Wheeling rocks to upset Schaumburg

A little respect. And a lot of rock 'n' roll.

Wheeling's boys basketball team is seeking the former and doing it with the latter, respectively.

The Wildcats maintained their sights Tuesday on a "February to Remember" with something of an upset, 52-46 homecourt win over Schaumburg in a bruisingly physical Mid-Suburban League crossover contest.

"We wanted to show people we can play," said center Alex Chery, who had another premier performance. He scored 15 points, blocked 4 shots and had a breakaway dunk to tie the game in the third quarter when Wheeling (11-10) came out and stepped up its defense while tightening its grip on the ball and cutting down its turnovers.

Schaumburg (13-7), of course, didn't wilt, they just didn't execute, according to coach Bob Williams.

"We didn't execute one thing we came here to execute and Wheeling did execute," he said after watching his team let a second-half lead get away.

But after so many poundings at the hands of so many outstanding Schaumburg teams over the years, Wheeling wanted to show it could play with the Saxons.

It didn't look like it would go that way after the Cats committed 13 first-half turnovers and shot a mediocre percentage from the field in falling behind 25-20.

Only strong defense and rebounding kept them close, especially senior guard Chris McClellan's tight defensive work against thumb injury-plagued star Cully Payne of Schaumburg, his left shooting hand noticeably bandaged.

"He's a good player," Chery said of Payne. "Chris (McClellan) did a fantastic job on him."

But depth-challenged in part because key reserve Sayer Jackson couldn't play, the Cats kept changing defenses until they went strictly man-to-man as Brandon Bolger (12 points) cut up their zone from outside and Payne broke it down with penetration and feeds to Blake Mueller (9 points).

Trailing 43-41, Wheeling took charge for good on McClellan's driving hoop, James Kurtz' basket on Michael Zimmer's feed, McClellan's hoop off Chery's steal, and then vice versa, and finally Zimmer's free throw after 6-foot guard Michael Barton somehow swatted away Mueller's shot attempt. Chery and McClellan (18 points) free throws put it away from there.

"This was just a terrific win," said Wildcat coach Lou Wool. "We want to get on a roll."

So does Schaumburg, but, "We know what to do. We just didn't do it," said Williams.