Westminster ousts defending 1A champ Mooseheart
The Westminster Christian boys basketball team reeled in the same big fish twice Friday night.
The Warriors erased an 8-point, third-quarter deficit against defending Class 1A state champion Mooseheart, again fell behind, then rallied from 8 points down in the final six minutes to prevail 53-50 in the Class 1A Mooseheart regional title game.
"They're the defending state champs and it's on their floor, so it's incredible," said Westminster Christian senior Sam Carani, who matched junior teammate Dillon Rejman with 17 points. "We were able to lock it down and get the comeback. It feels amazing."
The regional title is the second straight for Westminster Christian (22-6) and its third in 10 seasons under IBCA hall-of-fame coach Bruce Firchau.
The Warriors advance to the Harvest Christian Academy sectional, where they will face St. Francis de Sales in a semifinal on Tuesday at 7 p.m. St. Francis de Sales defeated Chicago Hope Academy 73-58 on Friday to win the Holy Trinity regional.
"The one thing this team developed - and it wasn't there in the first half, for sure - but they developed a little bit of a swagger," Firchau said. "And that's kind of hard to do because we really emphasize humility at our school so you walk a tightrope in terms of swagger and humility. But I thought tonight they sucked it up in the second half."
Mooseheart (18-11) broke free of a 33-33 tie late in the third quarter with an 8-0 run that bridged the quarter break. Credit for that streak goes to 6-foot-3 junior Josh Gordon, who scored 8 of his game-high 25 points during a three-and-a-half-minute span.
Westminster Christian responded with an 8-0 run, keyed by a pair of baskets from 6-1 senior Robert Kleczynski, including a strong drive to tie the game at 43 with 4:10 to play.
With the game knotted at 45, Kleczynski passed out of a double team to 6-3 senior Brian McDonaugh along the baseline. His layup with 2:25 remaining put the Warriors ahead to stay.
Meanwhile, the Red Ramblers went cold from the floor and the free throw line. In the game's final four minutes they missed 5 of 6 shots against a triangle-and-two defense Firchau employed when Kleczynski and 6-2 senior Peter Hahn fouled out, they turned the ball over once and they missed 6 straight free throws.
"We got the ball to the foul line where we wanted it to get the high-low game going, and then we got away from it, didn't do it," Mooseheart coach Ron Ahrens said. "Then we missed free throws and you're gonna get beat when you miss free throws. We're not even getting 1 of 2 and that's a killer. You've got to expect to get beat when you're 2 for 11."
Carani made 4 straight free throws to give the Warriors a 51-47 edge, but Mooseheart junior Ramiro Sanchez drained a 3-pointer from the top of the arc with 6.6 seconds left to keep it a 1-point game.
After Carani calmly made 2 more free throws with 5.3 seconds to play, the Red Ramblers inbounded with a chance to tie. Junior Ryan Young dribbled the ball across the timeline to the right edge of the 3-point arc.
Young then tried to pass the ball across to 6-4 senior Hameed Odunewu at the top of the circle, but Westminster sophomore guard Scott Graziano - an all-Northeastern Athletic Conference wide receiver in football - got a hand on the pass and deflected it to Rejman. He threw the ball ahead to reserve guard Noah Anderson as time expired and the Warriors celebrated at midcourt.
Rejman was responsible for getting the Warriors back in the game in the first place. He sank a 3-pointer at the end of the first half to make keep his team within 6 points. He then drained four 3-pointers in the third quarter to fuel the first comeback.
"I think that last one was from Oswego," Firchau joked.
"We were struggling in the first half to get offense and I knew that I had to hit some deep ones," Rejman said. "So I pulled up when it was open and I just got them to fall."
Odunewu finished with 10 points and 9 rebounds and Sanchez added 8 points for the Red Ramblers.