Schaumburg comeback takes foul turn in OT

Schaumburg expected to hear the horn signaling four more minutes to continue what had been an improbable comeback Saturday night.

Instead, the Saxons heard a whistle for a blocking foul called just inside midcourt in a tie game. With just four-10ths of a second left in overtime, Lockport's Karrington Ward prepared for a surprising trip to the free-throw line in the 14th annual High School Hoops Showdown at the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates.

After a timeout, Ward calmly hit both free throws. Schaumburg's desperation three-quarter court heave was knocked away and it was saddled with a stunning 56-54 defeat.

“I was shocked,” said Schaumburg senior Javon McDonald, who scored a season-high 28 points and forced overtime with a double-pump 3-pointer at the regulation buzzer.

“It was a tough call,” said Schaumburg coach Matt Walsh.

“I thought it was a well-officiated game, but it's disappointing such a hard-fought game came down to a call like that.”

It didn't appear as if there would be any drama as Lockport (14-5) had leads of 36-21 and 44-33 with 1:36 left.

But sophomore Jimmy Lundquist (14 points, 5 rebounds) and McDonald led a furious rally by combining for the last 22 points by Schaumburg (8-9).

“The way we fought back, we had the momentum going into overtime and we kept it going,” Lundquist said. “It's tough that we didn't pull it out.”

Schaumburg held for the last shot in overtime after Lockport junior Courtney Cole hit a 3 for his only points of the night with 35 seconds left to tie it at 54-54. McDonald missed a pressured lane drive, Ward raced out with the rebound and bumped into Lundquist.

“I was surprised I heard the whistle … luckily it went my way and I got fouled because I was about to throw (a desperation shot) up,” said Ward, who had 22 points and 17 rebounds.

“I thought I was straight up and he ran into me,” Lundquist said. “When I heard the whistle I thought it was a dead ball away from me but they called it a foul.”

Lundquist hit a pair of 3s as Lockport missed 5-of-9 free throws and two 1-and-1s in the final 1:36 of regulation. McDonald said “as soon as I let it go I saw it going in” of his dramatic 3 to force overtime.

McDonald's 3 gave the Saxons their first lead 29 seconds into overtime at 51-50. A beautiful driving and spinning feed from sophomore Kyle Bolger to Lundquist for a layup put them up 54-51 at 1:13.

“I felt like we had it,” McDonald said. “We were all working on defense … it's just tough. Real tough.”