Lisle loses at Shootout

In a basketball game in which the winner scores 41 points, a team can't afford to leave 16 points out there from the foul line.

Lisle made 6 of 22 free throws in its 41-37 loss to Taylor-Rockridge on Saturday, the final game of the Lions' own Playing for Pride Shootout.

That was a big deal, but not the biggest for Lisle coach Mark LaScala, whose Lions fell to 5-4 on the season.

"That's certainly important," he said, "but I also thought our decision-making offensively and our failure to execute our offense all the way through - I thought we were too impatient."

Lisle trailed 21-19 at halftime but tied it 29-29 entering the fourth quarter on a 3-pointer by Marcus Wilson, who led Lisle with 10 points. Chris Wray scored 9.

Lisle's consecutive missed 1-and-1 free-throw opportunities helped Rockridge go up 37-34, but a Wray free throw and Wilson steal and layup tied the score at 37 with 2:08 left.

Rockridge held fast from there. The Rockets got a coast-to-coast layup by Joe Heath for 2 of his game-high 19 points. After a pair of Lisle misses, Tanner Martin was fouled and went 2-for-2 from the line to give Rockridge the 41-37 decision, the lowest point total for a winning team in Playing for Pride history.

"I don't think we ever found our rhythm offensively," LaScala said. "I thought that our shot selection could have been better. The free-throw situation was one of those things that just kind of snowballed."