Lundquist steps up for Schaumburg

When Schaumburg leading scorer Christian Spandiary picked up two fouls in the first few minutes against visiting Conant, junior center Jimmy Lundquist knew what needed to be done Friday night.

"When I saw Spandy go out," said Lundquist, "I thought that I would have to take a little initative and take on his role as well as mine."

That meant scoring and rebounding, which Lundquist did well.

Lundquist finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds to help lead the Saxons to a 48-44 win over the Cougars in the Mid-Suburban West.

"Jimmy's first basket was from an offensive rebound, which was a good omen," said Schaumburg coach Matt Walsh, who saw his team improve to 12-4 and 4-1 in the division. "Everyone knows Jimmy's a good outside shooter. The 10 rebounds is something we've been steressing with Jimmy more so than his ability to put the ball in the basket. He's a great player, a smart kid, a tough kid. He's just getting better."

Lundquist, who scored 11 of his points in the first half, scored on a 3-point play that tied the game at 3 and then connected on a 3-pointer. Kyle Bolger followed with a basket as the Saxons opened an 8-3 lead and would not trail again.

"The coaches have been working with me to get more aggressive on the boards," said Lundquist. "We knew this was a big game so we came out with a lot of energy. It feels good to be in first place."

The Saxons lead Barrington and Fremd, who play each other tonight, by a half-game in the standings.

Schaumburg led 15-10 after the first quarter and outscored the Cougars (8-9, 3-2) 11-3 in the second quarter.

Conant hit on 1 of 7 shots in the quarter and 5 of 21 in the first half to trail 26-13.

"Their lead was gradual and we just had trouble putting the ball in the basket," said Conant coach Tom McCormack. "We missed out on some good opportunities."

Schaumburg increased the lead after three quarters to 40-25 as Joe Faleni and Michael Mallett (7 points, 6 rebounds) each scored 4 points in the quarter.

"I thought we played a smart game," said Walsh, "but I think we might have taken our foot off the gas pedal a little bit too early. Give Conant credit. It's no surprise that they kept playing hard. We played well for three quarters but we had trouble hitting free throws (6 of 13 in the fourth quarter) down the stretch."

Conant's Joey Ranallo scored all 11 of his points in the fourth quarter and his basket and 3 at the buzzer set the final score.