Boys Basketball: Herrera leads Leyden past Willowbrook
By Chuck Fieldman cfieldman@pioneerlocal.com February 10, 2012 10:16PM
Leyden's Samuel Moya puts up a shot against Willowbrook Friday night. | Steve Johnston~for Sun-Times Media
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Updated: February 22, 2012 12:14PM
Four different players scored in double figures for host Leyden Friday night, as the Eagles ran their winning streak to five with a 74-60 West Suburban Gold victory over Willowbrook.
Alex Herrera led the way for Leyden (15-7, 6-4) with a game-high 26 points and seven assists. Sammy Moya (14), Brian McNamara (12) and Jonny Woolf (12) also scored in double figures for the Eagles.
“That’s really been the difference for us in these last five games,” Leyden coach Bill Heisler said. “We have established a little scoring along with Alex, and that has made us a much better team.”
Herrera scored 11 of his points in the opening quarter, as Leyden posted an 18-15 lead over Willowbrook (4-18, 1-9). The Eagles extended their advantage to 24-18 on a three-pointer by Woolf with 5 minutes, 29 seconds remaining in the second quarter, but the Warriors outscored Leyden, 6-2 in the final two minutes of the period to stay within 30-29 at halftime.
“Willowbrook has improved a lot since earlier in the season,” Heisler said. Their big kid really hurt us.”
The big kid to which Heisler referred was 6-foot-7-inch senior Ryan Rader, who scored a team-best 22 points for the Warriors.
Willowbrook managed to forge a 36-36 tie on a three-pointer by Edvinas Mickevicius with 5:33 left in the third quarter, but Herrera answered 16 seconds later with a three-pointer that gave Leyden a lead it would keep the rest of the game.
The Eagles led 49-43 after three quarters and pulled away down the stretch after Willowbrook had closed within 51-48 on a three-pointer by Tiger Greene (16 points) with 7:01 remaining in the game.
“We know we have Regionals coming up (starting Feb. 28), so we want to keep things going,” Herrera said. “We’ve picked up our energy level the past five games and have been playing at a higher level.”
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