Slow start buries Downers Grove South in loss to Schaumburg at MSL-WSC Challenge

BUFFALO GROVE – It was a great start to the new year for Schaumburg, but a disappointing start to 2025 for Downers Grove South on Friday night at the MSL-WSC Challenge in Buffalo Grove.

The Saxons came out hot right away by taking a 15-4 lead after one quarter before building a commanding 31-12 lead over the cold-shooting Mustangs at halftime.

Downers Grove South (8-6) could never make a serious comeback in the second half as Schaumburg (10-5) took a 45-20 lead into the fourth quarter before cruising to a lopsided 55-30 nonconference victory.

The Mustangs were coming off a hard-fought 69-64 loss to St. Laurence (13-3) in the consolation championship game of York’s Tosh tournament on New Year’s Eve. But they came out flat Friday as a steal and dunk by Schaumburg junior Cam Anderson made the score 13-4 late in the first quarter.

The Saxons kept that momentum going as 6-foot-7 senior Zion Young hit a 3-pointer for a 29-9 lead late in the second quarter before a reverse layup by teammate Tony Horton put Downers Grove South in a 19-point deficit at halftime.

“Credit to Schaumburg, they came out with a lot more energy and a lot more effort on both ends,” Downers Grove South coach Zach Miller said. “We just kind of were stuck in mud, we came out flat and I would have liked to seen a little more juice in all three phases of the game.”

A driving basket by Adam Flowers cut the lead to 31-14 early in the third quarter, but Schaumburg went on a 14-4 run to take its biggest lead at 45-18 on four free throws by Javonte McCoy late in the period.

“We just kind of were stuck in mud, we came out flat and I would have liked to seen a little more juice in all three phases of the game.”

—  Zach Miller, Downers Grove South coach

The Saxons built a 51-20 lead as the final 3:50 was played with a running clock.

“They almost beat St. Laurence this week so that’s a really good team we beat tonight, and we took a step forward,” Schaumburg coach Jason Tucker said. “Hopefully our second half of the season will be better. (Young) is averaging 11 rebounds a game on the season. His presence down there is just big, and he has done such a great job of committing himself to get in great shape.”

Kaleb Kasperiunas scored a team-high eight points late in the game for the Mustangs while teammates Sean Day and Wyatt Wawro scored seven and six, respectively.

Schaumburg’s Jason Jancik scored five points while teammate Aiden Patterson had four. Downers Grove South’s Keon Maggit also had four points.

“We wanted to buy into our defense with our 2-3 zone, and we’re going to start moving the ball more,” Young said. “We enjoy playing basketball with each other, and we have a lot better team chemistry right now.”