Westminster Christian tops Schaumburg Christian for regional crown
The Westminster Christian boys basketball team relied on senior leader Dillon Rejman to finish the job in Arlington Heights Friday with a third straight Class 1A regional title hanging in the balance.
With under four minutes remaining No. 3 Schaumburg Christian twice drew within 4 points of what had been an 11-point, third-quarter Westminster Christian lead only to see Rejman drive the lane and extend the margin to 6.
The 6-foot-3 guard scored 12 of his team-high 17 points in the fourth quarter. His final bucket ignited a game-ending 8-0 run that sealed No. 2 Westminster Christian's 50-38 victory.
"I just wanted to help my team because we have a lot of, not inexperienced, but younger guys who haven't been in this situation," said Rejman, the common denominator in the Warriors' three-peat. "I know it's nerve wracking. It was nerve wracking my first time so I just kind of wanted to lead our team, and we came out with a victory."
The regional title is Westminster Christian's third in a row, fourth overall and first under new coach Andy Zielinski.
"I was a little worried there, but our kids really responded and played well down the stretch," Zielinski said.
Westminster Christian (19-9) advances to the Harvest Christian sectional. The Warriors will play Leo (20-8) in a semifinal on Tuesday at 7 p.m. Leo entered the postseason ranked No. 4 in Class 1A by the Associated Press. The Lions were an 80-57 winner Friday against Chicago John Hope at the Walther Christian regional.
"I was watching film of them and it was like, 'Oh, boy,'" Zielinski said of Leo. "You know what? Great experience for the kids. The kids are just happy to be where they're at right now. Who knows? It's zero to zero."
Schaumburg Christian (16-5), making its inaugural IHSA tournament appearance, managed only 11 first-half points. Still, it trailed only 22-11 at halftime because Westminster shot just 10 of 31 from the field.
The Conquerors made their push late in the third quarter, closing the gap to 33-28 on a putback by senior Tyler Keller. They drew within 4 points for the last time on a drive to the hoop by sophomore Joey Alsum with 3:03 to play. Alsum (15 points) was the only Schaumburg Christian player to crack double digits.
But Rejman's drive to the bucket on the ensuing Westminster possession sparked the decisive 8-0 run.
"We played great," Alsum said. "We hit a couple of big shots, but their seniors came up really big tonight."
Westminster's final surge was capped by senior Brad Barker's two-handed breakaway dunk with 20 seconds to go.
"The past two years I haven't played as much; We had a lot of older kids," said Barker, who finished with 9 points and 8 rebounds. "This year I felt it was kind of my opportunity to step up."
Sophomore Ben Versylus scored 8 of his 13 points in the first half and junior Nick Kleczynski came off the bench to score all 7 of his points in the third quarter for Westminster.
"I just wanted to do my role, just do what I've been practicing all year," Kleczynski said.