LFA’s Andrew Crawford goes to the bucket against Libertyville’s Drew Peterson (No. 23) and Travis Clark (No. 32). PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOEL LERNER
Drew definitely is a draw.
Lake Forest Academy’s boys basketball team got an up close look at Libertyville’s Drew Peterson on Nov. 30.
And the 6-foot-8 senior proved to be as good as advertised. He dropped in 29 points to lead his team to a 55-48 victory over the host Caxys.
“Guarding him,” said LFA senior Vasilije Vukmanovic, “is not easy.
“But it’s a challenge that you want to take on,” Vukmanovic added.
Peterson, who averaged 26 points a game in the tough St. Viator Thanksgiving Tournament, was the focal point of the Wildcats offense.
Deemed a Division I talent, Peterson, who possesses shooting guard skills, tallied 19 points in the fourth quarter. Nine of his points came via the three-ball.
Going into the game, LFA wanted to match Matey Juric, a pesky 6-0 guard who jumps out of the gym, on Peterson.
“Initially, the game plan was for me to be all over him,” said Juric. “But we had to scrap that pretty quickly.”
Juric picked up two fouls in the first two minutes of the game.
“He (Peterson) is a tough player,” Juric said. “Besides being a good shooter and a good passer, he’s real smart.”
Despite having a star player, the Wildcats went 1-3 in the St. Viator Tournament. And they didn’t wrap up this win until late — going 8-for-8 from the foul line in the final 63 seconds of the game.
Vukmanovic finished the game with a double double (11 points, 10 rebounds). He also chipped in two steals and one block.
Juric, who sat on the bench with foul trouble for a big chunk of the first half, scored seven of his 11 points in the fourth quarter. He also pulled down five rebounds.
Sophomore guard Andrew Crawford also had a nice outing for the Caxys (4-2). He nailed back-to-back three-pointers from the left corner to open the third quarter. He finished with 11 points.
Freshman Brandon Weston finished the game with eight points and four rebounds.
Benjamin Cassady of the Caxys flies to the hoop. PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOEL LERNER
LFA freshman Brandon Weston tosses up a shot. PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOEL LERNER
Marcus Bellamy of the Caxys dives on the floor for loose ball against former LFA player Brandon Simberg. PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOEL LERNER