Hall of an effort lifts Hoffman Estates to win over Conant

There wasn't a lot of glamor and glitz as Hoffman Estates and Conant battled for a share of the Mid-Suburban West boys basketball title Friday night.

This was clearly a game that was going to come down to grit and determination. That moment came with host Hoffman clinging to a 2-point lead and desperately fighting to retain possession as it missed three times in the paint.

Senior Chris Hall finally emerged from a scrum with the ball and a fourth-effort rebound basket with 2:11 to play. That started host Hoffman (18-6, 7-2) on a closing 7-point run to a 42-33 victory as it clinched a share of its fifth MSL division title and first since 2004 before more than 2,000.

"It's always like that with our rivals," Hall said after completing the season sweep of two-time defending MSL champion Conant. "Next week (at Schaumburg) will be boxing match - the same thing.

"It will be even tougher next week and now we've got something to play for. We don't want to share it. We want the whole thing."

The Hawks need to win the whole thing if they want to head to East champion Prospect for the MSL title game Feb. 25.

They already lost once to Schaumburg (18-5, 6-3), which holds the head-to-head tiebreaker if the West ends in a two- or three-way tie.

But first on the agenda for Hoffman was taking care of Conant, which can still get a share of a third straight West title but can't return to the title game.

"We were down 3 (22-19) at halftime," said Hoffman senior Tom Dombrowski, who had 8 points, "and I thought we played probably one of our worst halves we've played all season."

Conant (16-6, 6-3) led 26-21 when Cameron Leavitt (11 points) found Tim Lomas for a reverse layup. Hoffman returned to a straight man-to-man and allowed only 7 points in the final 11:38.

"Our defense stepped up huge after I was throwing bad passes," said Hoffman guard Luke Mead, who had a game-high 14 points on 4-for-14 shooting. "Tom took a few charges that swung the momentum and I thought we had a great all-around effort on defense."

But one of Mead's 3 assists to Dombrowski for a layup started an 11-point run to finish the third. Conant committed 10 of its 18 turnovers and was just 3-for-19 from the field in the second half.

Tim Gilhooly was held to 6 of his team-high 14.6-point average on 2-for-14 shooting and Tony Rizzo had 7 points on 2-for-8 before fouling out.

"I give a lot of credit to Hoffman for playing tough," said Conant coach Tom McCormack, "but we had a lot of great opportunities to score and came away empty."

A 3 by Leavitt got Conant within 35-33 at 2:40. Then Hall took advantage of his extra shot and Kemill Long, Mead and Lance Vesper hit 5-of-6 free throws the last 1:22.

"That was the crucial possession of the game," McCormack said of Hall's finish.

"It comes down to who finishes in the fourth quarter will come out on top," Dombrowski said.

Now Hoffman has one last piece of unfinished business.