1-2 punch of Faith Suggs, Gabriel Williams powers Plainfield East

In sophomore guard Faith Suggs and senior forward Gabriel Williams, Plainfield East has one of the area’s most dangerous inside-out combinations.

If one is struggling, the other can pick up the slack.

And on the nights where neither player is struggling? Well, watch out for the Bengals.

Opening Southwest Prairie play, Plainfield East cruised to a 71-34 win over visiting Plainfield South with Suggs scoring 20 points and Williams adding 12 points and eight rebounds.

“Inside outside, high low, anything like that, it’s my favorite offense to run,” Suggs said. “I know Gabby will always catch my passes, and I can trust her. It gets our offense going.”

Nina Maggio added 11 points and five steals for Plainfield East (7-0, 1-0) with Andreana Johnson and Jasmine Watson scoring eight points apiece off the bench.

Suggs wasted little time establishing herself Tuesday, scoring the Bengals first seven points. The sophomore showed off her all-around game, hitting a floater in the lane, drilling a 3-pointer from the wing and sinking a pull-up jumper off a steal.

“Plainfield South always gives us a run for our money so we wanted to get our early and finish,” Suggs said. “I’ve been working on driving more and getting the layup to go down. Getting that rhythm early, it helps when a couple shots start falling.”

Williams continued the early outburst, scoring three baskets off offensive rebounds. The duo combined to score Plainfield East’s first 15 points as the Bengals took an early 15-3 lead and never looked back. East led 40-10 at halftime.

Tyler Everett (8 points) and Leslie Hamilton (7 points) led Plainfield South (1-3, 0-1). The Cougars have three freshmen and a sophomore up on varsity.

“It’s a learning curve for them,” South coach Leah Carter said. “With no offense in middle school, they score layups so you try and teach them the offense.”