Boys basketball: Woodland, Flanagan-Cornell both win to set up Wednesday showdown

RURAL STREATOR – They weren’t quite as lopsided as their season-opening wins Monday, but Flanagan-Cornell and Woodland won comfortably Tuesday evening on the second night of the Route 17 Thanksgiving Classic to set up a Wednesday night showdown between the co-op partners in other sports for the right to advance to Saturday’s championship game.

The Falcons handled St. Bede Academy 65-48 in Tuesday’s opener, followed by the host Warriors pulling away from Ridgeview for a 57-42 win. Both improved to 2-0 with the wins.

Woodland 57, Ridgeview 42

The Warriors had a tough time shaking the Mustangs in Tuesday’s late game, leading just 13-11 early in the second quarter before slowly pulling away to make it 28-21 by halftime, 32-21 on a nice Nick Plesko take to the rim just over a minute into the second half and 53-32 on a Jonathan Moore old-fashioned three-point play early in the fourth.

“These kids worked their butts off this offseason, and then we had two really good weeks of practice,: Warriors coach Connor Kaminke said. “Last night we came out, and everything was flowing. Tonight was little slower, little sloppier, but we showed we could respond to adversity.

“We haven’t been 2-0 in I don’t know how long. The important thing is we’re starting to show we know how to win games. But tomorrow’s going to be tough. We all need to bring it. Mentally, physically, we’ve got to be ready to go.”

Plesko was the engine of Woodland’s gap-creating offense, scoring eight of his game-high 20 points in the third quarter and finishing the night shooting 8 of 15. The Warriors as a team were a healthy 21 of 44 (47.7%) from the field and outrebounded Ridgeview 31-21.

“We’ve been driving and kicking to our shooters, and they’ve been knocking down shots, which has helped a lot,” Plesko said of his team’s strong start. “And our rebounding’s helped too. Last year we kind of struggled with rebounding, but this year’s we’ve gotten a lot better. ...

“Tonight I saw we were struggling a little bit getting downhill, fumbling the ball a little bit. I saw my guy was a little bit slower than me, so I used my speed to get downhill and get some shots.”

Plesko, a junior wing, added team highs in rebounds (eight) and assists (four) as well to complement Moore’s eight-point, six-steal, six-rebound performance; Connor Dodge’s 13 points; Tucker Hill’s two 3-pointers for six points; and Zandar Radke’s seven points and three steals off the bench.

Tanner Maupin scored 13 points to lead the Mustangs.

Flanagan-Cornell 65, St. Bede 48

In Tuesday’s first varsity game, St. Bede put together some rallies but trailed for the entirety of the game after Kesler Collin’s putback 24 seconds after the opening tip. For most of the night, the Bedans’ deficit was double digits, including 26-10 early in the second quarter and 39-20 at halftime.

“We just couldn’t get over the hump,” St. Bede coach Brian Hanson said. “We’d go on a little run, and we’d cut it down to a reasonable score, and then we’d give up two or three buckets ... but kudos to our guys. We’re going to go through some growing pains, but we kept cutting it closer to where we wanted it.

“We don’t have a lot of guys coming back with a lot of varsity experience, and we’re trying to find combinations of guys and see who needs to be out there. But we have some great kids there in the locker room working their butts off.”

While Collins posted his usual double-double – this one with 12 points, 10 rebounds, four steals and three blocked shots – and fellow starters Connor Reed and Seth Jones put in 13 and 11 respective points, it was Logan Ruddy off the bench providing the fireworks for the Falcons. The sophomore sixth man scored a game-high 22 points on 9-of-16 shooting, making four 3s and adding eight rebounds.

“We just ran the plays, and I just got open and hit ‘em,” Ruddy said. “Everybody’s been playing good, our defense is on point, our offense is hitting.”

“No. 11 (Ruddy) came in, and he just lit us up at the end of the second quarter,” Hanson said. “All half, really.”

Mason Ross’ 17 points and five rebounds were both team highs for the Bruins, with Alex Ankiewicz adding nine points and four assists. Halden Hueneburg pitched in eight points for St. Bede, which stayed within a long arm’s reach but never drew closer than 13 points in the second half.

“Ruddy hit some big shots,” Falcons coach Brian Yoder said, “and like I just told the team, we hit some big shots every time they made a run. Every time they made something, we did something right.”