R-B ousts York in overtime
It's a cliché as old as the game of basketball itself — when it comes to tournament time, it's survive and advance. It's immaterial how you actually do it … just as long as you do.
The York boys basketball team was on the cusp of a second overtime against Riverside-Brookfield on Wednesday night in a Class 4A regional semifinal at Chicago Curie. Get to OT, and the opportunity for survival and thus advancing remains.
Bulldogs junior Andrew Veon was having none of that. He sank a 3-pointer from the top of the key as time expired to beat York 52-49 and end the Dukes' season at 17-10.
“It was a great game … it's unfortunate to be on the other side of it,” said an emotionally drained Vince Doran, York's coach. “It's a learning experience for our younger guys and hopefully we'll learn from it and be better for it.”
That's a strong likelihood. The Dukes will graduate just four seniors, only one of which, guard Angelo Martucci, got significant playing time against Riverside-Brookfield.
Junior Erik Cohn led York with 18 points and a trifecta of 3-pointers, including one with 53 seconds left in overtime that put his team up 48-46.
Junior guard Zach Vaia hit one of his own on R-B's ensuing possession, but York's John Milling was fouled with 17.1 seconds left and made one of two to tie the game at 49.
And then Veon did what the Bulldogs have done well all season — shoot from distance. They hit eight 3-pointers on Wednesday and shot 36 percent from beyond the arc.
“It was surreal,” Veon said of his big shot. “Got a good pass from Zach (Vaia) and shot it and it was good. I knew it was going in. I'm usually confident in my shot.”
Early on, it looked like York would have its way with the sturdy Bulldogs (19-10) from the Metro Suburban Conference. They took a 21-10 lead into halftime and held Riverside-Brookfield to just a Vaia 3-pointer in the second quarter.
But the tide turned at the outset of the fourth quarter. The Bulldogs went on an 11-2 run, highlighted by 3s from three players. Suddenly, they had a 35-33 lead with 5:18 to go.
The teams danced around the ring and exchanged punches the remainder of the period, and Martucci forced the game to OT with a pair of free throws with 1:28 left, though R-B missed a contested shot at the buzzer to send the game into overtime.
But survival just wasn't in the cards for York.
“We've got a great group coming back, and we're really excited about our opportunities next year,” Doran said.
Juniors Nick Kosich and John Milling each chipped in 7 points for York, while Martucci had 6. Milling and junior Sam Walsh paced the Dukes with 6 rebounds apiece.