Schaumburg likes how this postseason is starting

One year ago, Schaumburg's Heze Trotter and his teammates witnessed Hoffman Estates make a deep postseason run on their home floor, highlighted by the Hawks capturing the school's first regional crown in a decade.

It all started with a play-in victory - at Schaumburg's expense.

For Trotter and his squad, the desire to see history repeat itself in reverse got off to a promising start.

Thanks in large part to 14-0 second quarter shutout, the 16th-seeded Saxons eliminated the 17th-seeded Hawks 44-31on their home floor in a Class 4A regional play-in game Monday night. Schaumburg advances to a Tuesday regional semifinal against top-seeded Fremd.

"We came in with a mindset that we know that we're capable of playing with anyone and that if we play our game we're more than capable of beating anyone," Trotter, a 6-1 sophomore, said.

It was a point that his coach concurred with.

"We came ready to play tonight," Schaumburg coach Wade Heisler said. "We were really focused, and it showed out there."

The Saxons (11-16) held Hoffman Estates scoreless in the second quarter, part to an even larger run of 26 unanswered points that started when they were trailing 6-2 early in the game.

After an inside hoop from senior forward Dan Pyde, Trotter and senior forward Kameron Powell traded baskets twice, giving Schaumburg a 10-0 run that closed out the opening eight minutes of play.

In the decisive second quarter, two of Trotter's team-high 10 points from the free throw line came in between 6 points each from sophomore Michael Hodges and junior Jerry Clark, which extended the lead to 26-6 at the break.

Both Heisler and Trotter gave credit to their team's defensive effort for the Hawks' 8 turnovers and 0-for-5 shooting in the second quarter.

"I need to give special credit to both Jerry and (junior guard) Brandon Barber. They did a real good job of getting us ignited on defense," Heisler said. "It gave us a huge lift."

"We mixed things up on defense tonight," Trotter said. "It's something that we take pride in. Getting that shutout in the second quarter speaks volumes."

The first of 6-2 sophomore Rudra Patel's 3 triples ended the scoring drought for Hoffman (8-19) with 3:17 remaining in the third. He finished with a game-high 11 points.

"They just simply outplayed us," Hoffman Estates coach Luke Yanule said. "You just can't make the mistakes that we made and expect to win.

"We have some great kids with a tremendous effort that will need to match their level of commitment in the off-season if we are to get to that next step forward."

For the Saxons, a third match-up with the 26-0 MSL champion Vikings is up next. Fremd won the two MSL West contests by an average of 26.5 points (69-38 and 68-46). But for both Heisler and Trotter there is the belief that anything can happen, especially in postseason play.

"We have a tremendous amount of respect for what (Fremd coach Bob Widlowski) and his staff have done this season," Heisler said. "However, our motto is that we respect all but fear none."

"We have to come in and do a good job rebounding," Trotter said. "We also have to show no fear. It really doesn't matter what happened in the first two games that we played against them, it's March Madness. Anything is possible."