Lake Forest shoots down Stevenson
Lake Forest's Thomas Durrett scored only 3 points Saturday night.
But his 3-pointer was big, as Lake Forest's boys basketball team went from frowns to smiles, hanging on to defeat host Stevenson 48-46 in overtime in a North Suburban Lake Division game.
The Scouts led 30-19 at the beginning of the fourth quarter. But Stevenson (8-10, 2-6) started to chip away. And when Ryan Chapman banked in a layup at the buzzer, the game was going to overtime tied 37-37.
"We were frustrated at the end," said Lake Forest sophomore Carter Bass, who shot 5 of 5 from the free throw line and led all scorers with a season-high 23 points. "I told everybody that this an even game. Everybody came out and played well as a team and got it done.
"This is a huge victory for us," Bass added. "The seeding meetings are coming up and Coach told us we needed to win in order to get a higher seed."
Lake Forest (5-11, 2-5) led 23-11 at halftime and allowed only 6 shots in the third quarter.
"I felt our kids came out in the first half to set the tempo, which is something we talked about all week," Lake Forest coach Phil LaScala said. "But in the fourth quarter, we just let them come back and almost let the game slip away from us."
LaScala tipped his hat to Bass.
"Carter played one of his best games of the season," LaScala said. "He is only a sophomore so hopefully he will have a lot more in the coming seasons."
Jack Ford finished with 11 points and John Hayes added eight for Lake Forest.
Mike Fleming led the Patriots with 13 points, while Chapman scored four in the fourth quarter to finish with 9 points. Chapman also had 8 rebounds.
The Patriots' Colby Cashaw scored 6 points and blocked 4 shots.
His last block came with his team down 28-13 late in the fourth quarter.
"We showed a lot of guts, a lot of heart and a lot of fortitude out there," Stevenson coach Pat Ambrose said. "I wish we had a better first half. I don't think that we really were focused enough in the first half. In the overtime, they outshot us and we should have held the ball a little bit longer."