Schaumburg hopes start is a positive sign
Schaumburg hopes its start in Tuesday night's Mid-Suburban League boys basketball crossover is a good sign for next week when it hosts a Class 4A regional.
Wheeling hopes its finish is a good sign for the future.
The host Saxons (13-11) scored the first 11 points, built an 18- point lead and held on for a 61-54 win to ensure their 17th straight winning season.
"We certainly think we're capable of making some noise (next week)," said Saxons coach Matt Walsh.
Declan Geraghty had 18 points and was 9-for-10 on free throws as the Saxons finished 30-for-39. Christian Spandiary added 9 points and Chris Baker had 8 points.
Junior Billy Jaimie had 10 points and junior Ricky Schwind hit three 3-pointers in the final 1:20 as Wheeling (4-22) got within 6 points twice in the final 38 seconds.
"We wanted to as much as we could turn it into a dogfight and scrap and hustle," said Wheeling coach Lou Wool.
Hoffman 57, Elk Grove 55: A Jimmy Fabbrini steal led to Kevin Tiongson's game-winnig layup at the buzzer as Hoffman (13-12) broke a three-game losing streak in the MSL crossover.
Elk Grove (11-16) got a career-high 30 points and 10 rebounds from Donny Duschinsky. He was 11-for-11 on free throws as the team hit all 18 attempts.
But the Grenadiers couldn't hold a 55-51 lead with the ball in the final 42 seconds. Tiongson had 11 points, Kyo Azumaya 10 and Thomas Iheme added 9 for the Hawks, who hit 16-for-20 free throws.
Palatine 52, Meadows 38: Tommy Galvan scored 10 of his game-high 13 points in the first quarter as Palatine (10-16) beat Rolling Meadows (9-17) for the second time in an MSL crossover.
Galvan hit three 3s, Nat Pearson scored 12 and Michael Orris and Tommy Johlie added 8 apiece for the Pirates. Jake Velinski and Pearson held MSL scoring leader Richie Kemph (19.4 ppg) to 3 points.
Kyle Weiner had 12 points and three 3s and Scott Shewmon added 8 points for the Mustangs. The two teams meet again Monday in a regional quarterfinal at Buffalo Grove.
Barrington 54, BG 45: Barrington (15-12) used balance with 9 points apiece from Greg Gerrard, James Stack and Ben Bartz and 7 points from Bryan Wegner in the MSL crossover. Nick Prus and Mike Cornely had 13 points apiece as BG (16-10) had a five-game winning streak snapped.
Conant 62, Hersey 48: Garett Gatz had 16 points and four 3s and Christian Sotos and Andrew Spangler added 10 points each for Conant (15-11) in the MSL crossover. Kyle Miklasz had 13 points for Hersey (14-12).
Niles West 75, Maine West 53: Alex Samuelson scored 17 points and Odera Eneogwe added 15 for Maine West (9-17) in the Central Suburban League crossover loss. Lorenzo Fiol's 17 points led Niles West (12-13).