South Elgin falls just short of upsetting DeKalb
Regular-season records and postseason seed numbers are meaningless come state tournament time.
Ninth-seeded South Elgin entered its own Class 4A boys basketball regional without a whole lot of momentum, owners of a 12-16 record and losers of 9 of its last 11 regular-season games.
After an impressive 71-53 victory over eighth-seeded Elgin Monday night, the Storm (13-17) set their sights on top-seeded DeKalb (25-4) in Tuesday night's regional semifinals.
Rallying from a 39-30 deficit to grab a 41-40 third-quarter lead, the Storm appeared to be on the verge of something special after 2 free throws from sophomore Anthony Lynch extended the margin to 47-43 with 3:25 remaining.
DeKalb, however, had other ideas.
The Barbs went on an 11-2 run over the final 2:33 to secure a 54-49 triumph and berth in Friday night's regional championship game against either Jacobs (21-6) or Larkin (15-11).
"I thought that the last three minutes we finally started to concentrate," said DeKalb coach Al Biancalana. "We finally made some plays driving to the basket."
DeKalb tied the game at 48-48 on a runner by Michael Pollack, who struggled throughout much of the night before scoring 4 of his 9 points in the last 1:36.
After South Elgin's Julian Lynch split a pair of free throws to give his team a 49-48 lead with 1:32 left, 6-foot-8 senior center Luke Davis (15 points, 11 rebounds, 3 blocked shots) converted an inside basket to put the Barbs on top 50-49 with 1:15 remaining.
The Storm wasted several scoring opportunities down the stretch, committing a pair of offensive fouls while misfiring on the front end of a 1-and-1 that would have tied the game with 18 seconds left.
"You've got to make the free throws down the stretch and we didn't make them," said Storm coach Jim Cook. "We put them on the edge but you've got to finish there at the end."
Back-to-back 3-pointers by Julian Lynch (13 points) and a corner 3-pointer from senior guard Matt Smith ignited a 9-0 surge that tied the game at 39-39 late in the third quarter.
Anthony Lynch scored a game-high 19 points before fouling out with 24 seconds remaining.
The Central Michigan-bound Smith, who poured in 26 first-half points against Elgin Monday night, tallied 6 points in the finale of his 4-year varsity career.
"I'm really proud of our guys and how they fought," said Smith. "Nobody expected us to even be in this game yet alone to be winning with a couple minutes left.
"It has been a great four years. I've had guys like Tyler Hankins, Justin Howard and Julian Lynch for those four years. Those guys are some of my best friends. That bond will never be broken. We're going to be friends for life."