Christian Liberty advances to regional final
Host Christian Liberty almost saw a 16-point fourth-quarter lead go by the wayside before hanging on to edge Yeshiva from Skokie 54-49 in Tuesday night's Class 1A boys basketball regional semifinal in Grace Gymnasium in Arlington Heights.
The win sends the 18-10 Chargers, who have won 5 of their last 6, against an old nemisis in North Shore Country Day in Thursday's 7:30 p.m. regional final.
The top-seeded Purple Raiders defeated Chicagoland Jewish 63-51 in Tuesday's first semifinal. No. 2 Christian Liberty defeated NSCD 57-56 last week but lost to the Raiders in last year's regional finals.
The Chargers built a 43-27 lead with 6:49 left in the game following center Ben Thomas' (season-high 15 points, 10 rebounds) putback basket.
"Thomas is a presence for us in the middle," said Christian Liberty coach Jed Bennett. "He's doing it at both ends of the court."
Yeshiva (13-11) then went to a trapping defense which paid dividends.
"Their traps were very effective," said Bennett. "We turned the ball over a few times and then their No. 3 (Meechael Kohananoo) got hot and made it a ball game. We hurt ourselves at the free-throw line (7-of-13 in the fourth quarter) and normally we hit about 70 percent."
Yeshiva whittled away at the lead thanks to four 3-pointers by Kohananoo (23 points) in the final quarter. He had six 3s for the game.
With 1:16 left Yeshiva closed to 49-45 on Kohananoo's last basket. Thomas connected on 2 free throws and Luke Comerouski (15 points) hit one to extend the lead to 52-45 with 36 seconds left.
Two free throws by Ami Schawartz and a basket by Tzachi Kahn made the score 52-47 Chargers with five seconds left.
David Colbert threw a fullcourt pass to Comerouski for a layup as time expired.
Thomas also had 11 points in last week's win over North Shore. He missed the first 16 games because of injury.
"I just play as hard as I can," said Thomas. "I've really improved the last few days. The coaches have helped me get more determined. I've got more motivation."
Kyle Moriarty was a unsung hero, scoring 13 points, including a key 3 in a 8-0 run to end the third quarter that put the Chargers up 39-26.
"We had a good flow in that stretch," said Moriarty. "We need to keep playing with that kind of flow for extended periods. If we play well together I think we can go far in the tournament."