Boys basketball notes: Plano’s Pryor Bode makes most of playing opportunity with record shooting night

Pryor Bode maintained a positive outlook when a warmup shot Monday night missed badly, just hitting backboard wide left of the rim.

And the Plano senior laughed at himself.

“I told myself this will be a good game and shook it off,” Bode said. “In order to be a shooter you have to have a next shot mentality. My dad has always taught me to focus on the next one.”

Not even Bode’s sunny disposition, though, could have forecast the volume of 3-point shots he would rain down Monday against Rochelle. Bode, 8-for-8 from the 3-point line for 24 points in Plano’s 90-67 win, tied the program record for threes in a game set by Kevin Jensen in 1998.

“We got into the locker room, everybody was pouring water on me. We didn’t know it was the record until [Plano coach Kyle] Kee came in the locker room and told us,” Bode said. “My first thought was why didn’t he put me back in the game to get the record, but it’s no big deal. I’m just glad I had a good night.”

Bode’s record night was the latest unexpected turn in a season that has had fits and starts for both the senior guard and the Reapers (12-11, 5-2).

Bode played sparingly off the bench the season’s first two months, and did not play at all the last three games of the Plano Christmas Classic during the Reapers’ unexpected run to second place at their tournament. He didn’t play the first two games in January, either, both Plano losses, before Kee decided to shake things up and put Bode in the starting lineup after a 42-39 loss to Woodstock Jan. 10.

“He’s a guy that has always wanted more time; he is not the quickest or the fastest guy, but he’s had some success. He’s always been a great shooter that we wanted to find spots for,” Kee said. “We threw him into the starting lineup and he was on fire.”

Plano seems to have re-found itself since the lineup shuffle, winning three of its last four games.

“Switched some things up, going with some different guys and it’s been working,” Kee said. “We’ve gone to more basketball heady guys. Bode is probably our smartest player. He adds intensity and knows where he needs to be all the time.”

That Bode possesses a keen basketball mind shouldn’t surprise. His dad, Chris, is an assistant at Waubonsee Community College. His older brothers, Reece and Addison, were both All-State players at Somonauk.

Pryor said he had talks with his dad, Kee and fellow captain Davione Stamps during the early part of the season when he wasn’t playing much. And he just showed up every day.

“I’m really grateful to coach, happy to get the opportunity,” Bode said. “I was bugging Kee about it for a while. I say I’m one of the assistant coaches. I’m grateful that coach kept an open mind. I just stayed ready. I love basketball. I’m not going to bring myself down because I’m not playing. I stayed ready for when my name was called.”

Yorkville Christian catches fire with five-game win streak

Yorkville Christian provided a preview of its identity this season in the team poster, when the shooting gun was included.

The Mustangs like to shoot 3-point shots. And they shoot a lot of them.

Yorkville Christian coach Aaron Sovern said his team averages close to 40 3-point attempts per game. For him, the attempts will always be there. It’s the quality of the attempts he’s concerned with. He’d like to play the Grinnell system like he did during the COVID shortened season, but he doesn’t have quite the depth for it.

“A lot of teams aren’t accustomed to guarding that style. We played South Beloit recently, and they had no answer for it,” Sovern said. “We try to implement a style and a pace. Where we have deficits, we try to showcase our strength.”

A young, thin team with zero seniors has found its oats during the season’s stretch run. Yorkville Christian (12-14) has won five consecutive games to creep close to .500.

Junior guard Zach Marini, among the Mustangs who had some struggles early against quality competition, has caught fire of late. Marini scored 32 points and hit 10 3-pointers in a win over South Beloit, and in the most recent game scored 26 with four 3-pointers. Sovern also noted the seven offensive rebounds and 13 total boards Marini put up.

“He has stayed the course and caught fire,” Sovern said. “He is looking to do the little things. Your shot might not be where we want it but at the end of the night you have to do other things – for him the other night it was rebounding. Zach is one of those kids that put in the work. He has got great shots, and he has hit them.”

Marini has in part benefited from an adjustment to how teams defend Yorkville Christian.

In the early part of the season, with teams not fully knowing the Mustangs’ personnel, Marini and Brady Sovern led the scouting report. Teams crowded them to chase them off the 3-point line. As the season progressed, with Jayden Riley’s ability to break down defenses, some teams have adjusted by going zone.

Riley, averaging 23.1 points per game, scored 36 in the last game.

“If they do zone us, enjoy,” Sovern said. “With our freshmen we have four shooters.”

Sovern said that this under the radar group that starts two freshmen reminds him a little bit of the 2018-2019 Yorkville Christian team that won the program’s first regional, and eventual sectional title.

“Nobody really knew who we were. All of a sudden we won a regional and quote and quote upset a team in a sectional,” Sovern said. “We’ve been preaching the whole year we’re doing this to gain experience. Stay with it, stay the course. Some of these young guys were thrown into oncoming traffic at the beginning of the season. They’re starting to see the fruits of their labor.”

Oswego East prioritizing defense

Oswego East (17-9, 9-3) had an up-and-down 5-4 January. It started with big wins over Bolingbrook and Romeoville on consecutive Wednesdays.

But the Wolves gave up 80 points in a loss to Joliet West, and dropped shootout games to York and Lyons on consecutive Saturdays. The month ended on a high note Tuesday, a 67-60 win over Plainfield North. Oswego East was also without rotation players Andrew Wiggins and Andy Pohlman at times due to injury. Pohlman is back from a broken nose suffered against York, playing with a mask.

“We got hit with the injury bug and I hate using that as an excuse,” Oswego East coach Ryan Velasquez said. “We are healthy now, our guys’ heads are in the right spot. I like what we did Tuesday night.”

It’s no secret to Velasquez what the barometer is for his team’s play.

“We have to make sure that we lock in defensively,” Velasquez said. “Our defense will generate our offense for us. When we lock in defensively we’re a really good team. It’s being consistent for 32 minutes.”

Friday night’s home game with West Aurora (16-8, 9-2), the third meeting between the two clubs after splitting the first two, holds significance at multiple levels. The two teams are atop the Southwest Prairie West, Oswego East seeking to maintain its hold on the conference. And it could be valuable for playoff seeding which is determined in two weeks.

“It has a lot of value to it,” Velasquez said. “We want to take care of conference games and we got to play defense and get stops.”