Spandiary drives Schaumburg
Brother Rice coach Pat Richardson probably said it best when to came to Schaumburg senior Christian Spandiary.
"He was hard to guard," said Richardson. "He was tough on us and it was the best defense that we've played this year."
Spandiary was the take-charge player Thursday night at the inaugural Hinsdale South Holiday Tournament.
Spandiary scored 28 points, pulled down 9 rebounds and came up with 4 steals in the Saxons 61-49 semifinal win over the Crusaders from Chicago.
The Saxons (9-2) will take on unbeaten Metea Valley for the championship Friday night at 7:45 p.m. Metea rallied to beat Sandburg 66-62 in the other semifinal.
"Against a quality team like Brother Rice, we had to play a complete game," said Saxons coach Matt Walsh. "We were able to get the ball inside and made some quality shots. We also played better on the boards in the second half."
"It feels good to be in the championship game," said Spandiary, who shot 8-of-11 from the field and connected on 11-of12 free throws. "Defense is what won it for us. Without our defense we wouldn't be anywhere. It what we take pride in. We trust each other on offense and everyone knows their role."
Defense did play a key role for Schaumburg after it trailed 18-16 after a quarter to Brother Rice (8-3). The Saxons only gave up 12 points the next 17 minutes in taking a 35-30 lead into the final quarter.
Spandiary broke a 28-28 tie with a short shot in the lane with 6:19 left in the third and Schaumburg never trailed.
A 3-pointer by Brother Rice's Sean Fitzpatrick (14 points) cut the deficit to 45-43 with 2:42 left. Spandiary connected on a 3-point play 15 seconds later and the Saxons hit 13-of-14 free throws to seal the hard-fought win.
"If you make your free throws you put yourself into a position to win the game," Walsh said after the Saxons were 20-for-25 in the fourth quarter to finish 28-for-34. "We're pround and humbled to play in the championship game. At this level you only get so many opportunities for that chance."
The Saxons also received some good efforts from Kyle Bolger (11 points) and Jimmy Lundquist (8 points).
"They made their free throws and we didn't," said Richardson. "We usually hit 83 percent but we were just 5 of 12."