Warriors ‘Deal’ Maroons tough loss

Granite City got its boys basketball season off to a fast enough start, but coaches cautioned the Warriors that staying near the top of the competitive and balanced Southwestern Conference would mean finding more diverse sources of scoring.

Senior Kenny Berry scored his typical 18 points against Belleville West on Tuesday night, but it was Torrey Deal who headed coach Steve Roustio’s call to action. The junior guard hit four of Granite City’s nine 3-point baskets in a 48-42 win over the Maroons.

“That’s what we’ve got to have and we’re going to have to see more of that from people,” Roustio said. “That’s the kind of complement we have to have from two or three other guys so teams have to guard us honestly where Berry is concerned.”

The West zone defense was effective in keeping the Warriors from getting too close to the basket most of the night. The Maroons had no answer for Deal, though, because they just didn’t see him coming.

Deal entered the game averaging 4.4 points per game and was 0-for-4 from 3-point range.

“They had some guys step up and make some shots tonight we were not necessarily expecting them to make, to be honest,” said West head coach Joe Muniz.

Said Roustio, “If I’m a coach preparing to play us, I’m not so worried about him as a shooter. From that standpoint, he really hurt West. They had no answer for him.”

Deal’s hot hand couldn’t have come at a better time since West outsized Granite City and played aggressively in a zone defense that is known to frustrate the Warriors.

“Their extended zone caused us problems, but that’s not a surprise to me because our second unit in practice causes us problems,” Roustio said.

But West struggled to protect the basketball in the game, committing several turnovers that led to Granite City points.

The Maroons fall to 1-3 on the season after an impressive showing at a competitive Vianney Invitational Tournament to open their season.

They’ll travel to 4-2 Edwardsville Friday. Granite City, which improved to 5-1, will be back at home Friday against 4-1 Alton.

Key Moments

Granite City senior Ron Allen appeared to have doused a Maroons’ momentum when he pump faked his defender and drained a 3-pointer at the third quarter buzzer to give the Warriors their biggest lead of the night at 39-31.

But West held Granite scoreless through the first five-and-a-half minutes of the fourth quarter and held a 40-39 lead with 2:23 left in the game. Tyler Dancy, E.J. Liddell each scored during the 9-0 run, as did Logan Betz and Jack Lanxon, who gave West its first points off the bench.

But Allen was left alone for an easy layup to put the Warriors back in the lead. The Warriors hit five of its last six free throws before Tra’Ron Allen put the exclamation mark on the win with a one-handed jam.

West scored just one more basket after taking the late lead.

“We took a one-point lead there in the fourth quarter and we had a chance to make a stop there that we just didn’t get,” Muniz said. “Otherwise, we did defensively what we needed to do to win. Offensively, we didn’t take care of the ball and we were very unimaginative. It was a disappointing loss.”

Key Performances

Berry’s 18 points led all scorers and Deal finished with 13.

For West, Liddell, a freshman, scored 10 of his team-high 17 in the first half. Dancy finished with 13.

This story was originally published December 8, 2015 at 11:09 PM with the headline "Warriors ‘Deal’ Maroons tough loss."