Dundee-Crown 43, Crystal Lake Central 42
Dundee-Crown boys basketball coach Lance Huber wasn't sure.
D-C junior Justin Strzelczyk couldn't tell -- and he was standing right next to Josh Polk.
Crystal Lake Central coach Rich Czeslawski didn't want to comment until after he saw the tape. He still didn't want to comment after he saw the tape.
What the referees saw was Polk's feet on the 3-point line and that is all that matters.
Polk's shot at the final buzzer was ruled a 2-point basket and the Chargers escaped with a 43-42 Fox Valley Conference crossover victory in Carpentersville.
"I don't know what happened, but we'll take it," Huber said. "Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good, and we were pretty lucky tonight."
"I've already looked at the tape, but I'll keep that to myself," Czeslawski said.
The Chargers' Michael Hughes missed a free-throw attempt with 12.6 seconds remaining and D-C leading 43-40. The Tigers' Ferrell Kemp grabbed the rebound and gave CL Central (2-4) a final chance. Polk gained control of the ball and fired a shot, which came on the side closest to the Tigers' bench.
The ball went in at the buzzer. None of the three officials had their hands in the air signaling a 3-pointer.
"I was really scared because I was right next to him," Strzelczyk said. "I didn't see (if Polk's foot was on the line)."
D-C (3-3) took a 7-point lead, 41-34, with 2:10 left in the game when Strzelczyk hit a 3-pointer. But Polk, who scored 14 of his game-high 19 points in the fourth quarter, converted an old-fashioned 3-point play and tipped in another basket with 1:40 remaining to cut the deficit to 41-39.
"We told (Polk) he needed to start asserting himself. I don't know why it takes him three quarters sometime to do it," Czeslawski said. "When he does, he is a good player."
The Chargers' Jeff Beck grabbed on offensive rebound off a David Bernand miss and scored to increase the lead to 43-39. Kemp hit 1 of 3 free throws to make it a one-possession game at 43-40. Beck missed the front end of a one-and-bonus with 29.4 seconds left, but the Tigers missed on a 3-point attempt. Hughes grabbed the rebound and was fouled, but missed the first free throw, giving Polk and CL Central its final chance.
"It would have been nice if we made some free throws and not made it an issue," Huber said.
Strzelczyk led the Chargers with 12 points. Beck added 10 points, 8 in the fourth quarter.