Conant comes back to beat Wheaton Warrenville South

Conant shut down Wheaton Warrenville South's bombers to rally for a 41-39 victory Monday afternoon in the quarterfinals of the consolation round of the 41st annual Jack Tosh Holiday Classic at York in Elmhurst.

After surrendering 6 consecutive 3-point baskets to Wheaton South on the the Tigers' first 6 shots, Conant turned up the defensive pressure to help them rally. And Kyle Bradley's putback with 19 seconds to play put the Cougars on top for good.

"We went back to playing Conant defensive basketball," said the Cougars' Danny Sotos, a three-year starter. "We knew they could shoot, but none of us knew they could shoot like that. We ended up going man, and man really saved us."

Bradley did as well. The quarterback on the football team, Bradley forced his way inside to get a rebound of Chris Dolce's missed 3-pointer to score the winning points.

"I knew I had to get the ball," Bradley said. "I saw Chris shoot the ball and I was in a good position to rebound it and I went up strong."

After spotting Wheaton Warrenville South a 32-24 lead at the half, Conant held the Tigers to 7 second half points. The Cougars forced 7 turnovers and limited the Tigers to just 2 field goals in 12 attempts.

"Wheaton South came in with a great game plan and picked us apart in the first half when they built that lead," Conant coach Tom McCormack said.

"Defensively, our guys really, really stepped it up in the second half. We did not execute great, but the chips were definitely down. We have been on the other end of these close games, so hopefully a game like this turns it the other way for us." Before that, Wheaton Warrenville South (4-7) looked unbeatable.

Josh Ruggles hit 3 three-pointers, Ryan Scudder nailed two and Jeran Simpson converted another for the Tigers. And when Will Granberry put together a 3-point play, WW South led 18-9 with 3:06 left in the first quarter.

The Tigers rolled up 23 points in the first quarter, nearly as many as the 24 Conant had allowed in a full game last Saturday against Waubonsie Valley.

Instead of faltering, Conant reached back and found some extra energy.

Trailing 23-14 just before the end of the first quarter, Conant turned things around. The Cougars ran off 8 unanswered points to close to 23-22 on a basket by Sotos with 4:32 left in the half.

Things slowed on both ends of the court, which seemed to favor Wheaton Warrenville South. Leading 25-24, the Tigers scored the final 7 points of the period with John Johnson drilling a 3 just before halftime.

Again Conant climbed back into the game, only to fall behind at the end of the quarter.

The Cougars forced 5 turnovers and the Tigers missed 4 shots as Conant, led by Sotos, scored 8 unanswered points to tie the game at 32 with 3:51 left in the third quarter. But Wheaton Warrenville South answered with 5 points to close out the quarter and led 37-32.

Conant got a 3-pointer from Sotos and a 3-point play from his brother Jimmy to lead 38-37 with 2:56 to play. Wheaton Warrenville South scored its only points of the quarter on a pair of free throws by Granberry to lead 39-38 with 1:49 to play.

Bradley's basket and a free throw by Danny Sotos with 5 seconds to play gave the Cougars to lead. Wheaton Warrenville South had a final chance, but Ruggles' 3-pointer hit the front of the rim.

Danny Sotos led Conant with 17 points. Bradley had 10 points, Dolce 8 and Jimmy Sotos 5.

Conant will meet Minooka, a 53-51 winner over Schaumburg in overtime Monday, in Tuesday's consolation semifinal at 6 p.m.

"Our kids fought through a lot today," McCormack said. "It wasn't a thing of beauty, but we will take it."

Wheaton Warrenville South was led by Granberry, who had 11 points. Ruggles added 9 points, Simpson 7 and Scudder and Austin Polezoes each had 6.

Tigers coach Mike Healy was disappointed in his team's performance in the second half.

"We took bad shots in the second half," said Healy, whose team was 2-for-14 from outside the arc after their hot start. "We didn't execute well. It was a good game, but we felt it was one that we just let slip away."