opens things up for Luke Gouty down low. Our guards know they can count on him, so they are always looking for him underneath. When our guards are shooting well and then getting it to Luke, we can be tough to stop.”