Dalton Scantlebury leads Lane past New Trier; Bolingbrook, Davion Thompson sparkle against Lemont

Lane’s Dalton Scantlebury, the best big man in the Public League, has demonstrated some new skills. He’s the Champions’ assist leader.

There was a striking moment in the fourth quarter of Lane’s 60-47 victory against No. 20 New Trier in the Hoops For Hunger Shootout at Welsh-Ryan Arena in Evanston on Saturday.

The 6-10 senior raced downcourt with the ball and found Zach Mazanowski with the perfect pass for a dunk.

“I just have a lot more confidence and command with the ball this season,” Scantlebury said. “We are all starting to play together really well.”

It’s been a challenging campaign for the Champions. They’ve played a rugged schedule, with 10 games against ranked teams. The victory against the Trevians is only the third against that bunch.

“We’ve been angry about how we have come out against ranked opponents,” Scantlebury said. “We put it on our shoulders today. We were tired of losing.”

Lane (11-9) jumped out to a 21-6 lead and never let New Trier (16-5) get closer than eight points. Scantlebury finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Mazanowski had 13 points and 11 rebounds, and Drew Bartolai scored 11 points.

“We’ve played the toughest schedule in the state,” Lane coach Nick LoGalbo said. “We’ve been battle-tested. I keep telling the guys it is going to pay off for us. We aren’t going to blink. We are getting better at executing our stuff. It’s just been a process, and the guys are believing.”

Junior Christopher Kirkpatrick led New Trier with 15 points, seven rebounds and five assists. Danny Houlihan added 11 points, and Colby Smith scored 10.

New Trier hosts Kenwood on Monday.

Bolingbrook sparkles

Bolingbrook opened the season as the No. 1 team in the preseason Super 25. The Raiders missed two key starters for the first month of the season and never quite looked the part.

Saturday at Welsh-Ryan Arena, Bolingbrook (19-2) provided the first glimpse at how high its ceiling could be.

The Raiders thrashed Lemont 68-48. They shot well, defended well and looked more cohesive and dangerous than any team in the area has so far this season.

“Yeah, I’d say that was probably our best game,” senior JT Pettigrew said. “Defensively, rebounding, scoring, passing and communicating, that was the best we’ve played.”

Pettigrew, a 6-7 Valparaiso recruit, had 16 points and 10 rebounds. He shot 7-for-8.

Davion Thompson delivered again, living up to the hype in a major event. Bolingbrook’s star sophomore finished with 29 points, five rebounds and three assists.

“We played pretty well in the first half,” coach Rob Brost said. When we have all our guys healthy and we are sharing we can be pretty good. We can also be not so good sometimes, too.”

Matas Gaidukevicius led Lemont (14-6) with 15 points. Highly-regarded junior Gabe Sularski added six points and five rebounds.

Freshman Brady Pettigrew guarded Sularski. He also took on the challenge of Metamora star Matthew Zobrist at the Jack Tosh Holiday Tournament. Pettigrew’s immediate impact has surprised his JT, his older brother.

“He shocked me, doing this as a freshman,” JT Pettigrew said. “He guarded Gabe tonight, shut down the best player. He’s been taking that on regularly.”

Bolingbrook assisted on 18 of 26 baskets. Junior point guard Trey Brost finished with 10 assists for the Raiders.

“When you are where we are you have to keep getting better and not take anything for granted,” Rob Brost said.

Joliet West downs Manual

The up-and-down season continued for Joliet West, which was upset by Minooka on Friday night. The Tigers turned around a few hours later and beat Manual 56-47.

Junior Ethan Hillsman led Joliet West (14-6) with 18 points and seven rebounds. Senior Zion Gross scored 15. Manual star Dietrich Richardson, a Bradley recruit, finished with 16 points.