Northridge Prep 55, Driscoll 46
It was not the way Jake Lindfors envisioned his high school boys basketball playing days ending.
The Driscoll senior was hampered all evening in the Highlanders' Class 2A regional final against host Northridge Prep, and his season came to an inglorious end when he fouled out late in the fourth quarter.
Northridge Prep stymied Lindfors with a box-in-one defense, holding him 17 points under his season average, and captured the title with a 55-46 victory Friday night in Niles.
"What were they, double- or triple-teaming me?" Lindfors asked rhetorically after the Highlanders season ended at 21-8. "Offensively, it wasn't my greatest game. I wasn't getting the ball as I much as I wanted to."
Northridge Prep (18-10) advances to meet Englewood at the Luther North sectional.
The Knights concocted a peculiar recipe to turn back Driscoll.
Making only 5 field goals from inside the arc all evening, Northridge turned the game around with its 3-point wizardry in the third quarter and sealed the deal from the free-throw line in the fourth.
Neither team scored in final four-plus minutes of the second quarter; the teams entered the break tied at 19-19.
Driscoll, which went 8 of 29 from the field in the opening half, finally found some offensive consistency from Justin Hejza.
The senior guard drained back-to-back 3-pointers in the third quarter, and Driscoll had its largest lead of the game at 29-22 when David Schwabe scored in the paint.
But the Knights employed their 3-point arsenal with even greater effect; four players hit from the 3-point line in the quarter.
Receiving all 12 of its third-quarter production from perimeter offense, Northridge tied the game for the sixth with a minute to go in the third.
"We spent 25 minutes during our warmups shooting 3-pointers," Northridge coach Will Rey. "How else were we supposed to beat a team with that much size?"
The Knights' 3-point shooting clearly returned the momentum in their favor entering the fourth quarter.
"They execute their offense so well," Driscoll coach Nick Latorre said. "I thought it was a few mental lapses that cost us with their 3s."
Backcourt mates Patrick Walsh and Jack Whalen paced the Knights' attack with 21 and 16 points, respectively.
Jason Beck broke the final tie with a pair of free throws early in the fourth, and the last minutes were conducted in interminable fashion.
Northridge Prep connected on 12 straight from the line as Driscoll was forced to foul.
Lindfors finished with 9 points and 9 rebounds.