Conant adjusts, ousts McHenry

Conant's boys basketball team expected to be playing Barrington on Friday night in Class 4A Palatine regional final.

So when McHenry upset the Broncos in the semis, the Cougars had to take a different approach against the 10th-seeded Warriors.

"We had seen them at Thanksgiving," said Conant coach Tom McCormack, "and they weren't the same team. They had a couple of players out.

"When I saw them (Wednesday), I was impressed with their size, skill and strength, and how well-coached they were."

The Warriors did give Conant a battle, especially early, but the Cougars proved to have a little too much firepower.

Conant pulled away in the fourth quarter to win 51-36 to take the regional title. The Cougars (26-4) meet another team that has exceeded its seed - Lake Park - in a 7 p.m. Wednesday sectional semifinal at Robert Morris University in Arlington Heights.

"It's anyone's game in the playoffs," said Cougars senior guard Jimmy Sotos of the Warriors' advancement. "We've seen plenty of upsets. We watched some film on them (McHenry) last night and we were ready to play."

Sotos scored 17 points, junior Mike Downing had 12 and while 6-foot-9 junior center Ryan Davis pitched in with 9 points and 10 rebounds.

Gavin Markgraff scored 17 for McHenry, including four 3s.

"They had some good shooters in No. 3 (Markgraff) and No. 20 (Colton Klein)," said Downing of the Warriors, "and they kept looking for them.

"This is a big win heading into sectionals. You always want to be where you want to be, and this is where we want to be right now."

McHenry held a lead through much of first quarter and a half, but Conant senior guard Danny Ranallo put the Cougars ahead for good at 14-11 when he corralled a long rebound and sank a 3-pointer.

But the Warriors were able to hang around, and Conant couldn't shake the underdogs until Ranallo came up with another clutch 3.

The Cougars used almost over a minute of clock at the end of the third quarter, capped by a buzzer-beating triple from the senior to put his team up by double digits.

"My boys found me," said Ranallo of the high-arcing 3-pointer, "and when the shot left my hand, it felt good."

McHenry was able to close within 43-35 with two minutes left in the game when Klein sank a tough layup.

"We knew they weren't going to quit," said Sotos. "We just had to stay focused. We've been here before and we're still hungry."

Leading by 8, Conant scored the next 8 points to put the game away.

First Downing had a layup, then Davis, and Sotos and Ben Schols hit 2 free throws apiece to seal the deal.

Ranallo scored 8 for the second-seeded Cougars, while Schols added 5 points and Raja Mittal contributed on the boards with 5 rebounds.

"McHenry is actually very similar to Barrington," said McCormack of the Cougars' Mid-Suburban West rival. "They play a tough man-to-man defense, a pack line defense where it's tough to penetrate. We had to come out tonight with a very similar game plan."