Grcic, Lake Zurich work overtime to edge Libertyville
It was the only blemish on an otherwise nearly perfect night for Lake Zurich senior Mirko Grcic.
With his team a perfect 16-for-16 from the foul line, Grcic stepped up in overtime as he attempted to help the Bears ice their North Suburban Conference Lake division contest with visiting Libertyville.
The shot from Grcic rimmed out, drawing a groan form the Bears sideline and a smile from his teammates. He made the next one, though, and Grcic made just about everything else as he helped the Bears fight off Libertyville 68-62 in overtime Friday night.
"It was one of those in-and-out shots," Grcic said of the lone miss of the night from the line for the Bears on Friday. "One of our coaches said we were 17 of 18 on the night and he pointed at me and smiled."
Lake Zurich (12-10, 3-5) needed every one of the game-high 24 points that Grcic poured in because Libertyville simply wouldn't go away. The Bears held leads of 49-41 and 55-51 in regulation before Libertyville senior Griffin Pils brought the Wildcats all the way back.
With Libertyville trailing 55-51, Pils banked in a long 3-pointer with 47.9 seconds left. After a layup by Lake Zurich's John Repplinger, Pils was fouled on the next possession with 24.4 seconds left while attempting a 3-pointer.
"I was in the same position two games ago (against Carmel) and I was fine with it this time," Pils said of the 3 free throws he needed to hit to force overtime. "We needed to step up and hit a couple shots, and I got lucky on the 3-pointer."
After the 3 free throws from Pils, who finished with 22 points, and a good defensive stand by Libertyville (13-7, 3-5), the Bears found themselves in their second overtime game in four days.
"I just told the kids that there was nothing we could do about the plays that Libertyville made," Lake Zurich coach Billy Pitcher said. "We were in overtime with Mundelein but I talked about a Lake Forest game from last year where we looked like we had it won and then hung our heads in overtime. I asked them, what's it going to be for us?"
Grcic and the Bears responded. After Libertyville took a brief 60-59 lead on a 3-point-play from Elis Matthews, Lake Zurich found its offensive rhythm. Grcic buried a pair of throws then coupled that with a rebound and feed to Ryan Roach to give the Bears the lead for good at 63-60 with 1:49 left in the extra session.
"Tonight was really a repeat of our last couple of games," Libertyville coach Scott Bogumil said. "Tonight we just seemed somewhat lackadaisical where we weren't getting rebounds or loose balls and Lake Zurich was."
Matthews was the only other Wildcat player in double figures with 18. Roach (13 points) and Mike Travlos (11 points) also had key points for Lake Zurich.