Extra effort in Wauconda's win

If they earned paychecks, the players on the Wauconda boys basketball team would have plenty of extra spending money for the holidays.

They've been putting in a lot of overtime hours on the floor lately.

Wauconda forced its third overtime game of the season on Wednesday night against visiting Lakes. Down by 4 points with 30 seconds left in regulation, the Bulldogs scratched back in with scrappy defense and some clutch free throw shooting.

Wauconda then pulled away in overtime for a 55-47 Northern Lake County Conference win over the Eagles. Wauconda is now 2-1 on the season in overtime games and 3-4 overall. The Bulldogs also defeated Woodstock in overtime, but lost to Grayslake North.

"We've played in overtime games before so we felt like we were prepared for tonight," said Wauconda senior forward Kyle Drobnik, who posted his fourth double-double of the season with 18 points and 10 rebounds. "Just the experience of being in those games is important. We feel like we've been through it."

The Bulldogs certainly showed a "been there-done that" poise down the stretch.

Down by 4 points with 30 seconds left, Jarod Stonis (18 points) took a 3-point shot and was fouled as he released the ball. That sent him to the free throw line and he made good on 2-of-3 free throws.

After Lakes missed 2 free throws on its next possession, Jimmy Ott scored on a layup with only seconds remaining to tie the game at 47-47. A Kyle Rohr (7 points) runner at the other end just missed for Lakes, and that made it time for overtime.

"Our kids have this never-give-up mentality," Wauconda coach Scott Luetschwager said. "And it just goes to show that if you just keep on fighting, good things are going to happen.

"I give my kids credit. In overtime, they played a solid three minutes of defense as Lakes passed the ball around (searching for an opening), and they just didn't break. As hard as they fought to get into overtime, in overtime they still found that energy to keep fighting."

Drobnik set the tone early in overtime. He scored on a putback, got fouled and then made the free throw to give Wauconda a quick 3-point lead.

"Once I made that free throw and we were up 3, I felt good because (Lakes) doesn't have many 3-point shooters," Drobnik said. "I thought we had a good chance. And then when we started making more free throws, I knew we had it."

Wauconda shut out Lakes 8-0 in overtime and closed with 6 straight free throws, including 3 free throws from Connor Brannick.

"We have to be able to close out that 4-point lead that we had at the end (of regulation)," Lakes coach Chris Snyder said. "Give Wauconda credit, they took advantage of the opportunities they got there to force overtime.

"It comes down to little things, boxing out, securing rebounds. If you don't do those enough times, it's going to cause some bad things and unfortunately we had to learn that the tough way tonight."

Speaking of learning, Lakes, unlike Wauconda, hasn't had many lessons of playing in close games. Snyder says that could have been a factor in his team wilting in overtime.

"We've played in only one other close game this season," said Snyder, whose team falls to 3-4. "It's a mental aspect in a close game about knowing the situation. Those things hurt you if you don't do them enough."

Jack Christensen was the only player in double-figures for Lakes. He finished with 11 points.