Maine West responds with comeback win over Meadows

Maine West had enough.

Enough of losing its last three games by double-digit margins. Enough of losing nine of its last 10 going into Monday night's nonconference boys basketball visit by Rolling Meadows.

The Warriors did enough to rally from deficits of 8 points in the third quarter and 5 points with 2:10 to play to pull out a thrilling 52-51 victory at Rider Gymnasium in Des Plaines.

"It was all about heart and how much we really wanted it," said Maine West senior Alex Samuelson after preserving his game-winning baseline jumper with a blocked shot of a layup with five seconds left.

"We were really frustrated," said Maine West junior Odera Eneogwe of a 33-25 deficit. "Alex talked to us when we got on the court and said, 'enough is enough,' and I agreed with him.

"We were tired of losing. When we get down like that normally we've given up but tonight we didn't give up."

Meadows (5-10) had rebounded from a 37-33 deficit after three, despite 20-point averager Richie Kemph being held to 5 points on 1-for-8 shooting by foul trouble and a box-and-one, where he was dogged by Maine West's Tommy Ross and Chris Garcia.

Sophomore Brian Nelms (11 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists) hit 2 free throws for a 51-46 lead with 2:19 left. Nelms, 6-foot-6 junior Paul Volkman (14 points on 6-for-7 shooting, 6 rebounds) and Tyler Allen combined for all but 3 of the Mustangs' 18 points in the fourth.

"We stopped playing," said Meadows coach Kevin Katovich after his team's fourth straight loss. "We stopped being aggressive when we needed to be aggressive."

Eneogwe (17 points) turned 1 of his 10 rebounds off a missed free throw into 2 free throws at 2:10.

Maine West (5-11) switched to a 1-3-1 half-court trap and Eneogwe raced from midcourt to make a sliding grab of a loose ball in the corner and throw it off a Meadows' player and out of bounds.

"That's been missing," said Maine West coach Erik McNeill. "One of the first things we had on the board was doing the little things you can control. You can't control shots falling but you sure can control those hustle plays."

Emmett Turner-Jackson found Zack Pavlatos for a layup at 1:28. After Meadows missed a 1-and-1, Turner-Jackson hit Samuelson (10 points) for a short baseline leaner with 24 seconds left.

Kemph had two chances to win it for Meadows but his layup off a turnover was blocked from behind by Samuelson.

"When I saw the pass go over I knew I needed to stop him," Samuelson said.

After 2 missed Warriors' free throws and a timeout with 1.3 seconds left, Jimmy Garoppolo threw a three-quarter court pass but Kemph's 30-foot turnaround hit the front of the rim and bounced away.

"This is really big for us," Eneogwe said. "We'd been losing and we were the underdogs. It's a good win for us."