Conant delivers in clutch, downing Schaumburg 55-43
Conant trailed by only 3 points despite three quarters of bad things in three crucial areas of Saturday night's Mid-Suburban West boys basketball showdown with visiting Schaumburg.
But the Cougars knew they had to make a quick turnaround to still have a good shot at their third straight division title.
Seniors Cameron Leavitt and Tony Rizzo stepped in and combined for 21 of the Cougars' 24 fourth-quarter points in a 55-43 victory at Perry Gymnasium in Hoffman Estates.
"Tony and Cameron really made some plays down the stretch," said Conant coach Tom McCormack after his team started and ended the fourth with 10-point runs.
"We knew we needed this win to stay close in the conference race," Rizzo said after scoring 14 of his 18 points in the second half.
"We didn't think we played as hard as we could the first three quarters.
"We huddled up and said, 'Let's start playing.'"
Leavitt scored 13 of his 19 points in the last 6:26 to put Conant (12-5, 4-2) in a three-way tie for second with Schaumburg (15-4, 4-2) and Fremd (8-9, 4-2) behind Hoffman Estates (15-5, 5-1).
"We felt a sense of urgency a little bit," Leavitt said after hitting all 8 of his free throws in the fourth. "We just had to come out and play real hard.
"It began with our defense. We pressured really hard and got in their faces and that helped our offense come a little more."
Conant, without starter David Trinco (mono), trailed 34-31 after three despite committing 15 of its 20 turnovers, giving up 9 offensive rebounds and missing 11 of 15 free throws.
Junior Taylor Peterson sparked the first run when he tipped Rizzo's inbound right back to him for a layup. Then he sprawled on the floor at midcourt for a loose ball that led to Leavitt's 2 free throws.
"A great momentum play," Rizzo said.
Rizzo and Leavitt then found each other for successive 3s and a 41-34 lead with 5:00 left.
Four turnovers helped Schaumburg respond and get within 45-43 with 2:10 left when Justin Swiercz (15 points, 10 rebounds) got a backdoor layup on the sixth assist from Perish Bell, who played through back soreness.
But out of a timeout, Peterson hit a breaking Rizzo with a three-quarter court inbound pass for a layup.
"We made eye contact there," Rizzo said. "It was good recognition by him."
Tim Gilhooly's steal for Schaumburg's 21st and final turnover led to a Leavitt layup. Then Gilhooly, who shot 2-for-15 in a 62-43 loss at Schaumburg and missed 7 of his first 8 shots Saturday, nailed a 3 to make it 52-43 with 1:22 left.
"We played a great game for about 301/2 minutes," said Schaumburg coach Bob Williams. "In our desire to win, the kids started trying to do some special things and that never works out."