Wayhart's buzzer-beater gives Wheaton North third place

Wheaton North displayed a lot of heart to get back into Thursday night's third-place game against Rockford Auburn at the 36th annual Elgin Holiday Boys Basketball Tournament.

And Jordan Wayhart's display of hustle with time running out led to the 6-foot-2 senior grabbing a missed shot and putting up an 8-footer that danced around the rim and through as the buzzer sounded to give the Falcons (7-5) a dramatic 60-58 victory at Chesbrough Field House.

"I went for the board like I'm supposed to," said Wayhart, who clutched the third-place trophy shortly after he snagged Jeff Schalk's missed 17-footer. "I kind of threw it up. Coach (Jim Nazos) told us to wait until there were seven seconds left, so I figured there wasn't much time left.

"I was just hoping it went in. It's been four long days and overtime ... they're a great team and we're all tired."

But satisfied after rallying from an 11-point second-quarter deficit and then watching Auburn (9-3), which is in first place in the NIC-10, erase Wheaton North's 10-point lead in the final 4:22. Mike Fitzpatrick scored 7 of his team-high 17 points in a 12-point run that made it 58-48. All-tourney pick Schalk had 16 points and Wayhart added 11 points.

"I thought this team before the break was kind of on the verge of knocking on the door for a lot of good things," Nazos said. "I think we're a very strong character team that kind of hangs in sometimes when things aren't going our way. It's a great win against a great team."

Auburn took a 39-28 lead 41 seconds before halftime behind junior guard and repeat all-tourney pick Fred Van Vleet and LaMark Foote, who combined for 36 points. But Richard Finley found Wayhart for a 3 in the corner and then Finley hit a short turnaround to cap a 12-point run for a 46-43 lead.

"We have a real deep bench," Wayhart said. "Rotating everybody in and out helps a lot."

Fitzpatrick's short jumper made it 58-48 with 4:54 to play but Auburn's full-court pressure defense fueled a tying run off 4 turnovers where Van Vleet scored 8 points and assisted Anthony Strickland's layup. Van Vleet tied it with two free throws with 47.8 seconds left.

"They're a very strong team and I don't know if we've played against a better player this year," Nazos said.

So beating the Knights and losing only to Neuqua Valley in the semifinals figures to make the Falcons better in the second half.

"We were struggling before we played (here) with our confidence, so going 3-1 in the tourney really helps us with our confidence going back to (DuPage Valley) conference to play well," Wayhart said. "We're a good team and we're trying to get back into it."