Defense was the name of the game for Minooka on, Nov. 26 as they shut down Providence to 40 points.

Stealing the ball seven times, the boys were able to barely outscore Providence, 46-40. 

Senior Ricky Hill Jr. led the team with 4 takeaways. 

“Ricky is a strong on ball defender that anticipates the right moments to find a steal and take a chance to cause a turnover,” head coach Kevin Cain said. “He is very good at this and we count on his ability to cause stress to ball handlers.”

This was Minooka’s second game of the WJOL tournament over Thanksgiving break. Both teams were 1-1 in the tournament. Both had taken losses to Lockport and beatJoliet Central. 

The game wasn’t high scoring, it was the complete opposite. Both teams struggled on offense. 

“Providence was able to lull us to sleep offensively at times because of the 1-3-1 zone they would run, when we were able to speed them up with our defense or on their misses is when we were able to find easier buckets,” Cain said. 

Minooka used a fast transition to keep Providence away from their 1-3-1 zone, defense designed to trap a ball handler in one of the four corners of the half court and get a steal to an easy fast break layup. 

Leading the scoring for Minooka was Ricky Hill, who also led in assists with 5. Hill finished with 17 points. 

Next was Trevor Hudak, who added 11 points and 5 rebounds. 

Providence out rebounded Minooka by 9 rebounds. In most games, the team leading in rebounds also leads in points. However, Minooka was able to keep the lead throughout the game and close it out within the final few minutes. 

In just the second game of the season, senior Cade Ooms took his second charge. Cain described him as “One of the toughest kids he’s ever coached.” Also, “He has great court awareness, anticipation, and a willingness to sacrifice his body.”

“We know we are going to have to score more efficiently and our shot selection is going to have to get better with each game we play,” Cain said.  “We have to be able to count on our defensive end to keep us in the game no matter how our offense is performing. Defense travels and defense wins. We have the ability and the talent to score the basketball – when we can combine both ends of the floor is when we will see consistent success.”