ST. CHARLES • No matter the sport, no matter the conference, if you can get a road win in league play, you've done something.
One day after dropping a GAC South road contest to Francis Howell, the Fort Zumwalt West boys basketball team got the chance to get back at it again Wednesday at Howell North.
This time, Zumwalt West led wire-to-wire as it powered to a 56-37 victory. The win avenges a three-point loss the Jaguars suffered at the hands of the Knights in December.
Zumwalt West improved to 9-15 overall and 3-3 in the conference, while Howell North slipped to 8-16 and 3-3.
"We played Howell last night, and we lost by six and we knew we had to come in and play a good team tonight," Zumwalt West guard Ryan Daugherty said. "They beat Howell by 12 earlier this year. This is just a big win for us on their home floor."
Zumwalt West worked the inside-out game in Wednesday's win. The Jaguars pounded the ball inside and shot two layups and seven free throws in the first quarter to take the 9-5 lead. Their success inside allowed Zumwalt West to kick the ball back outside from the second quarter on. The Jaguars hit shots on the perimeter to add to their lead.
Fort Zumwalt West hit four 3s in the second quarter as it pulled to a 30-18 halftime lead.
"I hit a 3 and hit some free throws, and that got my confidence going," Daugherty said. "That just helped things carry over into the second half."
By the end of the third quarter, Zumwalt West led 44-28.
For Howell North, which has lost three in a row, Wednesday's stumble was not new territory. Coach Bill Moyer said has been running into the same set of problems.
"I am trying to be as positive as I can, but the consistency is a problem," Moyer said. "The (lack of) consistency in effort is what really bothers me, though. I think that we do not come to play hard over long stretches of time and that hurt us."
Daugherty led Zumwalt West with 13 points. Drew Hare and KJ Bell each added 11 points.
Ryan Jeppeson led Howell North with 12 points, and Kyle Lemons added 10.
Towers said a key for Zumwalt West was the defensive work against the talented Lemons, who is averaging 20 points.
"Defensively, Brett Uhlemeyer did a great job on Lemons and Hare also did well when we put him on Lemons," he said.
Both teams next have home dates Friday. Howell North will host Howell Central, while Zumwalt West will play Timberland.
Both games start at 7 p.m.
"This is a lot like last year," Towers said. "We had to play Timberland in our final game and then turn right around and face them in district (as Zumwalt West will again do this Friday and the following Monday). That helped us last year to get confidence. Friday is going to be a big one for us, and we'll look to build from there."
