Maine South sweeps to four victories in Galesburg

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Winnetka- Nick Calabrese Maine South (center) splits the New Trier defense. New Trier vs Maine South boys bball. | Joe Cyganowski~For Sun-Times Media

Updated: February 20, 2012 9:01AM

When Maine South lost to New Trier last week, it was the Hawks’ sixth loss in a row and third consecutive setback by two points.

What’s more, two of those six losses came in double overtime.

Doesn’t get much closer than that.

But the Hawks turned their fortunes around last weekend in Galesburg, where they went 4-0 over three days at the MLK tournament. Maine South now heads into Friday’s game against Evanston at 10-9 overall and on its longest winning streak of the season.

“We had a bad run, but our kids were positive and bounced back,” said Maine South coach Tony Lavorato, whose team dropped to 2-3 in the CSL South with last week’s 41-39 loss to No. 7-ranked New Trier. “This group is a funny group. They have short memories.”

John Solari and Matt Lahey shared scoring honors downstate and both were selected to the all-tournament team.

Solari scored 15 in the 35-29 win over Galesburg in the opener Saturday. He then registered 22 in the 57-45 victory over Bloomington later in the day.

Lahey led the win against Kankakee with 19 points Monday. He followed with 13 points in the 53-47 victory over Minooka.

“The trip was great. It allowed us to develop our team chemistry,” Lavorato said. “A lot of times team chemistry is the most valuable quality a team has.”

Maine South starts the second half of the conference schedule Friday at home against the Wildkits. Evanston beat the Hawks 36-35 on Dec. 3, one of seven losses by nine points or fewer for Maine South.

“We were always confident, even with all the losses,” Lavorato said. “We are looking forward to playing Evanston. They have a solid system and a dynamic player in Josh Irving.”