Hoffman, Mead finally break free

It's not like he didn't expect it to be this rough.

Shoes off, heading straight to the training room following Friday night's 54-40 victory over Barrington, Hoffman Estates junior Luke Mead gave a wry smile when asked if it's always this physical in the Mid-Suburban League.

"My coach (Bill Wandro) just told me to just keep playing and keep going hard and bump and bruise with them," Mead said.

And he did. The tough-as-nails guard, listed at 6-feet and 153 pounds soaking wet, poured in a game-high 23 points, including 11-of-14 from the free-throw line, as the Hawks took advantage of a 30-11 free-throw differential to defeat the visiting Broncos (4-5, 0-3) in the West division.

"Early on, I thought we did a pretty good job (on Mead)," said Barrington coach Marty Dello. "But look at (Hoffman's) points in the fourth quarter, they all came from the free-throw line."

Not all, but the Hawks did have a steady parade to the foul line in the final eight minutes, sinking 13-of-18 as they outscored the Broncos 19-8.

It was probably best for Mead (16.1 ppg) to spend all that time at the line in the final quarter, where he made 7-of-10 -- because his outside shot was off.

After missing his first 2 field goal attempts, Mead nailed a 3 -- his 17th of the season -- before missing 5 of his next 7 shots in the half. Hoffman (6-2, 2-1) converted only 28 percent (7-of-25) from the field and went the final 4:31 of the first half with only 4 free throws from senior Tom Dombrowski.

"In the first half I was more worried about my jump shot falling in, but then I realized I could do so much more passing the ball and get everyone working," said Mead, who took only 5 shots in the second half and finished 5-of-15 from the field.

Mission accomplished. He found senior Kevin Lessner with a beautiful underhand pass from the baseline on the Hawks' opening possession of the second half, hit Dombrowski (7 points) with a nice high-low pass and gave Casey Terry (14 points) a wide-open look at a 20-footer from the top of the key.

"Even though we're not that big, we still have to get closer to the rim in order to beat somebody," said Wandro of the Hawks getting outscored 18-6 in the paint in the first half. "Our guys showed the patience they needed to."

Senior Steve Anderson and Chris Hall scored 4 points apiece, and along with Dombrowski, the trio, according to Wandro, "did all the things that don't grab the headlines."

And with Conant (6-2, 3-0) up next on the schedule, the Hawks expect more of the same physical play next Thursday with a West game and bragging rights on the line.

"They're No. 1 in conference," Terry said. "We're going to be ready for them."