Boys basketball: Late run sinks Wauconda in loss to Deerfield
Third-seeded Wauconda made a valiant comeback Wednesday night as a late 11-2 run forced a deadlock against host Deerfield in an IHSA Class 3A boys basketball sectional semifinal contest.
But No. 2 Deerfield regrouped down the stretch and outscored the Bulldogs 14-5 in the 3:49 of the game to capture a hard-fought 65-56 victory.
With the win, Deerfield (22-11) advances to the sectional championship game at 7 p.m. Friday against No. 7 Lake Forest. Wauconda closed out its season with a 26-8 record.
Senior Alex Ortega (team-high 20 points) tied the game at 51-51 with a driving basket with 4:17 to play. Deerfield senior Jake Pollack (game-high 23 points) and Wauconda senior Tony Salemi (16 points) both hit 3-pointers to tie the game at 54-54 with 3:31 remaining.
Down 58-54, Ortega scored on a rebound basket to cut the deficit to 58-56 with 2:08 to go. But the Bulldogs did not hit a shot the rest of the game as Deerfield was able to pull away by hitting 7 of 8 free throws in the final 1:19 to seal the victory.
“Wauconda's got a ton of heart, and you just kind of figured they were going have a burst in the end,” said Deerfield coach Dan McKendrick, whose team outrebounded Wauconda 28-19. “We had 23, 18, and 16 points from our three best players, and that's what we needed from our three captains.”
Deerfield's Evan Nagler had 18 points while teammate Tommy Donahue had 16 points, including four 3-pointers. Wauconda junior Austin Carlsen had 8 points while teammates Leo Brinias and Cole Plucinski chipped in 5 points apiece. Deerfield's Chase Arenberg added 6 points.
“This group is so resilient, and we never gave up,” said Wauconda coach Ty Weidner, whose team was outscored 30-14 on points in the paint. “Dan (McKendrick) does a great job with them, but we've got nothing to hang our heads about. At the end they hit a few more shots than us.”
Wauconda (20 of 42 field goals) missed four shots in the final 1:41, including a 3-pointer that would have given them the lead. Deerfield also shot 48% from the field. Both teams shot 41% from 3-point range.
“We knew that they were going to come back,” said Pollack, whose team took a 49-40 lead on his basket with 7:41 to play. “But we were able to hit some free throws that kind of helped us put it away.”
Wauconda jumped out to an early 6-0 lead on two 3-pointers before trailing 12-11 after one quarter, 26-24 at halftime, and 47-40 after three quarters. The Bulldogs were outscored 39-32 in the second half.