Round Lake 69, Wauconda 63 (OT)
Both teams had plenty of chances to win this North Suburban Conference boys basketball game Friday night at Round Lake.
Visiting Wauconda forced overtime on a drive by Matt Machon with two seconds left in regulation. But the Panthers pulled out a 69-66 NSC Prairie Division victory with a great finish.
Round Lake (7-19, 4-7) trailed 66-63 after Wauconda's Connor Dimick (team-high 23 points) hit his fifth 3-pointer of the contest with 2:35 remaining in the extra session.
Wauconda (11-15, 2-10) did not score again after that point as 2 free throws by Round Lake's Vernon Randolph (game-high 28 points) cut the lead to 66-65 with 1:41 to play.
Then Randolph (11-for-11 free throws) hit an off-balance bank shot in the lane to give the Panthers the lead for good with 56 seconds left in overtime.
Machon missed 2 free throws with 22 seconds to go before Round Lake's Eric Green hit an inside shot with 13 seconds left to make the score 69-66.
The Bulldogs still had more than enough time to come down court and set up a potential game-tying 3-pointer, but they never got off a shot before time ran out.
Wauconda senior Eric Grozavescu was in foul trouble again as he scored 21 points before fouling out with 1:57 left in regulation.
"We just wanted to have a night we could remember because it was senior night," said Randolph, who had 15 points in the second half. "A couple of guys stepped up and Jeff Nicoline is a great shooter so I knew he would step up."
Nicoline hit a 3-pointer for a brief 58-57 lead with 1:14 left in regulation, but the Bulldogs would ultimately tie the game at 61-61 after Round Lake's Mike Mpokota (14 points) missed the second of 2 free throws with 8.2 seconds left.
"It was a huge win and we wanted to keep the momentum going as much as we could before regionals start," said Round Lake coach Jeremy Fisher. "They just kept their heads and they never gave up, even down by 3 points in overtime."
Jerome Brown chipped in 9 points for the Panthers while Wauconda's Luis Enriquez scored 7 points before fouling out.
"When we took the lead in overtime I thought we had control of the game, but we didn't execute and finish well," said Wauconda coach Rich Wolf. "We just made some costly mistakes down the stretch and we definitely had our chances to win the game."
The Panthers led 27-24 at halftime before taking a 37-36 lead into the fourth quarter. The Bulldogs outscored Round Lake 25-24 in a wild fourth quarter to force overtime.