Downers Grove North boys basketball team dominates for sixth straight win

DOWNERS GROVE – The pregame inductions of John Lackaff and Rebecca Rusch into the Downers Grove North Hall of Fame were just the first tributes to Trojans’ history Saturday.

Hitting 10 of 11 field goal attempts in the first quarter, the Trojans’ boys basketball team rolled to a 60-33 win against Andrew to run their win streak to six games.

“I’m hearing we’re the first team to do so [win six straight] since 2001,” Downers Grove North senior guard Jordon Kedrowski said. “We’re pretty excited about it.

“I thought we came out in the first quarter and executed what we needed to do. [We played] A great first quarter, and it propelled us through the rest of the game.”

Kedrowski led Downers North (10-5) with 15 points, but balance was the key as seven different Trojans scored in the first quarter, which ended with the Trojans up 24-11.

“I thought we were patient, and defensively we stayed in the stance and got some stops and contested some shots,” Downers North coach Jim Thomas said. “And we got some easy runouts early that allowed us to build up a little bit of a lead.”

A 3-pointer at the buzzer by Evan Jakobsze capped the near-perfect first quarter.  North’s defense limited Andrew to 24 percent field-goal shooting on the night (11 of 46), including 3 of 23 in the second half. The Trojans cooled a bit from their hot start but led 37-20 at halftime and 56-28 with 2:55 left.

The Trojans’ six-win streak started with the late December return from injury of 6-foot-7 football standout David Edwards.

“Dave’s a huge piece,” Kedrowski said, “and everyone’s putting personal agendas aside and we’re playing as a team. It doesn’t matter who scores. Different guys can step up each night, and everybody’s contributing.”

Forward Matt Mahlke provided an instant spark off the bench Saturday with six points and a blocked shot in the decisive first quarter. Jack Fallbacher, Jakobsze (five points), Colin Kramper (four points, five rebounds) and Myles Farley (four rebounds, four assists) were other key contributors.

Even with 2014 all-conference swingman Devin Blake (ankle) sidelined, the Trojans are rolling through January and hoping for more.

“The six wins are nice, but that’s not our goal,” Kedrowski said. “We want to finish strong in conference because we didn’t have a good first half. We’re trying to have a better second half, pick up some key wins over good teams and then get a good seed in sectionals.”

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