McNaughton's clutch bomb lifts McHenry past Lakes
Naughty Josh McNaughton is not.
In fact, he must be on the very, very nice list.
Because on Tuesday night, he got one of the best gifts any basketball player could hope for.
With the score tied and just seconds remaining in a Grant Holiday tournament game against Lakes, the McHenry guard hit the shot of his life when his team needed it most.
McNaughton positioned himself behind the three-point line and found himself open as teammate Jimmy Bellich headed up court and furiously looked for someone to pass to as he attempted to break free from Lakes' nagging full-court press.
McNaughton immediately fired up a shot and knew it was good the second it left his hands.
When the ball dropped through the bottom of the net just as the buzzer sounded, the McHenry bench erupted and players and coaches rushed toward McNaughton to celebrate a wild 55-52 victory over Lakes.
The win moves McHenry to 6-3 overall. Lakes, meanwhile, drops to 2-10.
"I hit a shot like that once in middle school, but never on varsity," said McNaughton, who was one of three McHenry players in double-figures. He had 11 points. "It was an amazing natural high. It was so much fun, there was so much emotion running through you. It was great.
"(The shot) felt good as soon as I shot it."
Winning in the final moments certainly felt good for the Warriors. It was a nice change for them.
"You know, it feels like 'It's about time,'" said McHenry coach Tim Paddock, who showed just as much excitement as his players when McNaughton's shot dropped through. "We actually lost our first two games of the season by one point. We were feeling a little bit snake-bit in close games."
The Warriors avoided the bite this time. But not by much.
They were up by 9 points (48-39) midway through the fourth quarter and seemed poised to cruise to victory.
But then Lakes slapped on a relentless full-court press and went on an 8-2 run to close the gap to 50-47 with 1:20 remaining.
The Eagles continued to force McHenry turnovers and eventually tied the game at 52 on a John Androus layup with about 10 seconds left.
"We knew we were going to come back, it was just in our mindset," said Androus, who scored a game-high 24 points and was the only Lakes player in double-figures. "I'm very proud of all my teammates, I thought we fought hard all the way.
"The last seconds were kind of hectic and chaotic. We were trying to get back (after Androus' game-tying layup) but (McNaughton) was just open and when he shot it, I knew just by the trajectory of it, that it had a good shot (of going in). I was hoping it wouldn't go in, but it did."
Before McNaughton's big shot, McHenry got plenty of other key plays from post players Brian Madson and Jimmy Preston, who dominated in the paint. They scored 16 and 15 points respectively.
Johnsburg 52, Northridge Prep 36: Johnsburg continued to roll through the Grant Holiday tournament, this time getting a big win over Northridge Prep. Mike Dombrowski led the way for the Skyhawks with 20 points while CJ Fiedorowicz added 10 points. Northridge Prep got 18 points from Robert Rey.
Grayslake North 74, Round Lake 63: A total of eight players scored in double-figures in this high-scoring Grant holiday tournament game. Grayslake North got double figures from five players, including a game-high 19 points from Matt Pucher, 15 points from Teddy Ludwick, 11 points from both Chris Nicolosi and Myles Siemsen and 10 points from Michael Verwijst. Round Lake got 16 points apiece from both Juddon Carter and Jon Martinez and 15 points from Jake Paulsen.
Richmond-Burton 51, Grant 43: Grant drops to 1-1 in its own tournament with the loss. The Bulldogs were down by only four points with about a minute to play, but when they started fouling to stop the clock, Richmond-Burton made its free throws. The Rockets got double-figures from four players, including Chad Okane with a game-high 16 points. Kenneth Riordan added 12 points and Adam Pittser and Kyle Wismer each finished with 10 points. Shane Richardson led Grant with 12 points.