Schaumbug controls Conant

Incredibly, this was the stat line for Conant after eight minutes of play at the Class 4A Glenbard West regional championship: 8 turnovers, 7 personal fouls, 1 field goal attempt and 1 rebound.

And most importantly for Schaumburg, zero points.

The Mid-Suburban League champion Saxons put on a defensive clinic in the first quarter, taking a 17-0 lead and never looking back in a 58-45 regional title win Friday night in Glen Ellyn.

"It was super electric," said Saxons senior guard Joe Faleni of the atmosphere at the Glenbard West gym. "We got it going early, and we fed off the energy and the defensive effort."

Faleni had 3 steals and 6 points in the opening quarter as the third-seeded Saxons (23-5) won their third straight regional title under coach Matt Walsh. They return home for Wednesday's 7:30 p.m. sectional semifinal against No. 2 Oak Park-River Forest (20-6), which won the Lyons regional title 56-46 over Morton.

Schaumburg 6-foot-5 junior Jimmy Lundquist added 4 quick points and 2 takeways to help shell-shock the No. 11 Cougars (14-14).

"This has to be the best game I've ever played in," said Lundquist, who scored a game-high 15 points and snared 5 rebounds. "To shut a team out for a quarter that doesn't happen a lot.

"We knew that Conant would be fired up, and we also knew that we had to match their energy and we came out hot."

Conant sophomore D'Angelo McBride also finished with 15 points, 12 of those in the fourth quarter to lead a rally for the never-say-die Cougars.

"Those early turnovers were the difference in the game," said Conant coach Tom McCormack. "I think the experience factor played a big part they (Schaumburg) are a little bit older and have played in more big games. I got the impression our guys were thinking too much about being in a regional final instead of taking it as just another game.

"What I'm most proud about is the way our guys responded and made it respectable and close at the end, and that was against their best players and not their bench."

Conant's first points didn't come until 3:45 remaining in the first half on a layup by another sophomore, guard Joey Ranallo. The Cougars trailed 27-5 at intermission, and Schaumburg at one point extended the lead to 26 points in the third quarter en route to its third straight regional title for third-year coach Matt Walsh.

But Conant fought back with 27 points in the final eight minutes, and at one point cut the lead to 51-39 with two minutes remaining.

Saxons' guard Kyle Bolger scored 5 of his 10 points late, including some clutch free throws, to keep the Cougars at bay.

"This win was huge," said Schaumburg senior forward Christian Spandiary (6 points). "We came in confident, as you could tell. You never want to take anyone for granted, but we know we're a good team, we've got great chemistry, and we came out firing tonight on all cylinders."

Sean Bourke pitched in with 13 points for Conant, while Faleni finished with 12 for Schaumburg as the Saxons defeated the Cougars for the third time this season.

"A lot of people were talking about that, saying 'it's tough to beat a team three times,' " said Faleni, "but we played our game and did what we had to do.

"It wasn't about how many times we were playing a team, it was about the fact that we wanted to keep playing."