Kaneland 63, Sandwich 61

Nick Wagner was as surprised as the Kaneland boys basketball team was fortunate.

In the Class 3A Sycamore Regional play in game Monday night, as overtime appeared inevitable, Wagner had no intention of playing any longer.

The Knights' senior forward rebounded an errant 3-point shot to the left of the basket, dribbled twice to his right and threw up a reverse layup.

The ball hung on the rim and dropped as time expired to give Kaneland the thrilling 63-61 victory over Sandwich. With the victory, fifth-seed Kaneland (10-16) advances to meet top-seeded Burlington Central (20-6) tonight at 7:30 p.m. Sandwich ended its year 14-15.

"I saw it come off to the left," Wagner said. "Miraculously it came right to me, and I was in the perfect spot."

The Wagner second-chance field goal was symptomatic of the Knights' dominance on the offensive backboards.

They needed every bit of their offensive rebounding to negate the incredible outside shooting of Sandwich guard Tyler Bantz.

The Indians' senior guard drained seven 3-pointers in pouring in a remarkable 30 points.

"Bantz was beyond on fire," Kaneland coach Dennis Hansen said.

Sandwich led for most of the game and the opening quarter proved to be a mirage.

Both teams started slowly and struggled to score, finishing with just 8 points after the first period.

Kaneland caught fire and erupted for 45 points in the middle two quarters. They capitalized on a 12-0 closing third quarter run to run their lead to 52-44 entering the final period. The teams combined for twenty 3-pointers and eight different Kaneland players reached the scoring column.

The Knights' balanced attack featured four players in double figures, paced by sophomore 6-foot-9 post Dave Dudzinski and Ryley Bailey with 12 points each. Wagner and Nate Peters both contributed 10 points.

Wagner provided Kaneland its largest lead at 54-44 with just over seven minutes to play.

Bantz orchestrated the Sandwich comeback. After scoring 11 points in the third quarter, he drilled three 3-pointers in the fourth quarter. The final one, a bomb from 25 feet away, forged a 59-all tie with 2:17 remaining.

Peters' 2 free throws broke the deadlock. Bantz responded by assisting guard Travis Anderson (14 points) on a backdoor layup with :39 seconds left.

Kaneland called time out with :11 seconds remaining, and Wagner was in the ideal position when Bailey's 3-pointer missed its mark.

"The last thing we wanted to do if they missed the shot was not get the rebound," Sandwich coach Scott Bantz said.

Montini 82, IMSA 60: Even after a 24-point first quarter, the Montini boys basketball team wasn't too thrilled with its play Monday night.

That's because the Broncos (11-17) allowed 18th-seeded Illinois Math & Science Academy (2-25) to score 16 points of its own in the first 8 minutes of first-round action of the Class 3A St. Francis regional. Not impressed with that defensive effort, the Broncos forced 12 turnovers in the second quarter and held IMSA to 9 points while once again tallying 24 points for a 48-25 lead at the half that set the stage for an 82-60 triumph.

"After a slow start our defensive intensity picked up," said Montini coach John Vosicky.

Vosicky is filling in for head coach Tom Sloan, whose son his undergoing surgery this week.

"I was happy with the effort," said Vosicky, "but we could have been better. Sixty points is way too many to give up."

But the Titans gave up plenty more points. With Alex Blashewski exploding for 22 first-half points, this one was never in doubt. Dex Jones scored all 10 of his points in the Broncos big first half and Anthony Blashewski added 8 points before the break.

"It felt pretty good out there," said Alex Blashewski, who finished with 22 points and 3 steals. "My 3s were pretty open, though. We drove a lot and kicked it out."

The Titans had closed to within 22-16 late in the first quarter following a 3-point play by Robert Washington, but Alex Blashewski closed out the first quarter with a short jumper and then opened the next quarter with another score for a 28-16 lead.

Anthony Blashewski then added a fastbreak layup and a 3-pointer that started an 11-2 run that included a 3-pointer and 2 twos from Alex Blashewski, as well as a bucket from Jones off one of IMSA's many turnovers.

Despite 20 points from Titans senior Vince Rossi, Montini would not be stopped in its effort to advance to tonight's regional quarterfinal against No. 2 St. Joseph. Even with frequent substitutions that saw 12 different players score, the Broncos led 67-40 after three quarters and coasted from there.

-- Stan Goff

Benet 61, Lake Park 49: Coming into Monday's Class 4A Bartlett regional quarterfinal, Benet's boys basketball team knew it needed to take care of Lake Park for a shot at top-seeded Batavia today.

Thanks to a 13-2 run that started in the third quarter, the Redwings were able to set that date. Benet handled the Lancers 61-49 to advance to the regional semifinals against Batavia tonight at Bartlett.

"The whole thing tonight was getting to the next 32 (minutes)," Benet coach Marty Gaughan said. "Right now, it's 32 more minutes. Our next thing is to get to the next 32. It's going to be a challenge. They're a great team. We don't need to beat them in a best-of-seven. We need to beat them for 32 minutes."

Benet (14-11 overall) needed to stem the tide in the third quarter Monday to make the Batavia game a reality. A pair of Danny Baylis 3-pointers, the second coming with three minutes left in the third, helped Lake Park (8-19) cut the lead to 35-32.

"They're a good outside shooting team," Benet senior Ryan Haggerty said. "I think they switched their press from zone to man and that kind of flustered us for a possession or two, but that's all they needed to make that run."

Now the Redwings will turn around and face Batavia, a team that they are familiar with. Haggerty and Brian Gaughan played with Batavia star Nick Fruendt with the AAU Illinois Wolves over the summer.

"Obviously, they're a great team," Haggerty said. "We're going into the game with no fear. We have nothing to lose. We're excited to play them. I think we'll come out with a lot of intensity."

-- Paul Johnson