Conant finds a way, clinches MSL West at Hoffman

With the Mid-Suburban West boys basketball title on the line, Jimmy Sotos and his Conant teammates dug deep and rallied to beat host Hoffman Estates 38-31 on Friday.

The victory moved the Cougars into the MSL title game for the first time since 2008. They will host Prospect, the East Division co-champions who edged Elk Grove on a tiebreaker, on Wednesday.

For a long while, it didn't look like Conant (18-6, 9-1) would punch its ticket. The Cougars trailed Hoffman 24-22 after three quarters.

Meanwhile, Fremd, which could have overtaken Conant in the standings with a Vikings victory and a Cougars loss, was rolling past Schaumburg.

"We just wanted to do this for our seniors," said Sotos, who had 12 of his 21 points in the final quarter. "We worked on our defense all week with endless reps and we were able to execute in the game. It is very exciting to get to the conference championship game."

With their 1-2-2 keeping Hoffman Estates (10-16, 3-7) away from the basket, the Cougars also took away the passing lanes. Forcing 7 turnovers in the final quarter, Conant scored the first 7 points of the period on their way to a 12-2 run to lead 34-26 with 38.7 seconds to play.

"I thought our defense was beautiful," Conant coach Tom McCormack said. "Our defense carried us tonight."

McCormack said that his team's loss to Fremd last week was still present with his team Friday.

"It was in our minds all week long," McCormack said. "And you could see it on the offensive end. We ran our offense extremely well and we had some great shots close to the basket. But we couldn't finish."

Hoffman Estates also had its problems on the offensive end. The Hawks trouble navigating that Conant zone. But despite turning the ball over 17 times through the first 3 periods, Hoffman still led 24-22 thanks to a 4-point play by Marshall Davis.

"We are playing 90 percent great ball," Hoffman coach Luke Yanule said. "I really just felt that we became not very fundamental with the ball. Defensively we are very solid, but we have to do better things with the ball."

While Conant big men Michael Downing and Ryan Davis struggled under the hoop and were saddled with foul problems, Cougars senior Chima Oduocha stepped in with key minutes, especially in the final 4:40 when Davis fouled out.

"As the season went, because I am a senior, I could feel the confidence coming on," said Oduocha, who finished with 6 points and 4 rebounds. "We are really going to need that down the stretch."

McCormack, whose team was named the top seed in the Fremd sectional of the state tournament, said that his team coping with the pressure of the big stage will help them along the way.

"This was a good game for our young guys to grow up," McCormack said. "Being in a pressure-packed situation. Win or lose, there is more season left. It just chalks up to the experience of going through this."

Jorden Thornton led Hoffman with 8 points while Dante Cleveland and Davis each had 6 points.