Cheers, tears bring down curtain for Buffalo Grove

NORMAL - Sure, there were tough defeats.

Three straight, to be exact, on this Redbird Arena floor for four-year varsity players Allison Mocchi, Maggie Mocchi, Ellen Ayoub and Lauren Angotti.

But you always remember your last one, right?

Well, the state-ranked Buffalo Grove girls basketball team and its talented senior group which also includes Katie Lee and Allison Heissel was "all right" in their final game on the Illinois State University campus.

Bursting out to a 24-3 lead late in the first quarter, the Bison (33-4) never looked back in Saturday's Class 4A third-place game against Marist (25-10) and posted a 66-50 victory in Hall of Fame coach Tom Dineen's last game for Buffalo Grove.

Just like they have done so often in this "season in the spotlight" for the retiring Dineen, the state-ranked Bison hit an array of 3-pointers to set the early tone.

When it was over, the Mid-Suburban League East Division co-champion had tossed in 9 of 19, including three apiece from Allison Mocchi (17 points), Heather Nisbet (13 points) and Ayoub, who scored a game-high 24 points. Maggie Mocchi collected 9 assists and 5 points.

With the commanding lead, the Bison were able to relax and enjoy their final game in an arena where their hopes of a state championship were dashed 24 hours earlier by eventual state champion Whitney Young.

Dineen waved to the Buffalo Grove fans who gave him a standing ovation just minutes after Saturday's triumph.

Moments later he declared he was "officially unemployed" after gaining his 678th win in 906 games as the Bison finished business by bringing home the school's third state trophy in Dineen's 29 seasons. They were fourth in 1979, Dineen's first, and won it all in 2000.

He's never had a more productive class than this senior group as the Northwestern-bound Mocchis and Loyola recruit Ayoub combined for more than 4,700 points.

"One door closes, and another opens," said Rose Mocchi, the mother of Maggie and Allison, who along with husband Mike have probably watched nearly all 143 games the Bison have played the last four years. "We'll be back to watch them. I'm going to miss all the fans and people at the games. We've been doing this for four years. We'll be back to Buffalo Grove. It's our backyard. We'll have to do basketball doubleheaders (Northwestern and Buffalo Grove)."

Gary Angotti, whose daughter Lauren has also been a four-year varsity performer, said the best part has been the camaraderie of the girls.

"They (four-year varsity players) went to different junior highs (Mocchis at London, Ayoub at Thomas and Angotti at Cooper)," Gary said. "They got to know each other on the seventh-grade feeder team. Lauren will remember all the friendships she has made. These are real great kids and their friendships are immeasurable. They got to win their last game on this floor. Some girls never get a chance to even play downstate. It's been a fantastic experience."

The Bison got off to a fantastic start Saturday. They led 40-20 at the break as Ayoub had 13 and Allison Mocchi 12 in the first 16 minutes.

"It was hard to sleep the night before," Ayoub said about the tough loss in the semifinals to Whitney Young in which BG led 27-20 with under 13 minutes left. "I got about five hours of sleep. I didn't know how I was going to play (Saturday). But playing my last game for Mr. Dineen and with these girls, that helped me through it."

"We didn't achieve our goal of a state championship," Allison Mocchi added. "But we still finished on a high note and I can't think of any other way."

Marist coach Mary Pat Connolly said it's tough to beat a team that shoots 55 percent from the field in the first half and 41 percent from 3-point range.

"They shot very well and we didn't," she said. "They got ahead by 21 points, and then we tried to chip away but every time we seemed to be getting close, they'd come up with another 3-pointer. We just started out real slow, and they started real quick."

And Connolly was quite aware that the Bison had an agenda.

"We knew they were real disappointed about the loss the day before and that they were playing with a lot of emotion for Tom," she said. "We knew they wanted to win the last game for him."

And the Bison girls came through for the man who built the program into one of the state's elite.

"I know I'll never play for a better team or program," Heissel said through a stream of tears. "It's just so sad that it's all ending."

Ending with a victory, a word that has been synonymous with these Bison the last four years - and now at Redbird Arena.