Hard-nosed defense was the key for the boys basketball team as they held Streamwood High School to 39 points Saturday night and won with 63 points.  

Starting the game with a press, the Wildcats held the Sabers to only 7 points in the first quarter. Streamwood struggled scoring early on but senior guard/forward Quinn Ricci had no problem, hitting three 3-pointers in the first quarter.

“I thought that we stuck to our game plan that we had, so I’m extremely satisfied, especially with our defensive effort,” head coach Bill Recchia said.

The end of the second quarter was more fast paced as Streamwood pushed for a 10-0 scoring run. Ricci scored in the last seconds of the half to end the run and send the Wildcats into halftime up by 14. The score at the half was 31-17.

Senior guard/forward Mikey Bibbs lead the team in rebounds with eight, which helped the Wildcats keep the Sabers at bay.

Leading scorers for the Wildcats were Ricci with 26 points including four threes, junior guard Tai Bibbs with 14, and Mikey Bibbs with nine. Streamwood’s leading scorer had 12 points, all of them from three-pointers.

Even though Ricci was strong on both ends of the court as the leading scorer and getting four defensive rebounds, he stays humble when asked what helped the Wildcats win.  

“Tai Bibbs. He’s a superstar,” Ricci said. Tai had three defensive boards in the game as well as two steals.

The Wildcats were able to score throughout the game, but struggled setting up and running plays.

“Staying focused and not deviating from what we’re supposed to be doing on our offense,” Recchia said about what the boys can improve on.

Coming off of a home tournament that ended with the boys going 4-1, the win adds to the boys early success.

“I think we’re going to keep the pace we’ve been on so far. 5-1 right now, so I think we’ll have a really good season,” Ricci said.