Wheaton North finishes off Willowbrook
Wheaton North's boys basketball team has been on the jaw-dropping end of some tough losses this season.
The Falcons were determined not to let it happen again Monday night.
Overcoming a half-court shot from Willowbrook to close the first half and a running, banked-in 3-pointer that tied the game at the end of regulation, Wheaton North persevered for an 84-81 overtime victory over the Warriors in the quarterfinals of the Class 4A Willowbrook regional in Villa Park.
Sixteenth-seeded Wheaton North (9-18) advances to today's semifinals to face No. 1 Glenbard East (24-1) for the third time this season.
"The last three minutes of the game and the whole overtime kind of hung on every possession," said Wheaton North Jim Nazos. "It's just really good for these guys to get a win and to move on. This gives us a little confidence."
Ten lead changes and five ties told part of the story, but so did the slim margin throughout the game. Wheaton North's biggest lead was 4 points while No. 19 Willowbrook (9-18) took its biggest lead of 36-29 in the second quarter.
None of that mattered come crunchtime.
Wheaton North couldn't seal the win in the final minutes of regulation after missing 4 free throws in the final two minutes, 41 seconds. Willowbrook's Graham Olatunji, who scored 21 points and grabbed 9 rebounds, put back a shot with 15 seconds left to narrow the gap to 71-69.
After the Falcons split two free throws, Warriors guard Eric Miller stunned everyone in the gym when he hit a running 3-pointer with a defender in his face, banking in the shot at the buzzer to send the game to overtime tied at 72 apiece.
It probably sparked some memories for the Falcons, who suffered a heart-wrenching loss to West Chicago earlier this season when a player beat Wheaton North on a last-second three-quarter court shot.
"That was kind of tough but we've just been working hard the whole time, and we've always just fought back as much as we can," said Falcons guard Mike Small, who scored 19 points. "It felt really nice to get this one."
Things looked dire for the Falcons when 6-foot-6 junior Nick Barry fouled out at the start of overtime after scoring 23 points and grabbing 18 rebounds. Willowbrook, however, endured even worse free-throw trouble than the Falcons.
The Warriors, who made only 15 of 34 free throws for the game, missed three of their first four attempts of overtime.
Jeff Schalk's basket put Wheaton North ahead to stay at 77-75. Baskets by Miller and Chris Lynch rallied the Warriors within 1 and 2 points, but the Falcons' Matt Matosian and Jordan Wayhart made their last six free-throw attempts to stay ahead.
"I thought our kids played extremely hard," said Willowbrook coach Tim Lavorato. "And that's how we played all year. I'm extremely proud of the way we played."