Things don't fall St. Edward's way in 2A super
DeKALB — Some nights the ball goes in the basket at the right time, some nights it doesn't.
Tuesday was a doesn't night for St. Edward.
The Green Wave fought No. 2 Rockridge from start to finish but in the end, missed free throws and missed 3-pointers hurt St. Edward's chances to pull off the upset in a 46-39 overtime loss in the Class 2A boys basketball supersectional at the NIU Convocation Center.
Rockridge (30-1) will take on Decatur St. Teresa in the 6:30 p.m. semifinal Friday in Peoria, while St. Edward ends its record-setting season at 26-6.
“Free throws hurt us,” said St. Edward coach PJ White. “Free throws have been hurting us. We've been living on the edge with free throws and tonight if we had made our free throws it doesn't get to OT.”
Senior Bryan Heath, who is headed to Division II Northern Michigan, led the Rockets with 26 points. Kelvin Cortez-Harvey and Nick Duffy had 10 points each to lead St. Edward, which was vying for the program's first trip to a state final tournament since 1992, a trip that would have ensured bringing home the program's first state trophy.
In a game where the biggest lead for either team was 6 points, 9-3 Rockridge early in the first quarter, St. Edward had a chance to win in regulation but Joseph French's 8-foot runner in the lane rolled off the rim with two seconds left on the clock.
“I didn't want to get called for a charge so I just pulled up and took the shot,” French said.
The Wave led 35-32 after 2 free throws from French with 3:26 to play in the fourth quarter bur Heath scored from underneath 24 seconds later to make it 35-34.
But with 2:32 left, Duffy was called for a charge on the baseline. It was his fifth foul, which took away St. Edward's inside threat. The Wave did get to the free throw line but missed the front end of a one-and-bonus with 1:38 to go. Cortez-Harvey split a pair of free throws with 57 seconds left to give the Wave a 36-34 lead but Heath made 2 from the line with 47 seconds left to tie it.
St. Edward then held the ball for the final shot and French's potential game-winner rolled off the back of the rim to the front of the rim instead of into the basket.
“We didn't want our season to end,” French said. “We had to play as hard as we could the last couple of minutes to get it into overtime.”
In the extra period, Heath scored on a backdoor cut, was fouled and made the free throw to give the Rockets a 39-36 lead just 13 seconds into the period.
“We tried a little box-and-one,” White said. “We hadn't practiced it a lot but without our best player (Duffy) out there we thought we'd try it and they got a layup. Heath is an outstanding player and we just couldn't stop him.”
With a hand in his face, French hit a 3-pointer with 3:17 left in the OT for a 39-39 tie but that's the last points St. Edward would manage. Down the stretch, the Wave had three open 3-point looks and took good shots but each time the ball rimmed out. An off-balance 3 miss by Cortez-Harvey to tie with 42 seconds to go ended a 4-of-19 shooting night from 3-point range and a 13-for-45 overall performance for the Green Wave (29 percent).
“Defense has been our staple and it's been what we stressed all year,” said Rockridge's Luke Johnson, who had 12 points.
It was Johnson who got free for a layup with 2:55 to play that put Rockridge ahead for good, 41-39. Over the next 1:14 St. Edward missed three 3-pointers and Heath made 1 of 2 from the line with 1:13 to go to make it 42-39. The Green Wave then missed their final two 3-point attempts while Johnson went 4-for-4 from the line in the final 16 seconds to seal the win for the Rockets, who were 14-for-35 shooting and outrebounded the Wave 30-26, led by 7 from Heath. Senior Danny Favela had 9 boards for St. Edward.
“It was a great matchup and a great game,” said White. “If that's the No. 2 team in the state then I've got a pretty good basketball team.”