Boys basketball: Another Friday, another ICE victory for Streator at the Pops

STREATOR – Just because it’s getting to be a Friday night routine doesn’t mean it’s getting old for the Streator Bulldogs.

Streator recorded another convincing Friday night Illinois Central Eight Conference victory, handling the visiting Lisle Lions 56-24 to improve to 13-4 overall and a perfect 6-0 on the ICE loop. It’s the Bulldogs’ fourth Friday night ICE Conference triumph this season and third hurried by the 30-point running clock in the fourth quarter.

Aside from some early foul trouble that kept Lisle (6-9, 2-4) within a long arm’s reach for much of the first quarter, Streator (13-4, 6-0) dominated at the Pops, using another suffocating defensive performance and three first-half 3-pointers from senior forward Landon Muntz to build a double-digit lead by the first quarter’s end and a 33-9 advantage by halftime.

“I think our defense really brings it,” Muntz said. “The ball pressure that we have and the amount of turnovers that we can create with it, that helps. And on offense, it’s just all the assets that we have — the penetrators open up the shooters, and the sets that we run crisply.

“Today I just got open from Christian [Benning, Streator’s senior point guard and leading scorer] driving to the lane. He’s such a threat that I was wide-open on all my shots. [They’re] a lot more fun when they’re open. ...

“And there’s nothing like playing here on a Friday night.”

Muntz finished with 11 points, four steals and three assists, one of three Bulldogs to score in double figures on the night. Benning scored 10 points to go with four steals, six rebounds and four assists, and Logan Aukland was all over the court after some early foul trouble to finish with a game-high 12 points, two steals, five rebounds and four assists.

“I think we can be a lot crisper offensively, but you can’t argue with the result,” Streator coach Beau Doty said. “I thought Lisle did a good job for the most part with a couple of wrinkles to handle our pressure well, but we adjusted ... and really turned it up after that. It’s what senior-laden teams need to do.

“I thought Logan was just fantastic like he always is defensively. He got two early [fouls] and had to adjust to how the game was being called, and how hard he pressured the ball the rest of the game without fouling, that’s what you have to trust seniors to do.

“I think we continue to get better ... and our pressure was there the way it needs to be there every night.”

Quinn Baker added eight points and two blocked shots, and Isaiah Weibel six points for the Bulldogs, whose lead surpassed 10 points (18-7) on a Benning 3-pointer in the closing seconds of the opening quarter; hit 20 points (29-9) on a Muntz corner trey off a Benning assist 3:10 before halftime; and moved past 30 points (50-19) on an Aukland contested, fadeaway 3 at the third-quarter buzzer.

Streator shot an even 40% (22 of 55) from the field, outrebounded the Lions 36-30 and won the turnover battle 17-12 — 15-8 through three quarters. Lisle — led by Gage Gaddis’ 10 points and Ty Russell’s eight points with six rebounds — was held to just 19.1% shooting (9 of 47) from the field and single-digit scoring in three of the game’s four quarters.

Streator will have a quick turnaround, heading down to the St. Joe-Ogden Shootout for an 11 a.m. Saturday game against Normal West. The Bulldogs then will play next with another Friday night Illinois Central Eight game at Wilmington to finish their first of two trips through the conference.