Stevenson wins in double OT; Lake Zurich prevails
At one point Saturday, the Stevenson girls basketball team let a 17-point third quarter lead slip away.
But the Patriots recovered to force overtime, then needed clutch shots from Anna Morrissey and Kelsey Simon in a span of 10 seconds to require a second extra session.
The end result?
The Patriots eventually earned a 59-54 victory over Trinity in double overtime in the Suburban Holiday Showcase at Loyola Academy in Wilmette.
The Patriots (11-4) will meet Niles West (15-2) for the tournament championship Monday at 5:30 p.m. at Trinity.
"The game isn't over until it's over," said Patriots coach Tom Dineen. "We could've packed it in. We did a lot of good things to get it to overtime. We hit some big shots (in the first overtime) and hit some big free throws in the second overtime.
"These girls are learning how to win. Coach believes it's never over until it's over. It doesn't mean anything until the kids believe in it."
The Patriots (11-4) trailed 52-47 in the first overtime with 10 seconds showing on the clock. Morrissey (team-high 21 points, 5 rebounds) hit a 3-pointer with 3.4 seconds left.
On the inbounds pass, Trinity (11-4, 2-2) turned the ball over.
The Patriots had 2.4 seconds left.
Simon received the ball and fired off a shot from just outside the free-throw line into the basket to beat the buzzer - and the game was tied 52-52.
"I just threw it up and I was hoping (it would go)," said Simon, a senior who had 11 points, 9 rebounds and 5 blocked shots. "I got the ball inbounds and looked at the clock. I knew I had enough time to dribble and take a shot. You never know if we could've won unless I put up the shot. I had to just go for it."
In the second overtime, the Patriots outscored Trinity 7-2.
The Patriots' Ashley Niedermayer (4 points) hit a short jumper with 1:38 left that put Stevenson up for good 56-54. Niedermayer also made a key block in the final minute.
"We just had good teamwork and I was the one open," Niedermayer said. "Everybody was playing so tight (defensively), I just was able to stand there for the block. We just wanted to let them shoot and not let them get to the free-throw line."
Morrissey added 1 of 2 free throws, and Michelle O'Brien (10 points, 14 rebounds) tossed in 2 others in the final seconds.
Trinity not only rallied from a 17-point deficit but took a 43-40 lead a minute into the final quarter. The Blazers' Megan Podkowa (game-high 32 points) hit back-to-back 3-pointers during the comeback.
The game went back and forth with some turnovers down to the final minute of regulation, when it was tied 45-45.
"I thought our kids held their composure with the comeback against a real good team," said Trinity coach Ed Stritzel. "It's heartbreaking losing a game like that. Our kids didn't quit. It wasn't our day."
Lake Zurich 44, Loyola 41: Getting the job done has unfortunately been absent from Lake Zurich's playbook over the last week.
But the Bears finally put together a finishing touch to beat host Loyola Academy 44-41 in the Suburban Holiday Showcase.
"It's a nice win, we've struggled lately," said Bears coach Chris Bennett, whose team is 6-9. "We've played three solid games in a row. We just haven't made the plays to win. The team that makes plays offensively and plays defense will win. We did a nice job finishing the game."
The Bears engineered a solid third quarter, going on a 14-2 run as Gabby Chapa scoring 8 her 15 points and Audrey Bauer (9 rebounds) added 6 of her game-high 18.
Lake Zurich led 37-28 heading into the final quarter.
The Ramblers (7-8) roared back with a 13-4 run that tied the game 41-41 on a layup by Katie Faught (team-high) 14 points with 2:25 remaining.
But the Bears' Amanda Orchard (7 points, 6 rebounds and 4 blocked shots) hit the go-ahead free throw with 1:18 left. Then Orchard stepped up with a key block in the final minute.
"I just wanted to help out the team," Orchard said. "Both things really helped out the team. Glad we could pull out a win. In the fourth quarter we just put our foot down."
Bauer added a couple more free three throws at the 26-second mark for the 3-point difference.
The Ramblers missed a 3-point attempt at the buzzer.
"I thought we missed some easy layups," said Ramblers coach Jeremy Schoenecker. "(Lake Zurich) did a good job defensively, but we missed a few shots that could've won the game for us."