Prime time performer: Strelnikov makes all the plays late to lift Lake Zurich over Hersey
Lake Zurich’s Anton Strelnikov saved his best plays for the end.
The junior drained a 15-footer with 15 seconds left to put the Bears up by one. He then made a huge defensive play, poking the ball away in the low post to force the turnover with just under three seconds left as Lake Zurich held off Hersey 65-63 Saturday in Lake Zurich.
“I am always proud of my defense, but I really like the jumper,” said Strelnikov, who finished with 13 points, 10 on which came in the second half.
“I had the shot. It was a close game. I saw the shot and I was clam and took it.”
Lake Zurich coach Terry Coughlin said that Strelnikov was confident was he shot the ball.
“Anton doesn’t always score,” Coughlin said. “But he does draw two to three guys. When he made that basket, that is not his game. But it can be his game. he is confident. What I loved is the defender played off of him and Anton knew he could make that shot.”
After Strelnikov’s basket, Hersey (3-7) had a a chance to win. The Huskies tried to get the ball into their leading scorer, 6-foot-7 junior Jackson Hupp, in the low post.
Lake Zurich (7-3) had defended Hupp all game with a defender and then Strelnikov doubling. This time Strelnikov slid up a bit quicker to double Hupp and poked the pass to Hupp away.
Ryan Carroll picked up the loose ball for Lake Zurich and was fouled with .4 seconds remaining. He hit the first free throw and then hit the rebound off his missed second attempt to clinch the victory.
“Our game is we have to get to the rim,” Coughlin said. “Anton (Strelnikov) and Nick (Popovic) get to basket. The rest of our guys create long closeouts with that. And we have good players who make plays off of that.”
Lake Zurich had five players in double figures with Connor Strauss with 13 points and Carroll, Popovic and Kain Kretschmar each scoring 10 points.
“We have won a lot of close games,” Coughlin said. “And that will serve us well. My ticker might not. That is a sign of a good team. And I think we will get better.”
Coughlin’s ticker was just fine when the Bears built a 57-48 lead with 4:46 left on inside basket by Strauss.
Hersey then battled back behind a three by Hupp, who had 13 points and a pair of baskets by Jared Ryg, who finished with 17 points, 8 of which came in the fourth quarter. Hersey then tied the game at 60-60 on a basket by Nick Ahlquist (14 points) with 1:02 left.
Lake Zurich regained the lead on a basket by Popovic with 49 seconds to play. Hersey then took just its second lead of the game on a three-pointer by Caden Shah (11 points) with 33 seconds left.
It was the fourth loss in a row for Hersey, which has has been steadily playing better.
“Our youth is getting more experience each game, each week,” said David Hess, who was named interim coach this summer.
“We have guys that played on six different teams before this year. And I’m a new coach and we really didn’t have a summer together. So it is just trusting that process and getting better. We just needed that one more stop.”