No Zeke, No Problem: Burroughs Moves to 11-0 Despite Being One Man Short In Showdown With Lutheran North

The entire John Burroughs community is abuzz over football star Ezekiel Elliott's trip to San Antonio this week for the U.S. Army All-American Bowl football game that will kickoff in front of a national audience at high noon today.

Just about anyone with any type of tie to JBS is expected to attend one of the many "Zeke Elliott watch parties" on Saturday, so they can see first-hand how the Burroughs senior does in his first chance to play on a national stage.

About the only negative part of Elliott being in San Antonio this weekend, is that meant he would have to miss the JBS home basketball game against rival Lutheran North, Friday night at historic Olin Gymnasium.

That left the remaining Burroughs basketball players with a particularly difficult task of trying to contain the high-scoring Crusaders -- led by all-star guard Anthony Virdure -- without one of the Bombers best overall players and defenders.

Some even thought JBS' perfect 10-0 record could be in jeopardy without Elliott around to help slow down Virdure and the Crusaders.

As it turned out though, not having 'Zeke' around was no problem for the Bombers, who got a triple-double from Foye Oluokun and seven three-pointers from Trevor Bain, in a 71-56 Burroughs win over Lutheran North.

"It was a really nice performance by our kids," Burroughs head coach Steve Wilcutt said. "We kind of challenged our guys to be ready to play without 'Zeke' tonight, and I'm proud to say, our guys stepped up to that challenge."

Indeed they did, as reserve players Sachit Bhat, Giovani Gomes, Ronald Smith, and Nathan Van Slyke stepped in to help hold Virdure to 23 points on the night, while Oluokun delivered a game-high 24 points, with 10 rebounds and 13 assists.

It is believed to be the first triple-double of Oluokun’s career. Team statisticians weren’t able to confirm if that was true before presstime, but no matter if it was his first or 31st triple-double, the JBS senior had a tremendous game.

“He’s what I call a middle-of-the-floor kind of player,” Wilcutt said. “Because he can play anywhere for you. He really can play any position. We’re fortunate to have Foye.”

JBS also got an all-world kind of night from Bain, who went seven-of-seven from beyond the arc, and finished the night with a season-high 23 points.

“I just hit a couple early and got comfortable,” Bain said. “Every guy on the team knew we had to step up without ‘Zeke’ here, and I just wanted to do what I could to help the team because we knew we were playing one man down.”

Not to be left out, Jimmy Carney had 14 points and was four-of-six from three-point land, as Burroughs hit 12 3’s as a team Friday night.

The Bombers, who are now 11-0 on the year, have also moved all the way up to No. 6 in the area Small School boys basketball Top 20 poll, and are one of only three area boys basketball teams that haven’t lost a game yet this year.

With Elliott expected back in the lineup, after playing in today's All-American all-star game at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Burroughs will next put its perfect record on the line on Tuesday, January 8, when the Bombers will host another Metro League game against 7-4 Principia.

Tip-off for that matchup of the two first-place teams in the Metro League standings right now, is slated for 7 p.m. 

SCORING SUMMARY

Score by Quarters ........... 1 ... 2 ... 3 ... 4 -- Final Score

Lutheran North .............. 10 .. 7 .. 21 . 16 -- 56

John Burroughs ............. 25 .. 8 .. 19 . 19 -- 71

Individual Scorers

Lutheran North -- Anthony Virdure 23, Isaiah Holman 9, Renell Wren 8, Chris Davis 5, Warren Davenport 4, Cameron Jackson 3, Alex Mathis 2, Raphael Robinson 2.

John Burroughs -- Foye Oluokun 24, Trevor Bain 23, Jimmy Carney 14, Nathan Van Slyke 6, Chris Wetzel 4.